As I read about inquiry I noticed another theme in the research, and that was the idea of student choice. Why would teachers give choices to students, and what kinds of choices should students be able to make in school? There was a wide range of ideas ranging from giving students options in homework to allowing students to make most of the academic decisions in school. The decisions teachers make about how much control they are willing to relinquish plays a big role in how an inquiry might develop.
Imagine looking out at your class of students working together on a project, sharing excitement over a book, or finding different ways to solve a math problem. You begin to smile as you see your students actually enjoying learning and you know that most days they look forward to coming to your class. Fortunately, there is research that shows how to create those environments in our classrooms, and one of the main components to actively engage students is to provide them with choices. Parsons, Malloy, Parsons, & Burrowbridge (2015); Miller (2012); Morgan and Wagner (2013); & Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall & Tower (2006) wrote about what happens when students have choices in their learning.
Parsons, Malloy, Parsons, & Burrowbridge (2015) explained “Activities that are authentic, collaborative, challenging, student-directed, and sustained have been identified in the literature as essential to enhancing engagement” (p.225). Their yearlong study of sixth graders looked at behavioral engagement (time on task), cognitive engagement (strategic effort), and affective engagement (interest in the topic or task.) The study underscored the importance of student directed learning as one of several components that lead to engagement in literacy. The results showed that the most engaging activities were based on teachers’ knowledge of students’ abilities and interests, creating productive and collaborative groups, and supporting students to successfully complete the tasks. Students definitely like to have some control in their learning and they benefit tremendously when teachers provide those choices.
Miller, a middle school teacher and author of several books, noted that the single teaching practice that inspired her students to read is the opportunity to select their own books. She carefully planned the school day to ensure students have many opportunities to read. She replaced “bell ringer assignments” and worksheets with time in class to read. Her students took books whenever they had to wait in line for class pictures, the bus, or assemblies so there is no wasted time. She knew that students counted on being able to decide what they wanted to read, and that became quite clear when she came close to assigning the class a novel to read. “No, please don’t! When teachers tell us we have to read a book, we hate it. We like it that we get to choose what we read” (p. 91). Miller listened to her students and kept the novel as an option rather than an assignment.
Morgan and Wagner (2013) reported similar findings about student choice in their study about high school students. Wagner, the classroom teacher, learned that his students needed a variety of books at different levels and time in school to read. His instructional practices changed from less whole group discussion and more individual conferring with students. The time spent with students gave the him a deeper understanding of who the students were as young adults – their families, their passions, likes and dislikes. Students related to the books personally and fostered a meaningful connection with him. By the end of the study he saw that there was renewed focus on reading for pleasure, which extended beyond the walls of the classroom. Teachers in other subject areas noticed students sneaking in reading during their classes.
The findings about choice are consistent among all grade levels. Duke, Purcell-Gates, Hall & Tower (2006) conducted a two year study of second and third graders about genre learning and authentic literacy activities. They defined authentic literacy as, “Literacy activities that replicate or reflect reading and writing activities that occur in the lives of people outside the learning-to-read-and-write context and purpose. Each authentic literacy activity has a writer who is writing to a real reader and a reader who is reading what the writer wrote” (p.346). Their study involved teachers using a variety of literacy activities, and those activities were rated according to the authenticity of purpose and authenticity of text. Teachers in the study reported that, “Students came alive when they realized they were writing to real people for real reasons or reading real-life texts for their own purposes.” The results showed that students grew in their ability to read and write in new genres as a result of the authentic literacy activities.
Types of Choices It is clear that student choice and authentic learning are essential elements in academic growth and engagement in school. What kinds of choices can teachers make available to students to achieve these goals? Patall, Cooper, & Wynn (2010); Gambrell, Hughes, Calvert, Malloy, & Igo (2011); Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner (2004); and Kohn (1993) offer suggestions from their research that show many options teachers can use in their classroom.
Patall, Cooper, & Wynn (2010) conducted a study of high school students in two urban schools. Participating teachers provided students with a choice in homework assignments, or mandated homework. They investigated for a unit of study that lasted a month. Both groups completed questionnaires and surveys. Findings indicated that students who were given options felt more interested in and enjoyed homework, and felt more competent. They completed more homework than they had before and scored higher on the unit test than students who completed mandated homework.
Providing authentic literacy tasks promotes students’ literacy motivation, and choice is one of several factors in authenticity. Gambrell, Hughes, Calvert, Malloy, & Igo (2011) examined the effects of authentic literacy tasks among third through fifth graders. The researchers conducted professional development for classroom teachers who participated in the study. Elementary school students selected a book from a group of options and wrote letters to an adult pen-pal. The pen-pals were carefully screened and selected from a group of various businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies who volunteered to participate as part of a community service commitment. They were trained about how to write letters to students in a way that supported literacy development. Students wrote and read letters from their pen-pals and engaged in small group discussions about the book. After student surveys, transcripts of discussions and interviews were analyzed, the results were impressive. “Findings integrated across quantitative and qualitative data sources suggest that authentic literacy tasks have the potential to support and sustain students’ literacy motivation” (p.234).
Stefanou, Perencevich, DiCintio, & Turner (2004) suggest teachers can categorize choices they give to students into three categories: organizational, procedural, and cognitive. Organizational choices include allowing students to decide some things about the classroom management system, such as developing rules with the teacher. Procedural choices involve offering students choices about using different media to present ideas, such as using a graph or picture to illustrate a science concept. Cognitive choices were giving students opportunities to self-evaluate or generate their own solutions to a problem. The authors contend that all three types of choices are necessary for students to feel a deep level of satisfaction and engagement in learning. Through vignettes they clarified examples of what teachers did to show high levels of each category of choices given to students. The following table shows each category and examples of choices students could have.
Strategies associated with the different features of autonomy support
Kohn (1993) would likely agree with all the researchers mentioned above, and then he would add to their ideas. Kohn writes about the importance of self-determination and comments about how American schools, “are typically about doing things to children, not working with them” (p. 9). He cites studies that found that children who are given more opportunities to participate in decisions about schoolwork score higher on standardized tests and persevere even when doing uninteresting tasks. He advocates for teachers allowing students to make choices in nearly every possible instance, including classroom management, topics to study, where to sit (or stand), or who to work with in a small group. He believes that teachers should offer students a block of time daily when students decide how they would like to spend their time. They could to work on homework, write in a journal, work on an art project or read a book. Even math lessons can be a result of what students find interesting. His premise is based on a foundation of respect for students and allowing them a voice in everything that concerns them, and the research proves that self-determination is important for students.
Student choice as it relates to inquiry Student choice and inquiry are essentially ideas woven from the same cloth. True inquiry does not happen without student choice, and student choice often leads to inquiry. One look at Ward’s (2015) blog about inquiry and student choice makes both concepts come alive. She wrote about the projects her tenth grade students did over the course of ten weeks. My chin dropped to the floor as I read. Students chose anything they wanted to research and their journey was not only authentic, but meaningful beyond the classroom. Here is one example she shared. “TJ mentioned that he was going to try contacting a principal from the school to help with his current research. He thought he was just going to be building a computer from scratch (which he did), but then he asked the question, “Why don’t students have the opportunity to do this in school?” So this weekend, he put together a course proposal and research curriculum guidelines and state teaching regulations which he plans to share with our principal and hopefully the school board.” In addition to the projects, these students mentored fifth grade students in the same county and showed them how to research. Ward ends the blog post by writing about her students’ disappointment that the projects were coming to an end. They wanted more learning, reading, researching, and connecting. She wrote, “This is what passion-based learning inspires. Students and teachers building a community of learning that extends well beyond our physical classrooms and beyond the boundaries of one particular class. I cannot think of a more appealing way to teach and learn in school – it’s a teacher’s dream.