Sunday, June 16, 2013

Response to Tony Gurr's Motivation


        The blog post “Motivating our LEARNers…or ‘Co-Creating’ a CLIMATE of LEARNacy?” by Tony Gurr explains to teachers that instead of trying to motivating students, they should listen to the students’ opinions and guide the students through their OWN learning. However, despite the effective presentation method and persuasive visuals, I personally disagree with the main message the author is trying to spread.

        The presentation format of Tony Gurr’s blog post is very unique. Half of the post consists of words while the other half is all visuals. The made the post very interesting and easy to read on, despite its long length. However, some of the pictures presented are somewhat irrelevant in my opinion, or need further “googling” to clarify. This may muddle the main idea of the post. For example, I couldn't (and still cannot) understand the picture that showed “I am back, therefore I am”. I do not see any connection of that section with motivation and learning. Other than that fact, the blog post was relatively pleasant to read and understand.

       However, I do not completely agree with the ideas that Tony Gurr is presenting to us. He said that teachers should give students their own choices on deciding what they desire to learn; teachers should guide students to follow their passions. Although this may work with some parts of a course, it will not be able to fully take over the curriculum. Not everyone is capable of independent exploration with minimal teacher interference. A great way to explain this is with the Genius Hour Passion Projects we have been doing in our English class over the semester. Despite all the fun and freedom we had, I still feel like we did not completely cover what we are supposed to learn. Yes, we did obtain a valuable experience by creating a new sport, and we did learn a great deal about the history of magic, but there was also a downside. Genius Hour took up a great deal of time that could be used for other approaches to learning, such as formal essay writing. This may seem boring, but in my opinion, but it is a more efficient way to develop English skills. On top of that, sometimes too much freedom will also lead to laziness, low-quality/irrelevant work. As a student, I feel that we do not have enough base knowledge, skill, or discipline to make choices that will benefit our learning.


        As a high school student, I understand that our teachers try to find a balance between what we NEED to learn and what we WANT to learn. However, I don’t think that we are ready to have that freedom. We still need a superior guidance to push us forward and see that we complete all our work. Freedom is not a right; it is a responsibility, a discipline. Until we show that we have enough willpower to control ourselves – I do not believe we have done so yet – we are not ready to hold this burden.

3 comments:

  1. I understand the need to find a balance between structured and more traditional forms of tasks, like essay writing. I agree that not all students are fully ready for extra freedom as well. My query to you would be... How will those students learn without trying and sometimes struggling or even failing. We do learn more from our failures than our successes. How would we decide who is ready for the responsibility of having freedom in their learning. Some argue that restricting learning contexts too much stifles engagement and the learning process far more than allowing choice and freedom.

    I know we spent a block a week on our genius hour projects but I think you'd be surprised to look back and see that you also have been writing "essays" and multi paragraph compositions -just in different formats through the blog posts.

    Even though I disagree with some of your positions, I have enjoyed reading the thoughtfulness you have put behind expressing your opinions. Great final post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Isaac, I just looked back at our writing and posts and I think you all wrote 8 or 9 essays. More than usual in a semester course with other assignments and such. Just hidden from you more as blog posts ;)

      Delete
  2. Hi Issac,

    I see Ms Lees got a comment in before me - she is fast, too ;-)

    Your post was quite "deep" and it made me thunk...I loved the fact that you would be so open, honest and frank about your own views on LEARNing - this is what I think I was getting at when I talked about "voice". Even when people do not fully agree on a topic or an issue...greater understanding is the result of two voices speaking (and four ears listening)!

    I hear what you are saying and, if I was totally honest, your views reflect those of many TEACHers, too. I have heard these things many times when I talk to them. However, we do not have (always) agree to LEARN...does that make sense?

    But, let me try to make my thunks clearer. Firstly, I would never suggest that a classroom / a curriculum be handed over totally to LEARNers (I know some people who also disagree with me there). The best classrooms...the best education comes from a process of "co-creation" - effective co-creation is about LISTENing, CARing and AGREEing on the best way to travel the road ahead. Mmmm, me thinks I might be getting a bit "heavy" here ;-) Both TEACHers and students are soooooo important (both of them need to be LEARNers of their TEACHing and LEARNing) - and the 3Cs and 3Rs I mentioned are important for both, too. I get what you say about many "kids" (perhaps) not being "ready" (or "able") - but the thing is, they will need these things in the "real world" and if we (TEACHers) do not get our students ready for them...we will not be (fully) doing our jobs. Many kids leave school (far too many of them) without being equipped to "cope"...TEACHers, by providing a safe environment to take risks...to experiment...to make decisions (and deal with the consequences), can help this process (PARENTals need to do the same) ;-)

    Does this mean throwing the baby out with the bath-water? NO...it means looking at the bath-water in a different way...an exchange of "voices" is the best way to kick this process off. I'm reading what you say about Genius Hour (an idea I really like...mostly because so few SCHools even consider giving "creativity" an hour) and looking at how Ms Lees responds...this is "real" communication and it can't help but help us all get better.

    OK - I kinda got on a soap-box there ;-) But, I wanted you to understand where I was coming from...you see, even two "strangers" can understand eachother better through blogs ;-)

    BTW...I liked the things you noted about the blog post. Yes, I agree...some of the things are difficult to follow (and I sometimes use "in-jokes" and concepts that many people are not familiar with). The whole "Secret" thing really needed you to have read the first 2 posts in the "mini-series"...where I was a bit "cheeky":

    LEARNer Motivation …the best kept SECRET… “EVER”!
    How to MOTIVATE your LEARNers…finally the “Magic Bullet” (from heaven)!

    I'm not a "Blogger-user" (and I'm having a bit of trouble getting my links to go "hot") so here is the URL, too:

    http://independent.academia.edu/TonyGurr/Posts

    OK - I thunk we have listened to eachother's voices enough for today. BUT, I would love to see what you think...now, I have (tried to) explain(ed) where I am coming from. Let me know...in a comment on my blog this time...if that has helped you LEARN any more.

    Take care.

    T..

    ReplyDelete