As Amy, Joetta and I were discussing student voice during a grant meeting this evening, I kept thinking about all the ways Kristin and I are empowering our students in our classes. I just had to share this story with everyone because I think it is so extremely powerful.
Today, I had a young lady approach me with a concern about one of her group members. She explained to me that her male peer had done something that was inappropriate and she and her group members wanted to fire him from the group because he had not been taking his work seriously. So, instead of approaching him upon hearing this information, I talked it over with Kristin and we decided that we should try the mediation approach because we both agree that it would be more powerful coming from his group members than a teacher telling him that his actions were not appropriate and....we were right.
I had Mr. Shaffer, our assistant principal, sit in on the mediation session so that the group knew that it was a serious matter. I gave everyone a chance to speak and express how they were feeling about the situation. I was so impressed at how they conducted themselves. The student that had caused the issue was very accepting of the process and did not become angry that his group members had brought the problem up. Instead, he owned up to this mistakes and realized that what he did, did not make his group happy and that he would make sure he stayed on task from here on out.
To see freshmen students conduct themselves in a way that they could problem-solve and discuss an issue within their group was certainly eye opening. It didn't turn into an argument. It wasn't a blame game. It was a genuine conversation from several peers to another, letting him know that they wanted him to work with the group and not distract the group from their work, otherwise, they were going to fire him.
I feel that if I or Kristin had approached this student on our own without the other group members, it wouldn't have had the same effect. This empowered the students to have a say in how their peer "got in trouble" so to speak. They were able to have an honest, open conversation with a great end result. I may be assuming when I say this; however, I believe that students respond better to their peers (when executed in the right way) than to teachers, even parents maybe.
I'll have to keep you updated on the student's behavior for the rest of the PBL, but if I had to guess I'm sure he'll be working diligently from here on out.
The word "Empowerment" is such a strong vocabulary word! I think it really sums up what we're trying to do with this freshman class! Students are empowered to take learning into their own hands! From empowerment stems ownership! When students feel ownership towards their learning it makes such a difference! Thanks for sharing this experience! It defiantely shows the strides that we are taking to improve education for the students at North Marion!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this, April. I agree with Kristin that it is such a good example of what we are trying to do with our students at NM. And it is also a good example of how what you are doing in the freshmen classes can be applied in traditional classrooms as well. I'm wondering what came out of the mediation as far as a "punishment" for whatever the student did. Or was there no need for one other than the mediation? I'm just wondering if the students in the group felt there should be follow-up or if they feel the meeting was enough. (And, personally, I think having to meet with my group in front of an assistant principal and discussing my mistake is enough! But I guess that depends on the severity of the action.)
ReplyDeleteWe really hope to get more faculty members involved with the blog---either posting or reading and commenting---in the months to come. Thank you for posting.