- Do you wish your students didn't blurt out the first answer that comes to mind?
- Do you wish your students took the time to clarify the directions and consider multiple approaches to solving the task at hand?
"Self-directed people have a sense of deliberativeness. They think before they act. They intentionally form a vision of a product, plan of action, goal or destination before they begin. They strive to clarify and understand directions, develop a strategy for approaching a problem and withhold immediate value judgments until fully understanding an idea." (Costa and Kallick, Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning)
The self-managing component of self-direction enables individuals to think before engaging in activities. One successful approach for incorporating self-managing is to embed these habits into your classroom culture, curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
A person's self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation influences self-direction. If students or teachers lack the desire to accomplish a goal or doubt they are capable of performing to the designated level, success will be limited. Therefore, it is essential to create a classroom culture built on trust. Establishing relationships supports risk-taking and promotes trust. Recognizing effort and progress respects the process of learning and not just the final outcome. Celebrating incremental successes postively influences self-efficacy and motivation.
When planning curriculum and instruction, self-direction can begin to occur when an effort is made to teach students to set goals using effective goal-setting processes. Teachers coach students in creating plans for acheiving the goals. These plans include identifying strategies to work on the goals and ways to assess progress during incremental stopping points along the way.
Ownership of the self-managing process creates a purpose for accomplishing the task. In addition to assessment, the teacher needs to provide appreciation for the progress made toward the goal as well as the strategies used in accomplishing the goal. This goal setting experience can lead to the self-monitoring and self-modifying that completes the self-direction cycle.
Written by: Kim Brown, Mary M. Gavaghan, & Donna Lawrence
Digital Age Literacy Coaches, MSDLT
STRATEGIES
- Spend time talking about the goals for learning: how do we get students to buy into what we are doing?
- Involve students in establishing or reviewing criteria for success
- Discuss possible “hooks” for personal interest or their previous learning
- Provide choices
- Encourage students to plan & benchmark
- Discuss the GOALS for LEARNING: Ask, "Why do we need this?"
- Establish the criteria/expectations (rubric)
- Model getting the students to think about what they are learning.
- As students begin to learn the process, role of the teacher will begin changing (release of responsibility).
- Learning Contracts
Effective problem-solvers know how to ask questions to fill the gaps between what they know and what they don't know.
They request DATA TO SUPPORT the CONCLUSION or ASSUMPTION of others:
"What evidence do you have of that...?"
"How do you know that's true?"
"How reliable is this data source?"
The ask questions about other POINTS-of-VIEW:
"From whose viewpoint are we seeing, reading, or hearing this information?"
"From what angle , or perspective are we looking at the situation?"
They ask questions related to connections & relationships:
"How are these events related to each other?" (or....people)
"How did this connection happen?"
They ask "What if..." questions:
"What do you think would happen if...?"
"If this is true, what would happen when...?"
Inquirers recognize discrepancies...in their environment and probe into their causes.
Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning
Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick, 2004
Page 24
"I've never made a mistake. I've only learned from experience."
-Thomas Edison
When faced with a new problem, self-directed learners draw from their past experiences. They can often be heard saying, "This reminds me of..." or "This is just like the time I..."
They explain what they are doing, now, in terms of references to previous experiences.
Assessment Strategies for Self-Directed Learning
Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick, 2004
Page 25
Most learning comes from observing or taking in information through the senses. The more the senses are stimulated, the more information can be absorbed.