10 Critical Qualities Of Student Work
What sort of label do you put on Phil Schlechty? Perhaps "educational
change agent" works as well as any. In an interview
in the NSDC Journal of Staff Development, Schlechty recalled 10 qualities
of student work he described in his book "Inventing Better Schools:
An Action Plan for Educational Reform" (1997). Here's an excerpt of
his comments and a capsule description of the 10 qualities. See more at
the website of Schlechty's consulting
group.
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Schlechty: "For example, in Inventing
Better Schools, I set forth 10 qualities or attributes to which teachers
might attend if they were set on inventing work that is more engaging for
students.These qualities could serve as a framework for ongoing collegial
discussions in schools as well as for the design of new activities for students.
These qualities might also serve as a curriculum framework for staff development.
For example, there might be staff development activities in which teachers
are provided opportunities to become aware of ways of linking classroom
activity to products students value and care about, ways of breaking the
linkage between failure and punishment, and ways of enriching content without
introducing boredom.
"Even now, the Center for Leadership in School Reform is working with
school districts to design staff development programs like this, and the
results so far are promising."
10 Critical Qualities Of Student Work
1 - Product Focus
Work that engages students almost always focuses on a product or performance
of significance to them.
2 - Clear and Compelling Standards
Students prefer knowing exactly what is expected of them, and how those
expectations relate to something they care about. Standards are only relevant
when those to whom they apply care about them.
3 - Protection from Adverse Consequences for Initial Failures
Students are more engaged when they can try tasks without fear of embarrassment,
punishment, or implications that they're inadequate. (Unfortunately, current
school structures and grading practices often make this difficult to achieve.)
4 - Affirmation Of The Significance of the Performance
Students are more highly motivated when their parents, teachers, fellow
students, and other "significant others" make it known that they
think the student's work is important. Portfolio assessments, which collect
student work for scrutiny by people other than the teacher, can play a significant
role in making student work "more visible."
5 - Affiliation
Students are more likely to be engaged by work that permits, encourages,
and supports opportunities for them to work interdependently with others.
Those who advocate cooperative learning understand this well, and also recognize
the critical difference between students working together and students working
independently on a common task, which may look like group work but isn't.
6 - Novelty and Variety
Students are more likely to engage in the work asked of them if they are
continually exposed to new and different ways of doing things. The introduction
of computers in writing classes, for example, might motivate students who
otherwise would not write. New technology and techniques, however, shouldn't
be used to create new ways to do the same old work. New forms of work, and
new products to produce, are equally important.
7 - Choice
When students have some degree of control over what they are doing, they
are more likely to feel committed to doing it. This doesn't mean students
should dictate school curriculum, however. Schools must distinguish between
giving students choices in what they do and letting them choose what they
will learn.
8 - Authenticity
This term is bandied about quite a bit by educators, so much so that the
power of the concept is sometimes lost. Clearly, however, when students
are given tasks that are meaningless, contrived, and inconsequential, they
are less likely to take them seriously and be engaged by them. If the task
carries real consequences, on the other hand, it's likely that engagement
will increase. What teacher, for example, hasn't noticed that students prepare
more diligently for a performance they know their parents will attend? Similarly,
students who produce a documentary video on the Civil War are likely to
be engaged in a more authentic learning experience than those who listen
to a series of lectures on the war, with the sole goal of passing a test
later that proves they were listening.
9 - Organization of Knowledge
Students are more likely to be engaged when information and knowledge are
arranged in clear, accessible ways, and in ways that let students use the
knowledge and information to address tasks that are important to them. This
doesn't mean that all content must be inherently interesting or relevant
to students: They will learn many important things in school that they may
not care about at the time. The content should be organized, however, so
that access to the material is clear and relatively easy, and the students'
work has enough attractive qualities to keep them engaged.
10 - Content and Substance
Educators should commit themselves to inventing work that engages all students
and helps them attain rich and profound knowledge. Learning to read and
to write complete sentences, for example, is not the same as learning to
write persuasively and to read critically, thoughtfully, and well. If such
profound mastery is limited to students who are more socially or economically
advantaged -- or otherwise already capable of high-quality intellectual
work without as much teacher effort -- then the dream of democracy cannot
truly be realized.
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See diarist Deb Bambino's
comments about Schlechty
Read
the whole Schlechty interview