As I sat at a meal with my 2 year old a few days ago, my husband and I became frustrated as she was refusing to eat anything on her plate. We had to keep asking her to eat and it became a struggle for the entire meal. The next night we changed it up. We put a few different things on her plate and just said eat whatever you want. It was interesting to watch her eyes go around the plate and then pick up and eat her choice. She ended up eating almost everything on her plate (and trying new vegetables too!) So, when forced to eat something, she refused and we all became frustrated. When given a choice, she immediately decided herself what she wanted and we all enjoyed our meals a little more. At what age do children learn that independence and want to be given choices?
While this article Offering Children Choices is geared towards early childhood development, it still hits on the same criteria that teachers should recognize are important even in the classroom setting. When provided with choices, students will have a feeling of being in control, they will accept responsibility, and conflict may/should even reduce.
A sentence in the conclusion of this article really hit home for me: The wise teacher
understands that children make choices all day long, whether adults want
them to or not. They choose to obey, ignore, or defy rules and
directions and determine for themselves whether to speak kindly or
angrily to others (Grossman, 2007). Let's make sure we provide students with appropriate choices so they are not going to defy the rules or directions as often.
Well said and I love the tie to students in the classroom. Instead of boxing students in so that they're only left with right or wrong, why not explore other possibilities? Students vary in how they learn so it's up to educators to find out what works and implement accordingly. Options are a beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike- I love the connection! Our kids make choices every day- who will I play with at recess? What will we play? Who will I eat lunch with, and what will I choose to eat when Mom and Dad aren't around? If we want our students to become citizens of a global economy, capable of decision making and problem solving, we can't expect them to magically pick up these skills. We have to provide opportunities, with adequate supervision and guidance, to help them make productive choices.
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