Empowering Students to BE

Here's a question I've been thinking about lately: How much say should students have in developing curriculum and in designing assessment tools and rubrics? 

When I was in grade school I did not have any say in what I was taught or how I would be assessed. Occasionally, I had an assignment where I was given some choice on the topic, but other than that I followed the instruction of my teacher. I am not suggesting this was a bad thing, I am just realizing there is more than one way to approach instruction and assessment. I'm wondering if students should be given more freedom to make choices in their education. 

Kiran Bir Sethi has a Ted Talk where she explores the idea of kids taking charge of their education through three stages of learning: aware, enable, and empower. Her hope is that teachers would learn how to “blur the boundaries between school and life” for their students. In her method of instruction she aims to bring awareness to her students so they can feel passionate about something. Next, she enables her students to imagine what they are capable of. Finally, she empowers her students to take action and do something! Sethi’s goal is to teach children that believing the words “I can” is powerful and through her approach these students were able to bring change to both their families and their towns. Many of the students taught their parents how to read and write, believing that literacy can change a life. Here is her Ted Talk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf52HWRiobg

As I listened to Sethi’s talk I could see parallels between her aware, enable, empower model and the know, do, be framework outlined in "Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment" by Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014). As students are made aware of an issue they are made more KNOWledgable. As they are enabled to bring change they learn how to DO a specific task. As they are empowered to bring change they BEcome something. I'm beginning to realize that these models and frameworks are truly the foundation of curriculum.

So how does Sethi's talk connect to the development of curriculum and assessment tools?

As a student I always saw school as something I had to do with very little explanation of why it was required or what it would do for me. I felt a lot like Charlie Brown in this illustration:

https://larrycuban.wordpress.com/category/comparing-medicine-and-education/

When school becomes an isolated part of a child's life they begin to lose sight of the purpose. School and life become disconnected and the importance of doing well in school wanes away for most students. THIS is what Sethi was targeting in her talk. Getting students excited about their education and empowering them to make a change in their world should be the goal of our education system! John Dewey touched on this as well. He said that education is not preparation for life; education is life itself (Dewey, 1893). As Dewey so confidently made this statement, I also believe he spoke it with a hint of hope for what education should be. He could only hope that our education system would be life for students as I am sure he, an educational reformist, was fully aware of the state of education in the late 1800's. 

So back to my initial question: How much say should students have in developing curriculum and in designing assessment tools and rubrics? 

I believe teachers should give students a more important role in developing their curriculum and assessing their work. It is important that students gain a sense of ownership of their learning and take responsibility of their progress. Here is a great resource for learning how to involve students in creating rubrics they will be assessed with. Sethi's talk has inspired me to approach education from a perspective of aiming to empower students to bring change in their worlds. When we empower students to BE, there is no limit!

References

Dewey, J. (1893). Self-Realization as the Moral Ideal. The Philosophical Review. Retrieved 
       from http://archive.org/details/jstor-2176020

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging
       the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.