Arrival at Transparency as a Line of Inquiry
Reading through the students’ survey responses and their reflection papers, I began to think more about how I could incorporate their feedback and suggestions into my next unit, and how, in general, I could incorporate into my teaching opportunities for students to provide feedback and criticisms. Because the students’ feedback for the research unit was largely focused on the lack of directions and clarity, I contemplated what it meant to not only give good, clear directions, but to provide justification and a rationale as to why something was being done in class and why it had value.
Clarity with instructions and expectations was one piece in a larger attempt to help my students develop a more conscious awareness of what they were learning and why it was important. I wondered what would happen in my classes if I attempted to open up more communication with my students in regards to my lesson planning processes and my objectives, and intentions for student learning and achievement in class. If my planning processes and learning goals for my students were more transparent, I thought that a majority of the class could gain a greater awareness of what they were learning and feel more involved in the teaching and learning process.
My desire to explore this question was in part due to what I observed in my students, but it was also because the students that I was most closely involved with were seniors and most will be attending college next year, an academic environment in which success is largely based on a student’s independence and intrinsic desire to seek out new knowledge. I did not want my students to graduate at the end of the year without realizing the value in all they had learned, and without the self-awareness to identify what they were learning in a class.
Slowly, my central inquiry question evolved to: How can increased transparency and more open communication about my teaching practices, lesson planning and learning objectives affect my students? As I researched transparent teaching practices, I found that many articles mentioned student autonomy, independence, and choice, as well as democratic teaching and democratic education.
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Clarity with instructions and expectations was one piece in a larger attempt to help my students develop a more conscious awareness of what they were learning and why it was important. I wondered what would happen in my classes if I attempted to open up more communication with my students in regards to my lesson planning processes and my objectives, and intentions for student learning and achievement in class. If my planning processes and learning goals for my students were more transparent, I thought that a majority of the class could gain a greater awareness of what they were learning and feel more involved in the teaching and learning process.
My desire to explore this question was in part due to what I observed in my students, but it was also because the students that I was most closely involved with were seniors and most will be attending college next year, an academic environment in which success is largely based on a student’s independence and intrinsic desire to seek out new knowledge. I did not want my students to graduate at the end of the year without realizing the value in all they had learned, and without the self-awareness to identify what they were learning in a class.
Slowly, my central inquiry question evolved to: How can increased transparency and more open communication about my teaching practices, lesson planning and learning objectives affect my students? As I researched transparent teaching practices, I found that many articles mentioned student autonomy, independence, and choice, as well as democratic teaching and democratic education.
← Inquiry into Public Education - Students' Responses Literature Review of Current Research and Theories →
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