Essay writing in the autonomous classroom

Essay writing… a cooperative approach in seven steps

Frank Lacey

“Essays are boring. A waste of time and anyway the teacher prefers some kids to others so his grades are never fair.”

Many teachers have heard those words and perhaps even secretly agreed. But I think essays are fun, perhaps the most fun part of my English lessons. Many of my students think so too, and there is very definitely a buzz in my class when we work with essays.

The model which I shall outline below is one that I have used for years. It fits in well with the ideas of cooperative learning, but for years I abhorred cooperative learning but still used this model every time we worked with essays.

Life as a kid is most of the time quite boring, but essays allow kids to be become gods (not just in their mothers’eyes). They are probably not aware of it if you don’t tell them, but when they write essays they achieve true divine power. They can create people, monsters, and any fantastic creatures, buildings, or countries that they want. They can cause these people to fall passionately in love, die tragically, or just live boring lives. Spark their creative fantasy, tell them about the woman who came in the door and sat down near Brian. And then tell them about the tall, elegant, sexy woman who crashed through the door, looked leeringly at Brian and sat frighteningly near Brian.

Let kids play with their characters like cats with a mouse, while at the same time giving them the full responsibility for their creations.

All of this is obvious enough – the next step is perhaps new to some you.

When the kids have written their essay for the appointed day, they then have to get three other kids in the class to read their essay. Each of these kids has to read through the essay and correct any language errors and then more importantly give three comments to the author about how to make the essay better, e.g. “the first paragraph doesn’t make sense.” “Make a more exciting ending.” “Try to include some of the things you know about America.” “Don’t use bad language ... it doesn’t work when written.”

At the end of about 45 minutes the author receives his essay again and the piece of paper that accompanies it with 3x3 comments (three kids each give three comments). The student now has one week to rework the essay. If the student decides that the comments are useless, he can choose to ignore them or he can choose to use one or two (or more) to make the essay better.

At the end of the week I, the teacher, collect the essays along with the nine comments. I correct the essay and make my own mental evaluation. Then I read the nine comments and see if things that I was unhappy with in the essay have also been commented upon by the student's class colleagues. If this is the case, then I of course ask why the student did not make use of the very good comments that she received from her classmate.

The next part is that the student now gives his essay a grade and justifies the grade. He then asks two-three classmates to give his essay a grade and likewise to justify the grade.

I too have given the essay a grade and there honestly is very seldom a difference in the five grades (the author’s, the three classmates’ grades and my grade). And we are all happy.

It sounds too good to be true, but it is. Because it is no longer the teacher but their classmates who shall first read their essays the quality rises. Why? Because let’s face it, teachers always say, “It is not good enough”, but if your classmate says, “Come on you can do better than this” or “Wow this is great” then it means a lot more. Then teachers always find faults. Teachers are of course more knowledgeable and better, but if your classmate finds faults, then maybe you should be worried because you should perhaps be at the same level as your peer.

Advice given by your classmates is generous. They want to help you to write a better essay (that’s nice) and they are proud to be able to come with suggestions. The least you can do is try to make use of their suggestions!

Then the author and her classmates give grades. No longer is it the mean, nasty teacher, thus the individual student has to take responsibility.

Does this take time? Yes, about 3-4 lessons. But it is 3-4 lessons where I have kids who are switched on.

·      They want to improve their grade, and this is a fairly easy way.

·      They are curious about what the others have written.

·      They learn from others’ mistakes.

·      They learn from their own mistakes from their peers (and research shows that peer correction is more effective than teacher correction).

·      They get to read lots of different versions of the same story and thus become aware of the huge creativity in language and among their peers.

·      Essay writing changes from being a lonely individual task to a community-supported activity.

·      A sense of collective responsibility is encouraged.

·      Students very quickly develop the ability to evaluate their own work and thus to take responsibility for their work.

Yes, they are nervous the first time, and yes the teacher needs to take responsibility and declare that it is not an option but an obligation that learning be shared for everybody’s good. Amazingly, there is very little difference in teacher grades and student grades.

In Denmark all teachers are obliged to employ the Danish curriculum called “Fælles Mål”, unless a school has written their own curriculum. Teachers have considerable freedom but should focus on 4 areas in their teaching. These four areas are

1. Communication (speaking, listening, reading and writing)
2. Linguistic precision (grammar, pronunciation etc.)
3. Language learning (how do you learn a foreign language)
4. Culture and societal studies

Thus when talking to Danish teachers I explain  that viewed from a perspective of “Fælles mål” (the national curriculum)

1.      When we share essays, we have focus on all four of the core elements in English learning: Kommunikation (communication): (Reading, writing, talking and listening). The students read lots of English. They write their three comments to each essay. They talk about errors and new ideas in English (I am very strict here… English is our language in lessons). They listen to each other because the communication is authentic. It is information that they can use to achieve higher grades.

2. Sprog og sprogbrug [linguistic precision]: They are very focused on precision in language, whether it be spelling, concord, tenses, prepositions…

3.      Sprogtilegnelse (language learning]: When sharing homework, the kids are focused on how they learn, how they can help each other learn, how other students are learning, and they learn strategies that they could employ to learn English.

4.      Kultur og samfundsforhold [culture]: I point out to my students that including cultural and societal information is a way to achieve higher grades, thus very often they draw peers' attention to possibilities for including such information in their revised essays such information.

My experience tells me that the result is kids who are seriously focused on English learning and I as a teacher have much more interesting essays to work with.

The seven steps – a summary:

1.    The student writes his essay at home.

2.    In school three students read the essay and give it three comments.

3.    The student rewrites the essay at home.

4.    The teacher collects and corrects the essay and evaluates the comments which the three students gave. The teacher then returns the essays (the following day).

5.    The student gives her essay a grade and a brief argument for the grade.

6.    Two or three other students give the essay a grade and a brief argument for the grade.

7.    The teacher reveals his/her grade and they all agree on a final grade.

Frank Lacey is an ordinary school teacher in Denmark. He works with children from 10-16 years old and preaches autonomy.

Authenticity means: “It’s gotta be real!”

Frank Lacey

This is a reworking of my last blog, but this time in English. I have added more to topic. This blog recounts some of the most exciting and astonishing events in my English lessons. I was genuinely shocked at how simple it was to make contact with extraordinarily interesting people.

It’s got to be real. So much classroom activity is so far removed from reality that it is simply boring. Little kids might accept make-believe worlds but teenagers are feverishly anxious to get their hands on the real world.

I have been practicing autonomy in all of my English lessons for the past 10 years. But what do I mean when I say “autonomy”? In my lessons (with 10 year olds, 12 year old 15/16 year olds) I start by asking, “Okay kids, How to do you want to learn English over the next 6-8 weeks?” Students discuss their ideas together (in English of course). They form groups and dream up all sorts of ideas. I join in these discussions and after about 30-40 minutes they are proposing ideas and projects. I accept most suggestions but some groups might be asked to reconsider whether they will learn enough English with their proposed project? Usually though after about 45 minutes all students have found partners and topics. There are often 1-3 students who decide to work alone and that too is permitted, but I do discourage them from repeatedly working alone, as I believe dialogue is beneficial to learning.

Artiklen fortsætter under banneret

Students have enormous freedom, once they can convince me that their topic will enable them to learn English. The variety of topics is perhaps best illustrated by showing what my two eighth classes and two sixth classes are working with: first 8a
US veterans and PTSD Toby, Seb and Marco
Writing the first few chapters of their first book Clara and Cil
2016 – a year that changed the world Veronica, Penny and Cas
The Gone series of (huge) books, a review of the series Rasmus
Fred and Rose West (real-life monsters) Malle, Sarah and Danny
Child abuse in the USA Celine, Camilla and Laura
Writing the first chapter in their book (Teen Kidnap) Julia, Tilly and Ida
Space… Richard Branson, Voyager/X space…. Åmu
The American civil war Simon and Lucas
And 8b
The swinging 60's Emma, Sarah and Jules
Reading The Scorch Trials Philip
Reading Most Wanted (Goosebumps) + Wimpy Kid Fiona, Ajlin, Anna and Marie
Writing the first chapters in their first book Hawwa and Sara
Reading Gone Niels Christian
Reading Stormbreaker Lukas
KKK Lucas and Ben
Cleveland abduction Isabel, Kevin and Joyce
What is autonomy? (film) Gustav and Mikkel
Writing the first chapters in their first book Noah and Oliver
Project about (the Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan) Tebs

And in my sixth classes (12 year olds) 6b
Clash Royale computer game Lasse, Jo and Nick
What is Easter? Seb
Chevrolet Corvette Emil
Cristiano Ronaldo (including reading the book) Selim, Haaris and Filip
Inanna (viner) Maliha
Selena Gomez and free reading Halima
"Pokemon" and its history Dean and Tom
Ubisoft (computer games producer) Nic and  Victor
A crime film Laura L', Amanda and Maliha
Drama... a criminal interrogation Laura K,  Laura H, Ida, Ashna and Aastha
Magic Mathias

And 6a
Overwatch computer game Mathias and Aran
Sneakers (sports shoes) Daniel and Lukas
Youtuber Tanner Fox Olli
Sweets, biscuits and desserts in England Tilly, Liv and Jules.
Coca Cola Esther, Deniz and Lucas
Making an English learning game for 2b Augusta
Brands (Lacoste, Nike and Ralph Lauren) André, Hugo and Victor
Reading Zac Power 1. Test Drive 2.Zac's sticky fix and maybe one more book Aysa and Sofie
Reading Bartemaeus My
Cricket Manjosh
As you can see a very diverse and differentiated collection of topics.
My classrooms are open to visitors and researchers. We have over the past two months had a group of researchers from University College Lillebaelt (Denmark), who were specifically interested in the use of digital tools in schools and we have had two separate visits from students studying to be teachers, who had heard/read about autonomy and wanted to see if it really was possible. We have also been visited by a group of teachers who attended one of my autonomy courses. If you, the reader, are interested in visiting my lessons, then please feel free to do so. I would appreciate if you could let me know in advance, but if you turn up unannounced you will in all probability find a warm welcome :-).
Having chosen their topics, students then research (usually digitally) their topic over the following 5-6 weeks. I scaffold groups and they document and evaluate their work, progress and learning in their logbooks (which are either old-fashioned copy books or digital using Office 365 One Note), giving me an insight into their learning and work. Every week I publish a “week plan” on the school’s internet website for each class, which parents can and do access to see what their children are working with and learning. The week plan explains what each student/group is working with, how far we are in our project (timewise) and when projects must be finished. I also regularly write newsletters to parents informing them about our work and learning.
After the allocated 5-6 weeks students present their projects (PowerPoints, film, drama, stories, book reviews etc.) to the class, sharing their learning with their fellow students and they receive feedback from their fellow students and me the teacher on their presentation and their learning.
In my autonomous classrooms my kids are used to choosing what they want to work with, how they want to work, and whom they want to work with to learn English. Usually this means jumping straight onto Google or the BBC website to find information. The products that my students produce are usually very good and in state contolled exams my students have exceptionally good results
Over the past few months I have attended some seminars and lectures on 21st century learning. One of the lectures was by a Danish lecturer called Mikkel Hjorth. One of his points was that schools have a tendency to ask questions to which there is a right answer. Teachers have to pose students questions to which there is no right answer – questions which foster innovation. I know that there is a bit of a jump from that to what I do with my kids, but in an attempt to open up the topics my students chose, and to make the results less predictable, I asked them – as part of their project – to establish contact with a real English-speaking person (via e-mail, tweet, etc.). The results were very interesting.
One group was working with capital punishment in the US. As part of their research I showed them a BBC article about a man who had been released after 20 years on death row. They managed to find him! When he didn’t respond to their e-mail they found his Twitter account and after the third tweet they made contact. Suddenly their project became very real.
Another group was reading about home-schooling in the USA and they managed to get in e-mail contact with an American girl who was home-schooled.
Two other students were fascinated by the idea of some Catholics choosing to become nuns, which, in a secular society like Denmark, is an astounding concept. To begin with they received a standard “thank you for your e-mail” from a Catholic priest, but a week later they got in touch with a young nun who gave very meaningful and personal answers to their questions.
Two boys were ‘discovering’ what Guantanamo is. They received answers to some of their enquiries from a small American grass-roots organisation campaigning for the closure of Guantanamo.
Then, there was a group of low performing boys. They had heard about homeless people in Las Vegas living in service tunnels under the city in appalling conditions. They managed to make contact with a person who had lived in the tunnels for three years and since written a book about his experiences.
Finally and perhaps the most shocking contact was with Gina DeJesus. You may remember an horrific crime in Cleveland Ohio USA that was uncovered in 2013, when police officers stumbled upon three young women, who had been kidnapped for up to 11 years by Ariel Castro. They were subjected to absolutely appalling treatment. My students, inspired by previous success, decided to try to contact the victims and they succeeded! They received an amazing answer from Gina DeJesus which ended  “What I would love for all of you to do is get involved. If you see something not right, say something. God Bless, Gina DeJesus”
Below you can read the email ‘conversations’ that my students had with their contacts.  The language used  in these exchanges has not been modified for grammar or spelling.
Death row
Prisoner: Okay lets do this... Been so busy sorry... Send me your questions
Students: Thank you so much!
We only have one simple question actually.
We would like to know how the enviroment
was in •the death penalty"
Prisoner: It is the most dehumanising feeling. I was just
21 years old and l felt like the whole world
wanted me dead. The on y thing that I coud
think of doing was to learn to love who I was
so that it did not matter it they killed me
I tried to be nice and kind even in hell
Students: Wow, really inspiring, thank you so much for
taking time to answer us. We appreciate it
alot!
_______________________________________________________________
Las Vegas homeless (email exchange – or something like that)

Dear Matthew O’Brien.  We’re three boys from Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. We’re making an English project about the Las Vegas tunnels, and we’d like to ask you a couple of questions in this email, if it is possible.  Our questions: How is the environment and the conditions for the homeless people?  Is the problem getting worse or is the population in the tunnels falling? 
Dear Matthew O’Brien.
We’re three boys from Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. We’re making an English project about the Las Vegas tunnels, and we’d like to ask you a couple of questions in this email, if it is possible.
Our questions: How is the environment and the conditions for the homeless people?
Is the problem getting worse or is the population in the tunnels falling?
Greetings from a cold but sunny Copenhagen.
Can you tell me a little more about your project? Matt Dear Matthew O’Brien.  First of all, thank you for answering.  We are making a movie. The movie contains informations about Las Vegas itself, and we want to go into depth with the tunnels, as it is our main topic. So we believed it could be absolutely fantastic to get an interview from a specialist, and we want to know about your experience with the homeless people.  Greetings, Tobias, Simon and Sebastian.  The environment in the tunnels is pretty bleak. They are dark and, in some cases, dank. However, the people down there prefer the tunnels to living homeless aboveground in Vegas, because of the heat, the cops and other issues like that. (To get a better idea of what it is like in the tunnels, read my book Beneath the Neon or just Google the subject.) The population in the tunnels a bit smaller, I think. More organizations, like US Vets and HELP of Southern Nevada and my community project Shine a Light, are getting involved in the issue and helping. Of course, Las Vegas doesn't have the resources to help all the people who live in the drains, but they have more options than they did 10 years ago, I think. Matt Dear Matthew O’Brien  We’re very thankful for your great answer.  Greetings,
The environment in the tunnels is pretty bleak. They are dark and, in some cases, dank. However, the people down there prefer the tunnels to living homeless aboveground in Vegas, because of the heat, the cops and other issues like that. (To get a better idea of what it is like in the tunnels, read my book Beneath the Neon or just Google the subject.)
The population in the tunnels a bit smaller, I think. More organizations, like US Vets and HELP of Southern Nevada and my community project Shine a Light, are getting involved in the issue and helping. Of course, Las Vegas doesn't have the resources to help all the people who live in the drains, but they have more options than they did 10 years ago, I think.
Matt
Tobias, Simon and Sebastian 
Catholic Nuns
I hope it isn't too late to respond to your three questions about nuns for your school project.  1. How did your family react when you said you wanted to be a nun?
My family is not Catholic, and I became a Catholic on my own at the age of 16. My parents are of Protestant backgrounds. So, when I first announced that I was discerning becoming a nun they really did not understand at all. The only nuns they knew of were those in the movies! They thought that it was a teenage phase and would pass with time, but after I continued to visit convents and monasteries over a few years time they could see that I was serious. When I first entered the monastery they were very upset and could not understand what I was doing at all. However, after many visits to see me happily living as a nun, and meeting my religious sisters they have grown to accept and to some extent even support my path in life. They still say that they don't understand, but that they are just happy that I am living happily. 2. Why did you choose a life without a family and children? I am a very family-oriented person who absolutely loves children, so sacrificing the opportunity to have my own family was difficult for me. However, I have always wanted to live for something much greater than myself and have always been consoled by remembering that I am seeking to live entirely for God and that my life of prayer has a positive effect on humanity. Being free of taking care of a family allows that energy to be channeled into prayer and the spiritual life. 3. How did you get the idea of becoming a nun?  The idea first occurred to me when I was about 13 and I was reading about nuns and saints. I realized that we human beings were created "to know, love, and serve God" and that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted
2. Why did you choose a life without a family and children? I am a very family-oriented person who absolutely loves children, so sacrificing the opportunity to have my own family was difficult for me. However, I have always wanted to live for something much greater than myself and have always been consoled by remembering that I am seeking to live entirely for God and that my life of prayer has a positive effect on humanity. Being free of taking care of a family allows that energy to be channeled into prayer and the spiritual life.
3. How did you get the idea of becoming a nun? The idea first occurred to me when I was about 13 and I was reading about nuns and saints. I realized that we human beings were created "to know, love, and serve God" and that was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to live entirely for God, and the saints that I was reading about had done that by living in convents and monasteries.
to live entirely for God, and the saints that I was reading about had done that by living in convents and monasteries.  Many blessings to you in your class project, Sister Mary Therese
Home Schooling
My name is Camilla and Im 14 years old and I live in Denmark. I have your e-mail from Toby Lauren Burgess from Facebook. I my class in my school (english lessons) we have a project about homeschooling and I have some questions and hope you will reply to me :-) A)   Do you like your homeschooling B)   What is the best thing about homeschooling C)   Why dit you/or your parents chose homeschooling for you Thank you so much if you will reply to me. Kind regards Camilla Kirketerp from Denmark
Hello I'm Ireland. I'm 11 and I would be happy to answer your questions . A)   Do you like your homeschooling? Of course! It's really fun. B)   What is the best thing about homeschooling? Well personally, I like it because you can spend more time with your family and I
My name is Camilla and Im 14 years old and I live in Denmark. I have your e-mail from Toby Lauren Burgess from Facebook. I my class in my school (english lessons) we have a project about homeschooling and I have some questions and hope you will reply to me :-)
A)  Do you like your homeschooling B)  What is the best thing about homeschooling C)  Why dit you/or your parents chose homeschooling for you
Thank you so much if you will reply to me.
Kind regards Camilla Kirketerp from Denmark
get to learn things I want to learn instead of what I am being told to.
C)   Why dit you/or your parents chose homeschooling for you? At first it was mainly to do with my brother. He didn't like leaving my mothers side. So we started doing homeschool. Right after that, we found out we both had types of disabilities, such as Dyslexia and Tourettes, which made it easier for us to do our learning at home. Thank you! I hope this helps.
_______________________________________________________________
Guantanomo Bay
Hello my name is Marco Hollensted and I am 14 years old. Im a student from a school called Aadalens Privatskole in Denamark, in a little city called Ishoej near Copenhagen. Me and my good friend Lucas are making a school project about Guantanamo, and we found your web page while we were looking for a new topic to write about. And then we thought your web page was pretty cool and we like what you stand for. But we really want to know how you came up with the idea and how many people started the group and how many people support you?
This is very important for our project and I am 100% sure that it will make our project very good and interesting with your help!
Best wishes from Denmark
Marco Hollensted and Lucas Sebastian Hansen
Hi Marco and Lucas,
Good to hear from you. Thanks for your interest.
The campaign was founded by myself (Andy Worthington) and Tom Wilner. I'm a journalist and human rights activist, based in London, and Tom's an attorney in Washington, D.C. who helped represent the Guantanamo prisoners in their Supreme Court cases in the US in 2004 and 2008.
We reach out to tens of thousands of supporters through the website and our social media. I wish it was more, but it's difficult to get people as interested in Guantanamo as they should be. Americans were told it held "the worst of the worst" by the Bush administration, and they believed it, whereas the truth was something completely different.
Few of the 779 men held by the US military at Guantanamo since the prison opened in January 2002 have genuinely been accused of involvement in terrorism. Most were either foot soldiers for Taliban or innocent people seized by mistake - at a time when generous bounty payments made by the US were widespread, and most of the prisoners were not seized by the US, but by their Afghan and Pakistani allies.
The handful of men accused of terrorism should have been put on trial in federal court and the soldiers should have been held as prisoners of war protected by the Geneva Conventions, but everyone was, instead, held as "enemy combatants" without any rights whatsoever, and, without rights, it was also easy for the US to decide that it wanted to torture them when they didn't provide themAfghan and Pakistani allies. The handful of men accused of terrorism should have been put on trial in federal court and the soldiers should have been held as prisoners of war protected by the Geneva Conventions, but everyone was, instead, held as "enemy combatants" without any rights whatsoever, and, without rights, it was also easy for the US to decide that it wanted to torture them when they didn't provide them with the information they wanted - largely because they knew nothing of any value. I hope this helps. Best, Andy Hello Andy that was a very big help for our project we will just say thank you for writting back to that means a lot for our project and us. We think that how your group has  inproved is very cool. Best, Marco and Lucas with the information they wanted - largely because they knew nothing of any value.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Andy
Hello Andy that was a very big help for our project we will just say thank you for writting back to that means a lot for our project and us. We think that how your group has  inproved is very cool.   
Best,
Marco and Lucas
The Cleveland abductions
Thank you so much for reaching out to me. I am humbled and honored you are doing a project on The Cleveland Abduction. My response to your questions are simple: I'm moving forward with my life. Everyday is different and I'm grateful for the life I'm living now. To live my life looking in the rear view mirror doesn't feel healthy to me. I hope you understand that. I am so happy to be amongst my family and friends. It makes me so happy that there are people out there like you whom are interested in this case. What I would love for all of you to do is get involved. If you see something not right, say something. God Bless, Gina DeJesus”
Some groups did not receive answers, but to be honest, I was shocked that so many of my students (about 50%) were so successful and I think they too were very surprised. The result was that 14-year-old kids suddenly felt that the real world was taking them very seriously. Need I say the motivational value was enormous? My students left the boring confinement of the classroom via their computers. Their English learning suddenly became very ‘real’.
PS all parties have given permission to use their names and correspondence.

The science of Learning Hattie and Yates

Hvordan lærer vi?

I tidligere blogindlæg har jeg talt varmt for elevautonomi. Og som jeg har skrevet før: Noget af det vigtigste ved elevautonomi er, at man flytter fokus fra undervisning til læring. Derfor var det oplagt for mig at læse ”Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn” (Synlig læring og videnskaben, om hvordan vi lærer) af John Hattie og Gregory Yates. Som titlen siger, undersøger bogen, hvordan vi lærer.

Bogen starter med et resumé af Willingham-tesen:

1.       Hjernen er ikke fra naturens side særlig egnet til at tænke (!!)

2.       At tænke er en langsom og krævende hjerneaktivitet, og resultatet er tvivlsomt.

3.       Bevidst tænkning styrer ikke de fleste menneskers handlinger i den virkelige verden, hvor de skal interagere og overleve.

4.       I stedet vælger vores hjerne at gøre brug af hukommelsen og gøre det, som vi har gjort før eller set andre gøre.

5.       Selvom vi er nysgerrige væsener, er vores nysgerrighed begrænset til emner og områder, som vi allerede kender noget til, og hvor vi mener, at vi er kompetente (selvtillid).

6.       Vi er ikke villige til at investere energi i at tænke, før vi kan se, at anstrengelsen vil blive belønnet med succes.

Budskabet er, at læring er svært, men at det, som giver pote, er ”deliberate practice” (bevidst handling). De lærende skal deltage aktivt i deres læring og ikke være passive modtagere af viden. Evnen til at holde fokus daler efter kun 10 minutter. Evnen til at opnå eliteniveau har mindre at gøre med IQ end med det at beskæftige sig med stoffet. Hårdt slid og ”deliberate practice” er vigtigere. Forsøg på at identificere begavede børn slår tit fejl. Ofte er det de børn, som blomstrer sent, der klarer sig bedst. Så det er stadigvæk sjovt at være lærer!

Hattie og Yates forklarer, at der er to tænkesystemer – et hurtigt og et langsomt. Det hurtige er ”automacity” (automatisk handling); det langsomme er, hvor vi skal bruge vores kognitive færdigheder. Når vi taler vores modersmål eller cykler, bruger vi det automatiske system, og jo mindre vi kan trække på automatikken, jo sværere oplever vi en opgave. Desværre er der ikke meget forskning i, hvordan man underviser i ”automacity”. Dog ved vi, at jo mere tid vi bruger på en aktivitet – hvad enten det er et computerspil eller at læse, jo større sandsynlighed er der for at opnå ”automacity”.

For at styrke læring er det vigtigt, at lærernes tilbagemelding (feedback) ikke så meget fokuserer på at analysere opgaven, dens svaghed og styrker, men hjælper eleverne til, hvordan de kan komme videre.

I mine autonomitimer er jeg til en vis grad en vejleder, men Hattie og Yates understreger – og jeg er enig – at læreren ikke blot skal vejlede, men i højere grad skal stimulere læringsmiljøet med stærke og klare metoder.

Jeg har tit haft diskussioner med mine elever om nødvendigheden af ikke lade sig distrahere. Jeg fraråder musik og får støtte fra Hattie og Yates, som siger, at den menneskelige ikke er bygget til at multitaske. Vi har en begrænset mængde energi, som vores hjerne kan bruge. Jo flere ting (musik, facebook, fjernsyn …) hjernen skal forholde sig til, jo mindre overskud er der til hver enkelt ting. Så sluk for musikken – det distraherer!

Hattie og Yates opererer med er begreb, de kalder ”ekspertlæreren”. Ekspertlæreren kan:

·         Anvende pædagogisk viden på en usædvanlig, fleksibel og innovativ måde.

·         Improvisere.

·         Forstå på et dybere niveau, hvorfor elever lykkes eller mislykkes med akademiske opgaver.

·         Give udviklingspassende læringsopgaver, som udfordrer og fanger den enkelte elev.

·         Forudse og planlægge strategier i forhold til de vanskeligheder, som eleven vil opleve.

·         Generere korrekte hypoteser om, hvorfor eleven oplever succes eller det modsatte.

·         Vise passion i sit arbejde.

Hattie og Yates skriver, at ”ekspertlæreren” ofte har dårligt forberedte timeplaner, men har rutinerne i hovedet … mon ikke det er en form for ”automacity”?

Her er noget at tænke over … I mit næste blogindlæg vil jeg fortsætte med ”Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn”. Jeg skal lige nå at samle mine tanker i disse rolige og afslappede sommerferiedage J.

”Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn”, John Hattie og Gregory Yates; Routledge London and New York 2014

Hvordan lærer vi? Del II

Denne gang vil jeg fokusere på kapitel 13: ”How knowledge is acquired” (Hvordan vi tilegner os viden) i bogen ”Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn” (Synlig læring og videnskaben om, hvordan vi lærer) af John Hattie og Gregory Yates.

Hattie og Yates påpeger, at der er:

·         Seks tilegnelsesprincipper.

·         Seks huske-/hukommelsesprincipper.

·         Fem aspekter i håndteringen af ”information overload”.

Seks tilegnelsesprincipper

1.       Tilegnelse tager tid; genier er ikke skabt af naturens hånd, men er et produkt af tid, motivation og indsats.

2.       Vi er kun i stand til at koncentrere os i 15-20 minutter ad gangen. Som lærer skal man derfor få sit budskab igennem på 5 minutter.

3.       Udbyttet er større, hvis man fordeler sin læring i mange små blokke, end hvis man tager det hele i et hug.

4.       Den største effekt opnås, hvis man bygger på tidligere viden. Læreren skal tage udgangspunkt i hver eneste elevs personlige viden og ikke i, hvad der er lavet til et bestemt klassetrin.

5.       Der er absolut INTET videnskabeligt belæg for begrebet læringsstil. (Se note forneden) Vi er alle sammen auditivt, kinæstetisk og visuelt lærende. Læring skabes bedst gennem mange forskellige medieinput. Brug lyd, billeder og bevægelse.

6.       For at lære skal eleven være aktiv i læringssituationen. Dette er et område, hvor jeg synes, at brugen af logbøger giver de enkelte elever mulighed for at være aktive, selv når de ikke er ”på”.

Seks huske-/hukommelsesprincipper

1.       Det er sværere at huske end at genkende. I Hatties og Yates’ terminologi betyder at ”huske”, at man skal rekonstruere sin viden, og dette kræver mere end at ”genkende”, hvilket blot betyder, at man har set noget før. Når man husker, kan man forstå og reproducere.

2.       De oplysninger, som gives først eller sidst, huskes bedst.

3.       Med tiden glemmer man. Så bare fordi eleverne kan en bøjning eller nogle fakta i 6. klasse, betyder det ikke nødvendigvis, at de vil kunne det samme i 7. klasse. Det er ikke, fordi de er mindre begavede, men snarere fordi de er helt almindelige.

4.       Hukommelsen er en subjektiv og konstruktiv proces. Det betyder, at det, som folk husker, ikke nødvendigvis er det, der skete. Moderne DNA-testmetoder har vist, at mange udelukkende er blevet dømt på baggrund af, hvad andre husker, og det er ikke så sjældent, at folk husker forkert. Jeg husker selv, da jeg sammen med en række medstuderende tog i biografen for at se Stephen Kings' film The Shining. I filmen er der en smuk kvinde, som står op i et badekar. Dagen efter diskuterede vi filmen. Vi var 14 studerende. Otte af os mente, at kvinden var brunette, mens de andre seks var stensikre på, at hun var blondine. Jeg kan ikke huske, hvad det rigtige svar var, men vi var alle sammen overbeviste om, at vi havde ret. Og det havde vi (alle sammen) i sagens natur ikke. Vores hukommelse kan altså være upålidelig.

5.       Hvis vi genlærer noget, som vi ellers troede, at vi havde glemt, sker det hurtigt. Vi glemmer ikke helt. Tænk bare på, når du besøger et land, hvor du engang kunne noget af sproget, hvor hurtigt det går med at komme op i gear igen.

6.       Ens evne til at huske noget kan påvirkes negativt af noget, som vi har lært tidligere. Når eleverne eksempelvis i engelsk har lært ”to become” (at blive) og senere i tysk møder ”bekommen” (at modtage/få), skaber det uro i hukommelsen.

Fem aspekter til håndtering af ”information overload”

1.       Studerende har en tendens til at overvurdere deres egne evner og undervurdere opgaven. Derfor opleves læring ofte som frustrerende.

2.       Læring forårsager meget stort mentalt stress og kræver meget energi.

3.       Det er vigtigt, at de lærende udvikler stresshåndteringsstrategier. Især to aspekter er vigtige: Det første er, at elevene skal lære, hvordan man lærer og skaber læringsmuligheder. Det andet er at håndtere de affektive (følelsesmæssige) påvirkninger, dvs. at negative reaktioner over for modgang ikke skyldes, at eleven er ”dum”. Eleven skal hjælpes til at styrke sin selvtillid og tro på, at modgang skyldes faktorer, som han/hun kan gøre noget ved og ikke skyldes, at han/hun ikke ”duer”.

4.       Vi må identificere, hvorfor ”information overload” opstår. Det er måske på grund af manglende forkundskaber, urealistiske forventninger, dårlig instruktion, dårlige strategier, miljø osv.

5.       Vi må erkende, at vi kan ikke multitaske.

Jeg håber, at dette kan være med til at hjælpe os lærere til at forstå, hvad læring er.

Fortsat god sommerferie! J

Learing styles:

“One strange aspect of the learning styles literature is that many theorists were inclined to advance two ideas: (a) that students are unique individuals. And (b) we can classify them into groups, categories, or styles. One moment’s reflection may suggest a remarkable inconsistency, or logical absurdity, between these two fundamentals. (s.180 )… Rather than being a harmless fad, learning styles theory perpetrates the very stereotyping and harmful teaching practices that it is said to combat.”(s.183)”

”Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn”, John Hattie og Gregory Yates; Routledge London and New York 2014

Autonomy is dangerous

Autonomy is dangerous

Autonomy as a pedagogical idea has been around for quite a while. In many ways though it seems that nobody is interested except perhaps in the academic world and in health care. Teachers, however, seem to be uninterested or even downright hostile.

I have been working with learner autonomy for about 10 years now, having had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of Leni Dam. I hold courses on different aspects of teaching for teachers all over Denmark but if I use the word “autonomy” in a course description I can be fairly sure that the course will be cancelled due to lack of applicants. Why?

The answer I think is twofold: Autonomy is dangerous and unattractive.

Teachers, like many modern employees, experience increasing pressure and attempts at control from many sides. Teachers were once respected figures in society, but the fact that more and more of the world’s population now have university degrees means that teachers no longer have a monopoly on knowledge and learning. In Denmark many adults have much longer academic educations than teachers and earn a lot more too. Thus, the traditional figure of authority (the teacher) must now defend his/her classroom practices as ambitious parents and governments demand that students achieve more and get top grades. The new school law in Denmark says that students must now achieve the same level after 9 years of schooling as they previously achieved after 10 years. Therefore, teachers are regularly asked to account for their teaching results and to prove that they are fulfilling their obligations.

In such a contentious environment, autonomy is downright dangerous. If a teacher sticks to the textbook, starting on page one and finishing just before the end of the year, he/she can say:

“See, we finished the appropriate textbook for this class, I have done what I was supposed to do. If your child has not learnt, it is not my fault. We read all the pages and did all the exercises. He should pay more attention and make a better effort next time.”

An autonomous teacher on the other hand is wide open to attack. If things go wrong parents will say: “It was your job to teach the students, not to give them freedom to fail.” The autonomous teacher allows the students to take responsibility for their learning but simultaneously ends up with far more responsibility. The autonomous teacher ends up with responsibility for not just “8b” but for each of the 26 students in 8b with their different projects, work rates, partner choices, etc. And the autonomous teacher seldom has just one class. In my own case, I had eleven classes last year. That is an awful lot of individual development programmes that I have to keep track of. This is what makes autonomy dangerous. The risk of dropping one of the many balls (students) you have in the air is considerable.

Autonomy is also quite unattractive for many teachers. Most people who become teachers were inspired by talented teachers that they had. They want to be just like them. Then there is the power of the traditional teacher, because while respect for teachers in society may be declining, generally the teacher still has power and authority in his/her classroom. The teacher is the one who makes the rules and enforces them too. In an autonomous classroom one has a much more democratic set-up. That means loss of power and – let’s face it – having power is attractive. It makes life easier not having to negotiate and compromise all the time.

Life is also easier for a teacher with a textbook. If I may be provocative – the teacher does not even have to think. The whole year’s work is planned for him/her with workbooks, CDs, teacher’s manuals, etc. In the autonomous classroom on the other hand, he/she has to be very much aware of what each student is working with, what progress the individual students are making, and whether the individual students on their individual paths are following the road to fulfilling the requirements of the national curriculum.

So what can those of us who believe in autonomy do better to spread the word? I don’t know for sure, but I do have ideas and in the next issue of of Independence I will tell about a six-month project that I conducted with a school last year. In the meantime, Richard Smith’s article in the last number of Independence, where he talks about gathering data from scientific studies to prove that autonomy works, is an essential starting point. We need hard quantitative proof that autonomy works. Otherwise we shall never convince teachers in serious numbers to change to autonomy.

Frank Lacey 2014 Denmark

Autonomi er farligt

Autonomi er farligt

Autonomi som pædagogisk begreb har eksisteret i ca. 40 år, men det er, som om ingen er særlig interesseret i det. I akademiske kredse er der en vis interesse især i udlandet, men lærerstanden i Danmark virker nærmest fjendtligt indstillet over for autonomi.

Jeg har arbejdet med autonomi i 10 år efter at have haft fornøjelsen af at tage en diplomuddannelse under Leni Dams kyndige ledelse. Jeg holder kurser overalt i Danmark om forskellige emner, men hvis jeg nævner ordet ”autonomi” i en kursusbeskrivelse, kan jeg være ret sikker på, at der ikke vil være tilstrækkeligt med tilmeldinger til, at man vil kunne oprette kurset. Hvorfor?

Jeg tror, at årsagen skal findes i to fremherskende holdninger:

1.       Autonomi er ikke særlig tiltalende.

2.       Autonomi er farligt.

Autonomi er ikke særlig tiltalende

For mange lærere er autonomi bare ikke særlig tiltalende. Mange valgte lærergerningen, fordi de blev inspireret af dygtige lærere, som de selv havde, da de gik i skole. De ville være ligesom dem (og de brugte ikke autonomi).

Så er der den magt, som en lærer traditionelt har ... Selvom lærernes anseelse i samfundet er dalet meget, har læreren fortsat magt og autoritet i sit klasseværelse. Læreren laver reglerne og implementerer dem også. I et autonomt klasseværelse er der meget mere demokrati. Det betyder tab af magt, og – lad os indrømme det – magt er tiltalende. Det gør livet nemmere, når man ikke skal forhandle og gå på kompromis hele tiden.

Livet er også nemmere med en lærebog. Hvis jeg må være lidt provokerende, behøver læreren ikke at tænke. Hele årets arbejde er planlagt og tilrettelagt med lærebogen, som er kombineret med arbejdsbogen, tilhørende CD’er eller DVD’er og lærerbogen. I det autonome klasseværelse skal læreren til gengæld stilladsere hver enkelt elevs læring, og læreren skal tilstræbe, at hver enkelt elev gør det fremskridt, som er muligt, og at alle elever har forstået rammerne.

Autonomi er farligt

Lærergerningen har været til debat i mange år i Danmark. Alle har en mening om lærernes arbejde og skolens resultater. I modsætning til andre europæiske lande som eksempelvis England, Irland, Tyskland og Frankrig er ”skolen” et emne, som dagligt diskuteres i medierne. Sidste års lockout og den efterfølgende lov 409 var et sviende nederlag til alle Danmarks lærere. Derudover har lærerne med tiden mistet deres monopol på viden. Mange af de forældre, vi møder til skolehjemsamtaler osv., har en længere uddannelse end den lærer, de sider over for. Og de samme forældre tjener ofte mere end læreren. Ergo: den autoritetsfigur, som læreren var engang, skal nu forsvare sig selv og sin praksis over for forældre, som er vældig ambitiøse på lige præcis deres barns vegne. Samtidig kræver regeringen i de nye fælles mål, at vi på 9 år skal nå, hvad vi før i tiden nåede på 10 år. Læreren er konstant under pres, og der kræves hele tiden regnskab og beviser for, at læreren gør sit arbejde godt nok. Tilliden er væk.

I et sådant konfliktfyldt og usikkert miljø virker autonomi ligefrem farligt. Hvis læreren holder sig til en lærebog og starter året på side 1 og slutter på den sidste side, kan han/hun påstå: ”Se, vi afsluttede den lærebog, som passer til årgangen, vi lavede alle opgaver, og hvis dit barn ikke har lært nok, er det ikke, fordi jeg ikke har lavet det, jeg skulle. Næste gang må barnet være mere deltagende.”

Selvfølgelig er det ikke alle lærere, der har lagt deres metodefrihed hos Gyldendal eller Alinea, men mon ikke der mange, der delvis gør det, for så har man ryggen fri?

En lærer, der vælger elevautonomi, skal forholde sig til, at eleverne bestemmer:

1.       Hvad de vil arbejde med.

2.       Hvordan de vil arbejde.

3.       Hvem de vil arbejde med.

4.       Dokumenterer deres egen læring.

5.       I samarbejde med deres kammerater evaluerer deres læring.

En sådan lærer står temmelig forsvarsløs. Går det galt, vil forældrene sige: ”Det var din opgave at undervise mit barn, ikke at give ham/hende frihed til at dumpe”. Så den lærer, som vælger autonomi og giver eleverne ansvar for egen læring, påtager sig et væsentligt større ansvar end den lærer, der kører traditionel klasseundervisning med en lærebog. Med elevautonomi påtager læreren sig ansvaret ikke bare for 8b, men for hver af de 26 elever i 8b med deres diverse projekter, forskellige tempi i arbejdet, valg af makker osv. Og det er sjældent tilfældet, at en lærer kun har en klasse. Sidste år havde jeg 11 forskellige klasser, så der var mange bolde i luften!

Så hvorfor kører jeg autonomi?

·         Fordi det virker.

·         Fordi eleverne er i stand til at tage ansvar.

·         Fordi, at når elevernes læring og ikke lærerens undervisning er i centrum, gør eleverne større fremskridt.

·         Fordi konfliktniveauet er lavere, når eleverne arbejder med emner, der er relevante for dem, og ikke bare skal gøre det, som læreren synes er interessant.

·         Fordi differentiering kun er mulig i et autonomt klasseværelse, hvor eleverne arbejder på deres eget niveau og ikke skal tilpasse sig årgangens norm.

·         Fordi jeg konstant bliver overrasket over mine elevers kreativitet og intelligens.

For godt til at være sandt? Så har jeg et godt tilbud til dig: Giv mig en melding og kom forbi og overvær mine timer og se det for dig selv.

Happy New Year J

Frank

It's all about logbooks, dummy.

A paradigm for language teaching, with logbooks as the essential ingredient.

by Frank Lacey, teacher

I believe that the use of logbooks is central in foreign language (FL) teaching. The paradigm which I shall describe in this article is the result of three years of action research in my own classes under the supervision of my mentor Leni Dam[1]. I am convinced that successful language teaching must include six elements:

·   Communication

·   Democracy

·   Autonomy

·   Differentiation

·   Authenticity

·   Motivation

These six elements are unified by one important tool: a student logbook written in the target language.

Communication

Since the 80's it has generally been agreed that foreign language teaching should be based upon communicative strategies.

Much of the communication conducted in many language classrooms has, however, been inauthentic. The target language may well be spoken in the classroom, but often the students are answering questions to which the teacher or their partner knows the answer, or they are involved in artificial communication situations. That it is nevertheless possible to learn the target language is demonstrated by my own teaching practices over the past 20 years.

However, if we go back to basics and say that communication is essential, then we have to ensure that there is a communication gap. The student has to be in possession of knowledge which the teacher or the peer partner doesn't share, so that the student has something meaningful and important to communicate. This is the case in an autonomous class where student logbooks provide a convenient way of transmitting this knowledge. Students use their logbook to record (Leni Dam, Autonomy):

–  What are they doing?

–  Why are they doing it?

–  How are they doing it?

–  With what results are they doing it?

Only the student knows the answer to these questions, and the teacher and the peer students want to know the answers.

Democracy

A "simple" way of achieving authentic communication is to allow the students to work autonomously. If each student is working with his/her self chosen topic, the teacher, to fulfil his/her professional obligations, needs to engage in an active and enquiring dialogue with the student, to establish just what the student is doing and how much progress he/she is making.

Communication can only exist in an atmosphere of respect. The teacher has to see the student as an individual, capable of making choices about his/her learning. In other words, the communication has to be based on democratic principles. Funnily, even in so-called democratic nations, teaching scenarios often bear more resemblance to dictatorships than democratic forums. Logbooks allow students to give expression to their individuality.

Autonomy

If we believe in the individual's right to make decisions on his/her own behalf, we are obliged to allow students to work autonomously. Students working in an autonomous class are afforded the opportunity to invest in language learning as part of their identity. In the post modern hyper-complex society we are constantly redefining our identity. In the freedom of the autonomous class the student is allowed choose his/her own approach to the target language. The student is allowed to redefine his/her identity to include the target language and define him/herself as a global citizen.

Autonomy is not possible without the use of logbooks. Autonomy without logbooks (in which the student can document his/her learning) risks descending into anarchy, since the student and teacher would otherwise lose track of progress in the students' learning.

Differentiation

My own personal experience is that through autonomy I have been able to achieve a degree of differentiation way beyond anything I have known before. In the autonomous class the weak student is no longer exposed. He/she can now work with materials which are adapted to his or her level. The weak student no longer needs to be on the periphery of (or perhaps even excluded from) the learning experience but can now, like all other class members, work with his/her self chosen topics which allow him/her to achieve progress at a level or speed with which he/she can cope.

Authenticity

Authenticity is a term coined by the American psychologist Deci. People want to be the authors of their own actions. They want by nature to act authentically, in other words autonomously. Authenticity can only be achieved in a language classroom that allows for a very high degree of differentiation. Students can only be authentically present in the FL situation when the academic and personal differences between the students are not only allowed but even encouraged.

The students' use of logbooks in the language classroom allows them to achieve the authentic communication of which I spoke earlier. The students in the autonomous class are also freed from the constraints of more traditional classes where they are forced to play the role of language learner, following a script composed by the teacher. Autonomous students have the opportunity to express their learning aims authentically.

Motivation

Both Dörnyei and Ushioda claim that intrinsic motivation is founded upon the ability to choose. This is something an autonomous class provides. If the student is to move beyond choice motivation (a desire to learn something) to executive motivation (desire accompanied by the self-discipline required to learn something) it is essential that he/she feels in control. If this is not the case, he/she will be extrinsically motivated. The autonomous class allows the students to take responsibility for their learning and thus to achieve intrinsic motivation – a motivation which is a prerequisite to successful communication.

Conclusion

In an autonomous class, student logbooks provide a real and convenient way of transmitting knowledge. This genuine communication is only achieved in a democratic atmosphere, where logbooks allow students to give expression to their individuality. Autonomy allows individuals to grow in cooperation. A move from the teacher-centred classroom to autonomy opens up for unheard levels of differentiation, a differentiation which encourages authenticity. The students' subsequent use of logbooks in the language classroom allows them to achieve authentic communication to give expression to their ideas and to explain their learning projects. When students are authors of their own learning, they have a greater chance of achieving intrinsic motivation, and it is this which drives them to learn and to spend time recording and documenting their learning in their logbooks.

And thus, the circle closes. After three years of research in my own language classes, it is my belief that the paradigm for which I argue here is interdependent. No element can be removed without demolishing the paradigm. All elements are interdependent and unachievable without each other. And central in the paradigm is the use of student logbooks.

Frank Lacey

Copenhagen 28 October 2007

Bibliography

Dam, L. (1995a) Autonomy from Theory to Classroom Practice. Dublin: Authentik.

Dam, L. (2003) "Developing Learner Autonomy: the Teacher's Responsibility". In Little, D., Ridley, J., Ushioda, E. (eds.)". In Learner Autonomy in the Foreign Language. Classroom Teacher, Learner, Curriculum and Assessment. Dublin: Authentik.

Dam, L. (2004b) "Logbøger og elevmapper i sprogundervisning". In Sprogforum No. 3. Copenhagen, pp.44-50.

Deci, E. (1995) Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self-Motivation (the Dynamics of Personal Autonomy). London: Penguin Books.

Dörnyei, Z. (2001b) Teaching and Researching Motivation. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Dörnyei, Z. (2003) Questionnaires in second language research. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Publishers, pp.36-39 and 96-136.

Ushioda, E. (1996) The Role of Motivation. Dublin: Authentik.

Rasmussen, J. (1997, 2.udgave) Socialisering og læring i det refleksivt moderne. Copenhagen: Unge Pædagoger.

Little, D., Ridley, J., Ushioda, E. (eds.) (2003) Learner Autonomy in the Foreign Language Classroom. Dublin: Authentik.

Ushioda, E. (2006b) "Language Motivation in a Reconfigured Europe: Access, Identity, Autonomy". In Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development Vol. 27(2). St. Francis Xavier University, Canada, pp.148-161.

Ushioda, E. (forthcoming) "Motivation, Autonomy and Socio-cultural Theory". In Benson, P. (ed) Learner Autonomy: Teacher and Learner Perspectives. Dublin: Authentik.

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[1]  Leni Dam is perhaps the founder of autonomy in FL in Denmark and is internationally renowned for her work on autonomy in language teaching.