The Primacy of Self-Discovery

As a teacher in an Expeditionary Learning school the Design Principles (DPs) are a important part of what I do.  Since I've also set the goal of doing at least one article review a month and there are 10 months, it seemed like a good fit to do an article review relating to each of the DPs over the course of the year.  This is the first.

The first DPs is "The Primacy of Self-Discovery" which states:

The Primacy of Self-Discovery states that learning happens best with emotion, challenge and the requisite support. People discover their abilities, values, passions, and responsibilities in situations that offer adventure and the unexpected. The primary task of the teacher is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they thought they could. source

The article that I choose is Alfie Kohn's "Five Reasons to Stop Saying 'Good Job!'".

In the last week my daughter taught herself how to ride her bike.  I tried to teach her the traditional way, running behind her holder her seat then gradually letting go, but it didn't work for either of us.  I set down two rules that we guided by my understanding of physics and she wouldn't follow them (1. Don't stop pedaling and 2. Faster is better).  So, I stepped away and couldn't have been happier.

You see, she wanted to learn how to ride her bike.  So did I, but after my frustrating interactions I realized that she was going to have to do it herself.  I noticed myself saying "good job" and "I'm so proud of you" quite a bit.  After reading this article, I've checked myself.  Now I say things like "how did that feel?" and debrief with her about her experience.

So our first big bike ride to the park came and she did great.  When we got there she climbed higher than she ever had on the rope structure; all the way to the top!  While she was on the top I applied my new Kohn techniques to debrief with her about how she overcame her fear and did something she always wanted to do.  I cemented this idea in her head so that next time she would encounter something insurmountable she would remember the other insurmountable challenges she had already conquered.

So, how do you see these ideas being an important part of your classroom?  I know that I will notice when I say empty statements like "Good Job" and try to change my own practice.  How about you?  Comment below!