How Choice for Students Gets Us to Responsibility
Families’ choice of school for their children is not the only kind of choice that matters educationally. It may well not be the most important kind, either. We heard from parents in Episode 4 who were concerned with whether or not their kids learned to think and act for themselves, and in the process, to take responsibility for who they were in the world. What do educators think about this?
When educators wrestle with questions of student choice and responsibility, the differences revolve around when and how much -- and almost never about whether choice and responsibility matter. But the broad strokes of what we know are clear in research and in our discussion here: choice motivates student interest and effort, choice forms the ground for taking responsibility, and choice is both ground for and marker of shared life in a democratic community.
00:00 Introduction to the Second Season Dr. Barbara Stengel
01:24 Choice generates motivation, responsibility, and democracy Stengel
03:51 Introductions Anna Bernstein, middle level English teacher/coach; Sara Sjerven, independent school English teacher/coach; Liz Self, high school English teacher
08:11 So what about choice? Links to teachers’ autonomy, curricular constraints and self-censorship Bernstein, Stengel, Sjerven
17:07 Choice as simple respect for students Self
21:50 Choice is both challenging and necessary for learning Bernstein, Sjerven
26:18 Why choice? Community of learners Stengel, Sjerven
30:10 Why choice? Other people in all their glory! Self
33:30 Why choice? The purpose of public school in a democracy Bernstein, Stengel
36:55 Bring on responsibility (gender, time, desire, perspective) Self, Stengel, Sjerven
41:35 Whose choices? Whose agency? Whose responsibility? Sjerven, Stengel
44:30 Disillusionment is understandable; is response possible? Bernstein
46:55 What’s privilege got to do with it? Students’ economic value Sjerven, Stengel,
50:03 Does responsibility precede choice? Sjerven, Bernstein
53:16 The continuous enlargement of the space of the possible Self
56:40 Supports for teachers who design for choice? Stengel, Bernstein, Sjerven,
63:39 Community, creativity and trust for teachers Stengel
66:20 This is the end of Season 2. Join us in the fall for Season 3!
Many thanks to the committed and accomplished teachers who agreed to inform our thinking for this episode! These include Anna Bernstein, Sara Sjerven, and Liz Self.
As usual, there are references to a variety of social, educational and historical news and commentary. You can pursue our sources and find out more about these issues at our website:
