Motivation and Management (Reflection on Ch. 11)

There are so many things in this chapter that I think are interesting... but here's 3.

p. 282 "Cooperative Learning (CL) is a system developed by David W. Johnson, Roger T. Johnson, E. J. Holubec, and P. Roy (1984) to improve student learning of subject matter and help students become more interdependent, better self-managers, and more effective problem solvers."

I thought the Cooperative Learning method was really interesting - my first reaction was surprise that someone would advocate the "team captain" method of choosing groups, but further reading revealed that this was a specific choice to identify leadership capabilities in specific students, which makes sense (and the groups would be changed every six or seven weeks).

p. 287 "Another technique to motivate appropriate student behaviors is designing a 'Special Person.' In each music class, a Special Person is elected every two weeks."

Again, I was really surprised that students were given so much authority (not that I think giving students control of their own situations is in any way a bad thing, but the idea of students electing the "Special Person" brought up concerns of a popularity contest, bargaining, etc.), but on further reflection, the process is controlled enough that it seems like each student would get the opportunity to be praised and rewarded for his or her strengths. Especially notable was the idea that "The Special Person designation is a highly coveted award, because students' peers elect them, not the teacher" (p. 288). This makes complete sense, because the students naturally value the opinion of their peers (which they see as unbiased) in a different way than that of the teacher (which they see as being biased - the students see that the teacher has to treat everyone equally, which could have a negative effect on praise to some degree).

I don't have a specific quote for this last point of interest, but I'd like to comment on the "Judicious Discipline" system developed by Gathercoal (1993), "based on the principles established in the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution" (p. 291). I like this system specifically because it's something that the children can easily understand and (for the most part) hopefully learn how to function successfully in. It is intrinsically fair, which appeals to students sense of wanting to control their own environments, and allows them to understand the rules (expectations and procedures) by which the game (the classroom) is going to be played (run). This method advocates gathering information and deeper thinking without undermining self-esteem in the process of improving and understanding inappropriate behavior. Having grown up in very strong school communities where respect is possibly the most highly emphasized value, I can feel confident in thinking that this method is probably very effective. I would also imagine that this system is probably effective in situations where students are feeling out of control in other areas of their lives, because they can come to school and know what behavior is expected of them, what consequences and rewards they can expect based on the choices they make, but also feel safe in the environment provided for them and by their peers.