Cambourne's Conditions

Brian Cambourne wrote, The Whole Story. In this work he tells about 7 conditions for learning. Since engagement and enthusiasm are at the core of my research, I thought it was interesting that he made the following points:

• Engagement occurs when the learner is convinced that they have the potential to do what is being modeled before them.


• That the teacher is demonstrating something that will further the purposes of his or her life.


• That they can engage without fear of physical or psychological hurt if they answer incorrectly.

He states that the conditions increase the probability for engagement. His conditions are:

• RESPONSIBILITY (Learners need to make their own decisions about when, how, and what 'bits' to learn in an educational task.)


• USE (Learners need time to practice the new skills in realistic contexts)


• EXPECTATION (Learners need to feel our high expectations)


• APPROXIMATION (Learners must understand that mistakes are part of the process)


• RESPONSE (Learners must receive feedback that is timely, appropriate, relevant)


• IMMERSION (Learners must experience the skill fully)


• DEMONSTRATION (Learners need a variety demonstrations)

All in all we have a scholar that is identifying conditions for learning of which he states that these conditions also increase the probability for engagement. Has anyone written about the conditions for engagement?

Is there a tool to measure these conditions?

Chapters Redrafted

I sent my latest edition to a good friend of mine to look over for me. The research quesitons have shifted based on the advice of my professors- I removed several sections. I know I will have more revisions to do but feel things are headed in the right direction.

CORE INVESTIGATION

I am interested in the personal mastery levels of students.

Can we measure their engagement, their enthusiasm, and their capacity to make things happen?

In every classroom there will be a variety of levels yet perhaps there are some school designs that impact students more favorably.

Today I reflected on my progress- I wrote out a new illustration and had some good time to brainstorm potential questions.

But I am still overwhelmed thinking about all the adjustments I have to make to my chapters.

New Focus

This morning I woke up with some thoughts. My professors felt my dissertation was really bigger than one dissertation. They felt I needed to focus on one aspect of Personal Mastery from a student's perspective. They felt that this is an area of need since there is not a lot out there.

I thought focusing in on Personal Mastery was focused until I decomposed this construct into the elements of Awareness of Current Reality, Vision, Trust and Drive. So I want to focus on Drive. It is the key element that turns vision from wishful thinking to reality.

But I can't focus on just DRIVE because when you decompose this (it goes beyond Daniel Pink's work) there is a lot to study. So I will take the professors other suggestion and examine the student's perspective. Ultimately I believe the student possess vital information school leaders need in order to create the conditions that meet their needs. BUT we want more than to meet needs in our schools- we want students to THRIVE. To THRIVE it takes DRIVE.

So here is my newest attempt at a title:

FROM DRIVE TO THRIVE: How students perceive the educational system that surrounds them.

Here is my newest attempt at research questions:

1. What do students find engages them in schools?
2. Do students experience authentic, purposeful, and mastery in schools?
3. Do students trust schools?
4. Do students have hope?
5. Do students have internal locus of control

Well- Today I am going to study other research questions I found yesterday and I am going to read a dissertation about Covey's work and a Dissertation about the 5 Disciplines today.

Work Stoppage

I met with my dissertation committee a couple of weeks ago. It was a good meeting- lots of constructive criticism. I again must trim down the work in order to make it realistic. What was hard was the trimming seems to have an impact on my passion. It has been two weeks since I worked on this. I apologize for the sad tone- when I left the meeting they suggested that I trim out the autobiography section, the mathematical model section, the illustrations of the school system, the Covey/Baldrige section, and 3 out of the 4 elements of Personal Mastery (Trust/Vision/Awareness of Current Reality/Drive).

So I am going to attempt to pick up the work today. I will get some outlines to the committee and see what they think before I begin writing chapters 1-3 again. They would like a strong research question followed by a plan for the research.
So here are some thoughts from this morning:

How does a retained 3rd grader become an academic star?
How does the dumbest kid in class become a world renowned brain
surgeon?

The student in these stories took on more responsibility- their systems
changed because someone developed structures that required more. Someone
intentionally designed more responsibility for these students within their
systems. One at school while the other at home.

Today our country is looking at generations of African-American students
who are suffocating in our systems.

The problem is that our systems are not agile enough to meet the needs of
our children. We expect to have a zoo filled with penguins and can't figure out
why the giraffe's are dying.

How can we design systems that are more responsive to our students? Seek
first to understand. If we listen to them, maybe we can find out what is
missing- maybe we can find out what makes them flourish and thrive.

THRIVE- that is a word I want
to contemplate for a while. This is the essence of my passion. What does it take
to create conditions in which our children thrive...

There are systems that have promise because they intentionally design
systems that give voice to their students. Tools like issue bins, data
notebooks, and PDSA's are all means by which students gain power in educational
systems. These tools were used in business models for years to increase
productivity and ownership. This shift of responsibility is taking place in
schools that use Covey or Baldrige.

So my latest attempt at a research question is:
How do quality tools impact student engagement?