You all remember Mark Barnes from the “ROLE On blog post“, right? Well, he is back with an update…..
Mark shares…
We’re just six days into the school year, and my Results Only Learning Environment is taking off. My students are grasping the idea of emphasizing the results, rather than the method of achievement. I have explained to my students that a ROLE is built around the theme of Type I behavior — borrowing from Dan Pink’s theories in his bestselling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
In order to get students to understand this new approach to learning, I showed them a presentation that explains how students will be given a “menu” of activities for most learning units and how they’ll be able to choose their method of assessment. The presentation can be found on our classroom web site. Each day, I have continued to underscore the concept of Type I people and intrinsic motivation. I am teaching them that Type I behavior is built on autonomy, mastery and purpose (Dan Pink’s concepts).
“You have to want to learn and want to improve,” I tell students. “It has to be more important to you than it is to me. And if you have this sort of intrinsic motivation — the desire to work alone, to master a task and to contribute to something bigger than our classroom — you’ll meet every life and academic goal you ever set.” My job, I explain, then becomes more of an academic coach than a teacher. I provide the learning outcomes, give students different activities from which to choose, and they complete the task that best suits their learning styles.
To better illustrate this concept, take a look at our summer reading project. It’s located on our classroom web site at this link. The project offers that “menu” of assessment choices that I told students they’d get.
Of course, their first question is, “What’s it worth?” My answer perplexes them. “I’m not sure,” I say. “I’m not concerned with your grade; I just want your best work.”
As soon as the results are in, I’ll share them here.
