Significance/ Educational Implications
Was this a Success?
If I was asked this question after phase one and even phase two, I would have answered no and provided a list of the reasons I failed. However when reflecting on the experience as a whole it was not a failure. Without introducing goal setting in my classroom my students may have never been directly exposed to this experience. Additionally student developed a strong understanding of their classmates and themselves. Students improved their ability to self monitor and understand why people set goals. I learned how to trust myself, to focus on what is important and believe in what my student are capable of accomplishing and doing.
Who Are You Doing This For? Why?
When writing my literature review I cited different theorists on the topic of motivation. Look back now my experience with goal setting gives me new insight to how these motivational theories applied to my group of second graders. The most applicable theory seemed to be Bandura’s, who believes that people are motivated by others’ rewards and punishments. When I would check in with my students at the end of the day in phase one, many, especially Demetrius, would ask, “Did I do a good job?” They were more concerned with how I thought they did rather than self-reflecting or seeing goal setting as a growing tool. I would always return their question by asking, “How do you think you did?” I know that had I said, "I think you can do better," they would want to try harder the next day to make me happy. However, I do not want my students working to set goals to please me. I want students to want to succeed for themselves.
Additionally I noticed from my conversations with my students, there is a preconceived notion that people set behavior goals because they have done something wrong or because they are not good enough. When I met with Lucy, she could not think of anything she needed to work on. Lucy said, "I think I'm a good student," implying that she had nothing to work on. It needs to be clearly explained to students that goals are set for many different reasons. Just because a person is working to achieve or improve a behavior does not mean that the current behavior or child is “bad” or wrong.
At this age, student often base their success on adult approval. Adults are an outside source that assert authority and in students eyes, dole out approval or rejection for behaviors. Our class was using the clip system as a form of behavior management. At the end of the day students would color a smiley face based on their behavior for the day. How could a child not look to adult approval when their day, although based on their behavior, is judge solely by the teacher. The student does not get a reflection section or a part where they can explain how they though their behavior was. Talking a lot can be disruptive to class, but does it really suggest when the child has to move their clip three times, that they should color a red smiley face to indicate the need for discipline and parent signature? Students often make choices based on how authority responded previously to that same action.
This observation shows me that when I set goals with younger children, I need to be clear about what is important. It needs to be explicitly explained that students are not setting goals to make the teacher happy. People set goals to improve a skill, ability, or characteristic, or to achieve something. This is not a graded activity, and it does not matter how I think they are doing. They are not being compared to anyone else. Goal setting is an activity that only they can judge themselves on. What may be easy for them could be hard for someone else and vise-versa. Students needed to understand that they are the ones in charge of monitoring their goals.
This idea of self-improvement may be foreign or new to students in this stage of development. As noted in the findings of phase two, Erik Erikson developmental theory suggests students of this age are beginning to "increasingly engage in social comparison.” Because of this, these students are changing their self-perception and starting to compare themselves to others. This may be the first time they have seen some of their struggles or imperfection.
I will apply my learning to my classroom by being hyper aware of the messages I am sending to my students. Instead of forcing students to making assumptions about motivation based on perceived actions, motivation will be at the forefront of my classroom principles.
I want to educate students on making choices for their own benefit, even at an early age. They are not doing homework to make me happy, they are doing homework to continue learning, to improve their understanding so they can succeed in school; which leads to the success with even bigger goals. I will be clear that I obviously want them to succeed and do well in life, however their effort is more important to me than grades.
I will focus on making my choices, big and small, reflect the message I am trying to convey about motivation in my classroom. Instead of telling students, “you did a great job,” I will focus on constructive phrase that indicate what they did well on and why. For example I will say, “I can tell how much effort you put into your research,” or “you must have really been motivated for this assignment, it shows in your work.” When students do not do well on assignments, I can either ask them about their motivation or continue to support their work by talking about the activity and its level of difficulty for them or how much effort they put in and the growth that has come or will come from it.
Additionally I noticed from my conversations with my students, there is a preconceived notion that people set behavior goals because they have done something wrong or because they are not good enough. When I met with Lucy, she could not think of anything she needed to work on. Lucy said, "I think I'm a good student," implying that she had nothing to work on. It needs to be clearly explained to students that goals are set for many different reasons. Just because a person is working to achieve or improve a behavior does not mean that the current behavior or child is “bad” or wrong.
At this age, student often base their success on adult approval. Adults are an outside source that assert authority and in students eyes, dole out approval or rejection for behaviors. Our class was using the clip system as a form of behavior management. At the end of the day students would color a smiley face based on their behavior for the day. How could a child not look to adult approval when their day, although based on their behavior, is judge solely by the teacher. The student does not get a reflection section or a part where they can explain how they though their behavior was. Talking a lot can be disruptive to class, but does it really suggest when the child has to move their clip three times, that they should color a red smiley face to indicate the need for discipline and parent signature? Students often make choices based on how authority responded previously to that same action.
This observation shows me that when I set goals with younger children, I need to be clear about what is important. It needs to be explicitly explained that students are not setting goals to make the teacher happy. People set goals to improve a skill, ability, or characteristic, or to achieve something. This is not a graded activity, and it does not matter how I think they are doing. They are not being compared to anyone else. Goal setting is an activity that only they can judge themselves on. What may be easy for them could be hard for someone else and vise-versa. Students needed to understand that they are the ones in charge of monitoring their goals.
This idea of self-improvement may be foreign or new to students in this stage of development. As noted in the findings of phase two, Erik Erikson developmental theory suggests students of this age are beginning to "increasingly engage in social comparison.” Because of this, these students are changing their self-perception and starting to compare themselves to others. This may be the first time they have seen some of their struggles or imperfection.
I will apply my learning to my classroom by being hyper aware of the messages I am sending to my students. Instead of forcing students to making assumptions about motivation based on perceived actions, motivation will be at the forefront of my classroom principles.
I want to educate students on making choices for their own benefit, even at an early age. They are not doing homework to make me happy, they are doing homework to continue learning, to improve their understanding so they can succeed in school; which leads to the success with even bigger goals. I will be clear that I obviously want them to succeed and do well in life, however their effort is more important to me than grades.
I will focus on making my choices, big and small, reflect the message I am trying to convey about motivation in my classroom. Instead of telling students, “you did a great job,” I will focus on constructive phrase that indicate what they did well on and why. For example I will say, “I can tell how much effort you put into your research,” or “you must have really been motivated for this assignment, it shows in your work.” When students do not do well on assignments, I can either ask them about their motivation or continue to support their work by talking about the activity and its level of difficulty for them or how much effort they put in and the growth that has come or will come from it.
Developmentally Appropriate?
I never considered that a short-term goal could really be as short as 30 minutes. For some reason I could not connect my knowledge of students’ developmental abilities with my project. I know how long students can sit, what they are able to focus on during one sitting, their memory retention and other information of that nature. Thinking back now it is a (a for lack of a better word) “duh” moment for me. As they say “hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
When I think about behavioral contracts for K-2, the day is broken into lessons or time periods. Student behavior is not reviewed at the end of the day just by having the teacher say, “overall I think you were good today.” The teacher either sends home the whole contract that shows behavior for different parts of the day or looks at however they track behavior through the day and decides how the student performed overall. Letting children know if their behavior was good or bad overall for the day without specific tracking throughout is too long of a time period for young children. They at that point can not reflect on specific choice and just view their overall behavior as good or bad. Which can lead to them thinking they are a “bad kid” or “good kid.”
Following this logic, how could I not think that asking my students to reflect on their goal after the whole day, would be too much to remember. Plus it is not fair to make one blanket decision of accomplishing or not accomplishing a goal for the day, when they may have achieved their goal for some activities and not others. Knowing the logic and benefits of time appropriate reflection and activities, how could I not see these concepts when putting together and implementing my action research?
Instead of viewing this as an error, I see it as a teachable moment. I need to always put my students first. When planning a lesson, activity, or anything involving students it is key that I remember their abilities educationally, developmentally and emotionally. I want to scaffold my students and push them to succeed but there is a difference between their zone of proximal development and their frustration level. My goal as a teacher is to find the best level of scaffolding for each student. In this case children need to be able to measure their goal consistently throughout the day.
When I think about behavioral contracts for K-2, the day is broken into lessons or time periods. Student behavior is not reviewed at the end of the day just by having the teacher say, “overall I think you were good today.” The teacher either sends home the whole contract that shows behavior for different parts of the day or looks at however they track behavior through the day and decides how the student performed overall. Letting children know if their behavior was good or bad overall for the day without specific tracking throughout is too long of a time period for young children. They at that point can not reflect on specific choice and just view their overall behavior as good or bad. Which can lead to them thinking they are a “bad kid” or “good kid.”
Following this logic, how could I not think that asking my students to reflect on their goal after the whole day, would be too much to remember. Plus it is not fair to make one blanket decision of accomplishing or not accomplishing a goal for the day, when they may have achieved their goal for some activities and not others. Knowing the logic and benefits of time appropriate reflection and activities, how could I not see these concepts when putting together and implementing my action research?
Instead of viewing this as an error, I see it as a teachable moment. I need to always put my students first. When planning a lesson, activity, or anything involving students it is key that I remember their abilities educationally, developmentally and emotionally. I want to scaffold my students and push them to succeed but there is a difference between their zone of proximal development and their frustration level. My goal as a teacher is to find the best level of scaffolding for each student. In this case children need to be able to measure their goal consistently throughout the day.
The greatest control is letting go of control...
Phase two findings support constructivist view points that by setting a strong foundations students are able to be self aware, and make choices based on their self awareness. These findings provided me new insights to the constructivist view point. "According to Piaget, a child establishes an understanding of reality when he or she interacts with the environment and tries to make sense of the new situation or learn." (Inoue 2012) Constructivism suggests, that students can learn on their own with the proper environment. I found the theory of constructivism to be a bit frightening. I did not want my students to fail. What if they set a goal they cannot active? What if they set a goal that is too easy; will there be any learning?
However, after seeing the goals my students would choose to set for themselves, it is clear to me that with the right foundation and setting students can set their own goals. By allowing students to set a goal they cannot achieve or a goal that is too easy, I am allowing my students to construct their own understanding of goal setting. In the long run students have a strong understanding and relate to material better when they construct their own meaning and understanding of their learning. Students need to be guided and focused in a constructivist environment, but I learned from the experience how to find a balance between supporting students and letting them learn on their own.
However, after seeing the goals my students would choose to set for themselves, it is clear to me that with the right foundation and setting students can set their own goals. By allowing students to set a goal they cannot achieve or a goal that is too easy, I am allowing my students to construct their own understanding of goal setting. In the long run students have a strong understanding and relate to material better when they construct their own meaning and understanding of their learning. Students need to be guided and focused in a constructivist environment, but I learned from the experience how to find a balance between supporting students and letting them learn on their own.