Let's Play Nice!

Based on the article:  Sociograms--Mapping the Emotional Dynamics of a Classroom byAlan Cooper

Social dynamics in a classroom can be a tricky thing.  As teachers, we just want everyone to get along.  We dream of being able to put any child in a group of any three other kids and they will all just work together nicely and cooperate to complete the task.

But of course we know that while this is the dream, there is often such a collection of little personalities that a task as simple as changing seats or creating groups for project work requires more orchestration than Handel's Messiah! (And we certainly want to shout "Hallelujah" when it works out!)

I've just read an interesting article which I found on my colleague Laurie Bartel's facebook page. (thanks, Laurie!)  It described an experiment of creating "sociograms" by passing out cards and telling students they can choose two partners for a group project.  (Any type of project--the results will generally be the same regardless of subject)  Then you collect the cards and map out with arrows who selected whom.  Kind of like this (and may I just add this is not my class--I would never publish the results of something like this!):

The two-way arrows show students who selected one another.  The larger circles show students who are frequently selected.  And then you have your poor outliers--like Charlie and Livie and Bill--who do not get selected at all.  Some of the interesting trends (and resulting questions) this can show you in your class include things like...

• Do I have cliques going on and what can I do to help them be more inclusive?  
• Is Tom "the man!" because he is kind and helpful to others or is there some other dynamic going on that I should be aware of?  
• There is a complete wall between genders here--how can I help my students overcome gender bias and reluctance to work together? 
• And then the ones I worry about most--the Charlies and Livies and Bills--how can I help them to learn to socialize better and to be more included in the group?

Usually after I get to know the kids the results of such a survey would not really be a surprise to me, and I confess that I have often attempted to choreograph friendships (or at least acceptance) through group assignments. I've tried different things throughout the years.  If the class is generally a nice group it can be as easy as saying,  "Pick two people you haven't worked with before."  I've also had luck having kids "Select two topics you are interested in learning more about" (such as particular Ecosystems.  (This works best if you don't give them notice ahead of time so they can't scheme with their friends!)  And with the Charlies or Livies or Bills I try to find something they are really good at that I can identify them as a "class expert" on so I can pull them into discussions.  "Hey, Charlie is really good at identifying kinds of snakes...let's ask Charlie!"  

How have you handled some of the socializing problems in your classroom?

Book Review: Stop Stealing Dreams

Book Review - Seth Godin’s  Stop Stealing Dreams http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/StopStealingDreamsSCREEN.pdf

Public school began in earnest in the last century as a place to prepare students to be workers in the hourly wage earning factory jobs which was the bulk of available work at that time.  Sitting in rows, doing mundane tasks, and obediently following authority prepared students for the repetitive factory jobs they would one day be performing.  One hundred years later, factories have closed or outsourced their manufacturing to other countries with cheaper and more cooperative labor forces.  Access to information at the touch of a button has done away with the need for rote memorization of vast stores of facts and trivia.  

But public school systems which began based on this system have not changed their working model since they have been in existence.  Today we are preparing students for jobs that have not even been invented using a factory/manufacturing model of a century ago.  We know this model does not work for our current needs.  But what do modern schools need to be doing to prepare students to enter the workforce which continues to change?  This is a problem tackled in Seth Godin’s manifesto, Stop Stealing Dreams.

This piece of writing really served to confirm for me what an inquiry-based curriculum can do for students, and the things we are getting *right* at Anglo American School.  Being allowed to work as part of a team, to raise questions they are passionate about finding answers to, then accessing and synthesizing information and learning to create and innovate--these are the skills that will prepare students for the future.  While I recommend reading Stop Stealing Dreams for yourself, here are a few of the main points (pertaining to Elementary Education) that  I gleaned from it if you are short on time.

1. Schools were designed as “holding places” for young laborers to keep them from taking adult factory jobs.  They were taught to sit in rows, follow directions, and mind authority--all things to prepare them to be good factory workers when they became old enough.
2. When access to data was limited, knowing  vast amounts of facts was relevant.  What is relevant in the information age?
3. “We can teach people to desire lifelong learning, to express themselves, and to innovate. And just as important, it’s vital we acknowledge that we can unteach bravery and creativity and initiative. And that we have been doing just that.”
4. Modern success requires not “compliant cogs” in an industrial complex, but rather innovators.  Education should “ inculcate leadership and restlessness into a new generation” where micro-organizations with many leaders are the norm.
5. In the age of connectedness, why would we want learning in isolation in a classroom?  No competent doctor says “I don’t know what to do; I’ll figure it out by myself.”
6. Fear can be a motivator to learn, or passion can be a motivator to learn.  Which would you rather use?
7. The jobs of the future are in two categories: the downtrodden assemblers of cheap mass goods and the respected creators of the unexpected.
8. In a world of outsourcing, more skilled obedient workers just mean more unemployed.  Creators and innovators create jobs for themselves and others.
9. Dreamers also require willpower (or perseverance or grit) to achieve their dreams.  How do we teach willpower?
10. The notion that each of us can assemble a network (of people, of data sources, of experiences) that will make us either smart or stupid—that’s brand new and important.  How do we teach networking?
11. In an age of information, “the ability to synthesize complex ideas and to invent new concepts is far more useful than drill and practice.”
12. Leadership is a gradual process in which you practice responsibility years before you are given authority.
13. Teach kids how to lead.  Help kids learn how to solve interesting problems.
14. So what is the role of the teacher, if it is not to impart knowledge?  Coaching. When a teacher sells the journey and offers support, the student will figure it out. Cheerleading--believing in the student and cheering them on.