Readings
Why do students resist change? Murray suggests that they do so because of ambivalence about what changing would be like, anxiety about moving toward something unfamiliar, anger, or priorities that might not include a focus on learning. On a website from the University of California, Berkeley, you can read about general strategies, incorporating instructional strategies that motivate students, how to re-structure your course to motivate students, and how to de-emphasize grades. The information is from Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis. Robert Harris offers his thoughts on the VirtualSalt website. Murray shared a list of Twelve Roadblocks to Listening from Thomas Gordon, Ph.D. Ordering, directing, or commanding Warning or threatening Giving advice, making suggestions, or providing solutions Persuading with logic, arguing, or lecturing Moralizing, preaching, or telling clients what they “should” do Disagreeing, judging, criticizing, or blaming Agreeing, approving, or praising Shaming, ridiculing, or labeling Interpreting or analyzing Reassuring, sympathizing, or consoling Questioning or probing Withdrawing, distracting, humoring, or changing the subject
Can we tear down these roadblocks? Murray says "yes" and offers her Strategies for Evoking Change Talk. 1. Ask Evocative Questions:Ask open questions, the answer to which is change talk.
2. Explore Decisional Balance: Ask first for the good things about status quo, then ask for the not-so-good things.
3. Ask for Elaboration: When a change talk theme emerges, ask for more detail. In what ways?
4. Ask for Examples: When a change talk theme emerges, ask for specific examples. When was the last time that happened? Give me an example. What else?
5. Look Back: Ask about a time before the current concern emerged. How were things better, different?
6. Look Forward: Ask what may happen if things continue as they are (status quo). Try the miracle question: If you were 100% successful in making the changes you want, what would be different? How would you like your life to be five years from now?
7. Query Extremes: What are the worst things that might happen if you don’t make this change? What are the best things that might happen if you do make this change?
8. Use Change Rulers: Ask, “On a scale from zero to ten, how important is it to you to [target change] – where zero is not at all important, and ten is extremely important? Follow up: And why are you at ___ and not zero? What might happen that could move you from ____ to [higher score]? Instead of “how important” (need), you could also ask how much you want (desire), or how confident you are that you could (ability), or how committed are you to ____ (commitment). Asking “how ready are you?” tends to be confusing because it combines competing components of desire, ability, reasons and need. 9. Explore Goals and Values: Ask what the person’s guiding values are. What do they want in life? Using a values card sort can be helpful here. If there is a “problem” behavior, ask how that behavior fits in with the person’s goals or values. Does it help realize a goal or value, interfere with it, or is it irrelevant?
10. Come Alongside: Explicitly side with the negative (status quo) side of ambivalence. Perhaps ___ is so important to you that you won’t give it up, no matter what the cost. Here are some additional resources for you as you think about change in your classroom include: Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. What makes a great teacher great? Who are the professors students remember long after graduation? This book, the conclusion of a fifteen-year study of nearly one hundred college teachers in a wide variety of fields and universities, offers valuable answers for all educators. The short answer is--it's not what teachers do, it's what they understand. Lesson plans and lecture notes matter less than the special way teachers comprehend the subject and value human learning. Magnan, R (ed) (1990). 147 Practice Tips for Teaching Professors. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing. 147 Practical Tips covers all the important phases of the teaching process.
McEntee, G.H., Appleby, J., Dowd, J., Grant, J., Hole, S., Silva, P. (2003). At the Heart of Teaching: A guide to reflective practice. New York and London: Teachers College Press.
Written by public school teachers who offer lessons learned and strategies that work, this volume: -Provides insights to help teachers build reflective practice with their students, including protocols for classroom problem solving. Palmer, P. J. (1998). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc. The premise of this book is concise and unarguable: good teaching comes from the identity and the integrity of the teacher. Teachers are encouraged to turn their inquiring minds inward--developing a deeper understanding of what it means to fulfill the spiritual calling of teaching. Good teachers share one trait, says author Parker Palmer, they are able to weave a complex web of connections among themselves, their subjects, and their students, so that students can learn to weave a world for themselves.
Vella, J. (1994). Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach: The power of dialogue in educating adults. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
In this updated version of her landmark book Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach, celebrated adult educator Jane Vella revisits her twelve principles of dialogue education with a new theoretical perspective gleaned from the discipline of quantum physics. Previous: Contents Next: Points to Ponder
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