Giving students greater voice and even a leadership role in the classroom can develop critical thinking skills, bolster comprehension and increase engagement, according to a K-12 Dive article.
The teacher can’t be the only person talking most of the time — no “sage on the stage” need apply — and instead should structure the lesson in an inquiry-based fashion, says Annaly Babb-Guerra, assistant professor and co-director of teacher residency at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
“Students need to be viewed as experts, as well,” she says. “Students will start out with a question that the teacher poses … and then come up with larger questions that [original] question may make them think about: ‘Where can I explore further to get answers to this?’ They’re directing their own learning.”
“Teachers often think they’re the most powerful person in the classroom. The students are,” says former high school science teacher Felicia Mensah, now a professor of science and education and chair of the department of mathematics, science and technology at Columbia University Teachers College.
When students express all aspects of their identities in the classroom, their voices are lifted; they get to know one another on a deeper level; lessons are more fun and engaging; and students show greater interest and investment, Mensah says.
Mensah would position herself in the back of the classroom and give students opportunities to lead discussions, while also providing plenty of open time in class for collaboration. She would conduct an exercise she called a “2-minute drill” where every student had to speak about what they learned that day.
“It’s just showcasing students and putting them out front, giving them a platform to talk — what did they learn, what do they think,” Mensah says.
Andrew Torres would engage students on day one by stripping his classroom walls bare except for a sign that said, “Mr. Torres’ Classroom,” in empty bubble letters when he taught middle school and high school. He asked students to sign their names within the bubbles. Torres is now assistant professor of education at NYU Steinhardt.
“The idea was, ‘This classroom is nothing without you,’” he says. “You are as much owners of this classroom as I am. That was the language I used.”
In his middle school English language arts classroom, Torres asked students what they were reading, what music they listened to, and what they liked to draw — and he organized books in the classroom library accordingly, while their drawings ended up on the walls along with any other redecorating suggestions.
“Any time a student wanted to readjust things, I gave them the freedom to do that,” he says. “They were very much in control of the space.”
“It’s about trusting them to know what they want and giving them the space to co-construct it alongside you as an educator,” he says. “I gave them 10 minutes to run the floor. I might ask the class a question or give a prompt that led to a discussion.”
Make sure their administrators are on board with inquiry-based lessons that don’t precisely follow the scope and sequence of the curricula, Babb-Guerra advises teachers.
“It’s still preparing [students] to do XYZ, but making sure they have that intellectual freedom to be more creative,” Babb-Guerra says. ”[Teachers] know their students best. Giving them more control over what they do in the classroom is important.”
K-12 Dive
