Best Practices
The goal is student-directed work.
Whether your goal is to make artists as Purtee and Sands (2021) describe, or to create lifelong learners as others have advocated (Thomas & Brown, 2011; Falk & Dierking, 2002), teaching students how to direct their own learning is a skill that serves them not only in the classroom but in society and their life beyond the art room (Dewey, 1990; Hetland et al., 2013) and by creating spaces for students to learn these skills, we, as art educators, are creating spaces for possibilities.
"That is, we do not see education in linear-causal terms of achieving preset objectives or re-presentation of established truths, but as a participation in the ever-unfolding project of becoming capable of new, perhaps as-yet unimaginable possibilities"
(Davis & Sumara, 2008 pp.20-21).
Regardless of why you value choice, always remember that the goal of a choice-focused curriculum is student-directed work. Your job is to teach students the skills they need to get to the point where they can seek out the answers to their own questions and express their ideas effectively.
Routine Routine Routine
"The predictability of studio centers facilitates student planning, discovering and collecting materials"
(Douglas & Jaquith, 2009, p. 10)
When you attend a conference or workshop and the presenter suddenly tells you to make something, you may feel you've been put on the spot and unable to come up with something "good." Your students feel the same way when they don't know what to expect from your teaching. By setting routines up early and sticking to them, students are able to come to class ready with ideas, because they know they are both going to need them and get to use them. Unless something completely unexpected comes up, students should always know what they're going to be doing in class the next day.
In terms of the Plug and Play curriculum, students can see as many lessons as you upload and publish. They may not know exactly what those future lessons will entail, but if they can see that they'll be working on a new goal, for example, they know what that means and can start thinking about what they want to do. If they see there's a unit on copyright after their current goal, they won't be disappointed when they come to class and are expected to work on a copyright lesson. They'll file their idea away for when the next goal starts.
Routine is also pivotal to establishing high expectations. If you're constantly changing things up and moving the bar, students have a hard time meeting expectations, much less exceeding them. Be consistent and hold tight to high expectations early on, even if it's frustrating. The procedures won't change, so if you insist they learn to do it correctly in the beginning, it will become instinctual by the end of the course. For example, reflective journals are a sticking point for some early on. The instructions say they must write at least three sentences. If there aren't at least three periods and three capital letters in their writing, they don't get credit for it. (See mastery-based grading.) This sounds super picky, but if they are expected to write three sentences most days for the entire year, and you're not picky about basic punctuation early on, all the writing they do will be difficult to read and can't be used to support their general writing ability. That being said, high expectations are not always the same for all students.
Trust is key
You trust them
You have to trust your students to find their way (Brei, 2011b; Douglas & Jaquith, 2009). Just about everything will take longer while you teach skills for independent learning, but you must express through your words and actions that you believe in their ability to answer their own questions and solve their own problems. If a student asks a question that could be answered by a simple web search, don't tell them the answer.
When a simple question is asked, say:
"I believe you can find that answer without me."
Once you've used this phrase enough, you can simply say:
"I believe in you."
Many will get frustrated by this, but actions like these, remind them they are capable of finding the answers to their questions without you. Sometimes it can feel as though you're abandoning them and they may even feel abandoned.
But, consider this:
If you were abandoned in a strange place, would you start finding a way home, or would you curl up in a ball and wait for someone to find you? What do you want to teach your students to do. When we rescue them all the time and give them answers they can find on their own, we deprive them of finding their own way.
This doesn't mean you can't ever step in and help. You simply need to reserve your help for when they've attempted to solve their problem or answer their question on their own first.
They trust you
You must also foster a trustworthy safe environment. If you expect students to share their ideas, thoughts, and feelings they must feel you and their classmates can be trusted to accept their work without personal judgement. I can't possibly outline every aspect of creating this type of environment. I still struggle with it when particularly challenging students pass through my door, but I can share a couple tips.
Do your best to hide your personal opinion on politics and other social issues. You will always have students on both sides of every issue that comes up and you have to do your best not to alienate either group. You can discuss these issues with your students by asking questions and encouraging them to explain their perspective. Play devil's advocate instead of revealing your personal opinions.
I had a student once who was so excited about a new law being passed they sent me an article about it. I whole-heartedly disagreed with the stance of the author, but because I had previously listened to the student's perspective, and encouraged them to do what they thought best while continuing to listen to opposing points of view, they went out of their way to share their feelings with me.
When you have students with opposing points of view in the same class, there will inevitably be tension. In these cases, strictly enforce kind behavior. If something hurtful is said, do your best to react proportionally. Some actions may necessitate immediately removing the student from the room while others can be addressed by encouraging discussion. The most important thing to remember is your actions must let the student know that the unkind way they expressed their opinion was unacceptable, but their opinions and point-of view are always welcome.
Replace whole-class activities with student-paced instruction
Taylor (2019) and Farah (2021) recommend content being provided at an individual pace, and Dewey (1990) specifically suggests you eliminate whole-class instruction.
The Plug and Play curriculum provides students with all the information they need when they need it. Instruction is provided in daily bite-sized lessons that are to be completed in order and no content can be skipped. If a student is absent, they pick up where they left off when they return. With this student-paced instruction, you rarely have a need to address the whole class because each student is working on different content and activities.
"One must never assume that what is said will actually be noticed by students" (Davis et al., 2008, p. 27). So, limit addressing the whole class to sudden changes and procedural information. Then, be prepared to repeat it.
don't be afraid to say "i don't know"
I couldn't count the number of times I've told a student "I don't know." At first, it seemed as though I was undermining my own authority in the classroom, but eventually I began to get excited when a student would ask a question I didn't know the answer to. Many are upset at first when I admit that I can't give them an answer. They may even express that I must be a bad teacher if I don't know everything about the subject I teach, but I've learned to brush it off.
There's two possible responses to a situation in which you don't know the answer.
The first is to seek out the answer yourself and make sure the student sees you do this. The second is to encourage the student to find the answer him or herself. The difficulty of the question and the skill level of the student should dictate how you respond. It's also ideal to explain why you're responding the way you are.
Find the answer yourself
5 minutes before class was over and with a journal entry left to complete, I'm asked, "what's up with that duct taped banana?"
I have heard about the duct taped banana, but haven't taken the time to read about it yet. I know the student likely hasn't been exposed to conceptual art, so they may not understand articles on the topic. With that in mind, along with the limited time left in class, I reply.
"I know that it's conceptual art, which means it's more about the idea than the thing the artist makes, but I don't know much about that piece specifically. Let me read about it real quick since you need to finish your journal. I'll let you know what I find."
Encourage the student to find the answer
I've been trying to knit, but I can't tell what the lady in the video is doing. Can you help me?
Actually, I've never knit before, but I've always wanted to learn. Try a different resource and let me know how it goes. I'd love if you could teach me when you get the hang of it.
In this scenario, the question is about a process. This type of response would be appropriate for a student who needed a bit of encouragement and a reminder that not all resources are created equal. If I felt as though they were incapable of finding a helpful resource or that they needed help interpreting the resource, I would have looked at their resource with them and maybe even picked up some needles of my own to follow the steps with them.
By allowing your students to see the limits of your experience and knowledge, you can empower them to become the expert. It expresses to them you are on a level playing field in that area and you're happy to learn from their experience as much as you expect them to learn from yours. Many students would prefer to learn from a classmate than a website, so the student-expert gains competence and self-esteem while the class gains a new resource.
"I don't know" becomes a win-win situation where both the teacher and student benefit. Regardless of whether you seek out the information yourself or encourage the student to seek the answers, it positions you as part of the community of learners instead of an all-knowing being separate from the class. It demonstrates to them you are still learning, and learning is exciting.
Verbalize thinking
Verbalize what you see happening as students work (Douglas and Jaquith, 2009). These descriptions do two things. They make tacit experiences more explicit and support an autonomous environment.
Tacit to Explicit
When walking around the room, make observations about what students are doing. These observatory statements will aid students in understanding what experiences are desirable and which are inappropriate. It also helps them form their experience into words in their reflective journals at the end of class.
This interaction is making it clear to the student it's okay they're being messy, but they won't have as much time to work because they'll need to take the time to clean it up. It also lets them know the scrap box is a good place to get paper for protecting the table and new paper isn't appropriate for this purpose.
Here, the teacher is letting the student know it's appropriate to revisit the research phase when a new problem surfaces. She's also giving the student some search terms they may not know.
Support Autonomy
Students are more likely to feel autonomy in controlled environments when they understand the "why" behind what they're asked to do (Deci & Ryan, 2008). When a student challenges the rules or procedures they're trying to gain more autonomy. By verbalizing your thought process in response to the situation you give students insight into why those controls are in place or why you are willing to make an exception.
"Normally, we aren't allowed to eat in class, but I understand your bus was late so you missed breakfast. For today, you can eat your snack quickly."
"I understand you want to make a ceramic piece for this goal, but we are only a day away from a week-long break. If you start that now, it will be impossible to keep moist while we're gone. You should choose something else for this goal and do ceramics on the next one."
By verbalizing your thinking, simply voicing what's going on in your head as you engage with students, you give them insight into appropriate behavior and why certain controls are in place. This behavior should become instinctual to you. It's highly valuable to students as they move forward in their understanding of how to be successful with student-directed work.
support student needs
To create an autonomy supportive environment, the teacher must support student needs of competence, relatedness, and autonomy (Deci & Ryan, 2000, 2007).
Relatedness Thwarted - Secluded
Students whose relatedness need isn't being met will avoid interaction with classmates and/or the teacher because they do not feel connected to or accepted by the group.
They may:
express anxiety when faced with collaborative work
have experienced instances of the teacher or classmates expressing through verbal or non-verbal cues that they are unwelcome.
seek frequent help from the teacher for issues that a classmate could help with
refuse to ask the teacher for help
seek frequent affirmation from the teacher
refuse to speak to the teacher
make more frequent mistakes due to a disconnect from classmates who will freely help/correct them when they are seen to be struggling
Relatedness Supported - Sociable
Students whose relatedness need is being met will feel connected to and accepted by the whole group. They will freely ask for help when needed and provide help to others unprompted. They will discuss their work openly and provide constructive feedback to others.
To support relatedness:
allow students to freely move around the room and sit where they like, so they can discuss their work with whoever they feel most comfortable (except when unacceptable behavior makes this impossible)
encourage students to get to know one another at the beginning of the year with icebreakers and community-building games.
Introduce students to classmates that have previously worked with a technique or material that they are struggling with
hold regular critiques, so students can see what others are working on and receive encouragement from classmates
provide more frequent checks for understanding to those who are withdrawn from the group by asking specific questions and waiting patiently for an answer
Chat with disconnected students about life beyond the course content and attempt to connect them with classmates that have similar interests
use non-verbal cues to correct behavior whenever possible
Competence Thwarted - Task Avoidance
Students whose competence need isn't being met will avoid participating in coursework because they feel unable to complete it successfully.
They may:
spend the majority of their time on task-avoidance by talking with classmates, playing games on a device, or texting
spend inordinate amounts of time accessing the assignment or the materials needed
refuse or be unable to answer questions about why they aren't completing work
consistently turn work in late
express that they don't know what to do even when the instructions are explicit and simple
avoid sharing their work
Competence Supported - Exceeds Expectations
Students whose competence need is being met will feel capable of completing assignments successfully. They will have a healthy view of failure that leads them to revise their work or process for future success.
To support competence:
encourage students with a compliment on what they're doing well before giving constructive criticism
give compliments without criticism
provide opportunities for classmates to give compliments on others' work
avoid comparing students' work when supporting the competency of one student thwarts the competency of the other
avoid expressing to a struggling student that the assignment is easy
provide struggling students with their next step and stay with them until you can congratulate them on completing it
ask struggling students to verbalize their next step
acknowledge when tasks are difficult or complex while reassuring students that they can do it
connect failure with opportunities (ex: "Your shading needs a bit or work, so that would be a great choice for your next goal.")
Autonomy Thwarted - Lack of Student Voice
Students whose autonomy need isn't being met will not see value in the course assignments and experiences (Deci and Ryan, 2007).
They may:
frequently ask "why" they must do something
express that they won't ever use the specific content or don't need the class for graduation
appear bored
express frustration
turn in work only to maintain eligibility for after-school programs or athletics
complete work for teacher or parent approval
turn in only the minimum required to meet a benchmark set by the school, teacher, parent, or coach
Autonomy Supported - Confident Student Voice
Students whose autonomy need is being met will engage actively with coursework because they understand the applicability of applied constraints and may go so far as to include them in their self-directed learning (Deci and Ryan, 2007).
To support autonomy:
provide ample opportunities to connect coursework to students' interests, feelings, and experiences
make "whys" explicit and experiential (ex: After students practice a skill, ask them to reflect on how the practice was beneficial.)
freely explain why particular constraints are in place even as far as apologizing for your lack of ability to control them (ex: "I'm sorry you can't eat in class It's a school-wide rule, and I'm responsible for enforcing it.")
encourage students to problem-solve around constraints (ex: "I'm sorry you can't eat in class. It's a school-wide rule. Is there something you could do to attempt to change the rule or another time you could eat your snack?")
provide as much choice as possible without thwarting the students' competence
Amotivation - Need Substitutes
Amotivation according to Deci and Ryan (2000) occurs when all needs are thwarted and a person lacks any extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. They go on to explain that, "in situations in which need satisfaction cannot be achieved, people's inherent tendency toward activity and organization will lead to protective responses - that is, to the best accommodation possible" (Deci and Ryan, 2000, p. 249).
Deci (1980), as cited by Deci and Ryan (2000) calls these accommodations "need substitutes." They describe these as responses generated to attempt to fill an unmet need. When a need is unable to be met, need substitutes provide an alternate comfort, but may have the side-effect of continuing to thwart the need (Deci and Ryan, 2000).
Deci and Ryan (2000) use two studies (Hodgins & Liebeskind, 1998; Hodgins, Liebeskind, & Schwartz, 1996) to provide an excellent example of how need substitutes can play out. These studies found that when autonomy and relatedness are thwarted, participants often attempted "trying to save face, blaming the others, and aggravating the distress rather than trying to mitigate the awkwardness" (p. 251). Unfortunately, saving face continues to thwart the relatedness need because the disturbance makes others uncomfortable, and it thwarts the autonomy need because their ego has taken control of their actions (Deci and Ryan, 2000).
Examples of Need Substitutes:
disruptive behavior may be an attempt to meet the relatedness and/or autonomy need
disruptive behavior may also be a consequence of an unmet competence need
making excuses for not meeting expectations may be a consequence of an unmet competence or autonomy need
Amotivation - Addressing Need Substitutes
Students may suffer from more than one unmet need and the challenging task of the teacher is to see through the need substitutes to discover and attempt to meet the need of the student. Many students come to our classrooms with unmet needs in other areas of their lives, whether they be physiological or psychological. These need substitutes can become normal responses for them, so even if you've provided an autonomy supportive environment, mitigating these need substitutes may be a continual process.
Potential Mitigating Responses to Need Substitutes:
avoid addressing behavior concerns in a way that singles the student out in front of the group
offer assistance on the task at hand as opposed to simply re-directing the student (ex: I see you're wandering around the room a lot today. What can I help you with?")
apologize for any behaviors the student may find objectionable regardless of whether you acted inappropriately (ex: "I'm sorry I didn't make it over to your table to talk to you. There were a lot of students who needed my help today.")
discussion
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references
Brei, B. (2011b, November). I can make whatever i want? [PowerPoint Slides]. Texas Art Education Association Convention, Galveston, TX, United States.
Camp Stomping Ground. (2014). What is self determination theory? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sRBBNkSXpY
Davis, B., Sumara, D. J., & Luce-Kapler, R. (2008). Engaging minds: Changing teaching in complex times. United Kingdom: Routledge. (Original work published 2000).
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Facilitating optimal motivation and psychological well-being across life's domains. Canadian Psychology, 49(1), 14-34. https://libproxy.library.unt.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxy.library.unt.edu/scholarly-journals/facilitating-optimal-motivation-psychological/docview/220818810/se-2?accountid=7113
Dewey, J. (1990). The school and society and the child and the curriculum. United States: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published in 1900,1902).
Douglas, K. M., & Jaquith, D. B. (2009). Engaging learners through artmaking: Choice-based art education in the classroom. United States: Teachers College Press.
Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2002). Lessons without limit: How free-choice learning is transforming education. United Kingdom: AltaMira Press.
Farah, K. (2021, March 7). How to set up mastery-based grading in your classroom. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/mastery-based-grading/
Hetland, L., Winner, E., Veenema, S., & Sheridan, K. M. (2013). Studio thinking 2: The real benefits of visual arts education, second edition. United States: Teachers College Press.
Purtee, M., & Sands, I. (2021). Making artists. United States: Davis Publications, Incorporated.
Taylor, J. (2019, March). Break it down choice [PowerPoint Slides]. National Art Education Association Convention, Boston, MA, United States.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. United Kingdom: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.