A SENSE OF POWER

A SENSE OF POWER

Both children and adults need to feel they have some control over their lives and that they are in charge of certain aspects of their environments. In general, this fundamental need is fulfilled when a person is given opportunities to make decisions, set goals, and solve problems. These experiences help develop a sense of independence and personal power which, in turn, results in feelings of confidence and competence.

Getting into Focus

Helping Students Gain a Sense of Power

Students gain a sense of personal power when they see themselves as decision makers, goal setters, and problem solvers. When students feel competent in these three roles, their self-esteems are heightened greatly. Here are some suggestions for helping students realize that they have the power to positively influence their circumstances and make a difference in what goes on around them.

Suggestions

Involve students in decision making.

Allowing students to make decisions about things that really matter to them lets them know that you trust their abilities to make choices. Letting students make decisions helps them feel responsible and important. Opportunities for decision making can include the following:

• Classroom Rules—Together with your students decide on what rules should be

Awareness

followed in order to make the classroom a pleasant, productive learning environment.

• Activities—Give students a certain amount of control over classroom activities. For example, let students suggest topics for discussion or research, select activ- ities to do during their spare time, or choose the types of displays to make for an Open House and other special events.

• Solutions to Problems—Guide students into making thoughtful, realistic decisions about problems. For example, students can discuss ways they can help a classmate who has a lengthy illness or two children who have a difficult time working together can be given the responsibility of choosing what to do to make the situation better.

30 IF22636 Skills for Successful Teaching

Encourage students to meet challenges and work toward their goals.

• Discuss the fact that success at school comes from making an effort to try new skills or tasks and by actively participating in what goes on in the classroom. Let students know that each of them can make a difference in his or her capacity to learn and grow.

• Remind students that they are “competing” against themselves, not their class-

Participation

mates. Help students keep track of their individual progress by providing each child with a folder for keeping samples of work. Every few weeks, let each stu- dent examine her folder and compare past performance with her current work. Students will be amazed and pleased at how much they have accomplished!

• Motivate students by showing you are genuinely interested in your class. Teachers, of course, are in school to facilitate learning and to help students meet certain criteria for academic success. But when you take time to talk to each student about his goals, ask questions about his interests, or listen to his concerns, you let him know that the two of you are partners in his learning.

• Give opportunities for students to achieve success in small steps. For example,

a student who is having difficulty mastering addition facts can target two facts to learn every week; a child who wants to be able to run one mile (1.6 km) a day can start out by running a shorter distance.

• Praise students for their efforts and build on each student’s successes. As students reach their goals, their self-confidences increase and they are able to meet new challenges with eagerness and enthusiasm.

Encourage students to solve problems and learn from setbacks.

Problems are a part of life. Yet, however unpleasant, they are critical to children’s development. When children learn how to deal constructively with upsets and make a real effort to overcome obstacles, they gain a sense of mastery over their environments, and their self-esteem grows. Teachers can nurture self- esteem by helping students become confident problem-solvers.

• Help students see that setbacks are temporary. Sometimes, simply talking about the problem helps a student see the situation in a more positive light.

Awareness

• Listen to students’ concerns and acknowledge their feelings of sadness, disap-

pointment, frustration, or anger. At the same time, indicate to them that they have the choice of trying again. For example, a student who does not solve a math question the first time can, with or without your help, go through the problem-solving process once more; a student who has trou- ble completing a creative writing assignment can put away the task for awhile and then try writ- ing later.

31 IF22636 Skills for Successful Teaching

• Help students see failures as part of the learning process. Point out that through failures people learn what does not work, and this discovery often leads to new ideas or new solutions. (Thomas Edison had to try 10,000 times before

he made a workable electric lightbulb!) • Be supportive and encouraging by sharing your own

childhood disappointments, failures, and successes. As parents, teachers, and other adults model how to handle problems and setbacks, students gain confidence in their own abilities to deal with life’s challenges.