Drive by D. Pink

I was in a faculty meeting the other day working with our teachers around student self assessment, self monitoring, and independence. Well- these goals are awesome and totally linked to the dissertation I am working on. These goals also tie into the Private victory Covey writes about- he believes that one who learns the first three habits begins to have independence.

So in the faculty meeting one teacher (Kim) mentions that there is this book by Pink that addresses motivation. I listened to her (it is a good thing to listen to the voice of your teachers) and look how it benefited this research (thank you Kim)!

Pink writes the following:
"Human Beings have an inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise their capacities, to explore, and to learn." p. 8

"Enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, namely how creative a person feels when working on the project, is the strongest and most pervasive driver."

"For some people work remains routine, unchallenging, and directed by others."

"Goals work. Goals that people set for themselves and that are devoted to attaining mastery are usually healthy. But goals imposed by others can sometimes have dangerous side effects."

Pink writes that there are 3 elements that make up a powerful motivation... Autonomy, purpose, and ta da.... Mastery.

If we define personal mastery as being aware of one's current reality, having a vision for one's future and finally having the DRIVE to move from the former to the later then maybe Pink's work will help flush out my definition on personal mastery. I have written to him today to see what he thinks.

Project Voyce

Tonight I met with Brian, the director of Project Voyce. This organization develops student leaders who go into schools to capture what students are thinking and what students feel about the school. Currently his organization is developing tools that teachers can use to capture student feedback. One of the main products his group has produced is stories from students that have moved from dissengagement to engagement. He says it comes down to three things... 1. Opportunities for student expression. 2. Student Participation in these opportunities. and 3. The Adult responses to these students who participate. Brian said that when students see their ideas making an impact on the systems around them- that they moved into the engaged category.

Exciting! We are going to think about how to work together- one thought I had was to connect him with people I have met that have designed tools. He is going to give me access to student interview video where students are telling their stories of engagement. I want to se if we can develop our survey together too. So here is what I am thinking about the survey:
1. Discuss the construct with the Senge folks and with the Covey folks. Nail down this equation.
2. Look at the questions in surveys Project Voyce has used and questions I found from a Senge school.
3. Create questions that include all the elements in the equation as well as some about the teacher relationship. Include questions that measure the three things mentioned Brian's organization mentioned as well, (opportunities, participation, impact).
4. Run the survey through some student focus groups and Project Voyce panels...
5. Celebrate

Project Voyce inspired me- they are a solid organization with a great vision!

Celebration: Chapters 1-3 Sent In

Lots of effort went into getting a draft of the first three chapters out. I am exhausted. I can't tell you how many pieces of literature I went through- and there are many more that I could not include... i am feeling positive right now because the first three chapters are a major step.

Deadlines and Late Nights

I am falling asleep at the computer. I was hoping to meet a self imposed deadline to have the first three chapters done by September. I rewrote chapter 1 after Dr. Brookhart gave me some solid comments. I have chapter 3 almost done (creating a survey and interview questions has been challenging).

This is tough. But I will keep at it- thanks for your thoughts and encouragement...

Measuring The Construct in Question

Assuming that the construct of Personal Mastery or the Private Victory truly is important, how can we measure a school population's levels of these constructs?

If we can, then perhaps we can begin to put together a case for things that organizations are doing to encourage this development.

This study will try and create an instrument to measure these levels. Once we can measure the levels we can identify strong schools. Once we can identify strong schools we can examine their practice. If we discover practices that are impacting a wide-variety of school populations- then we may find something useful for our school leaders to consider. But even more important, we may find hope for children trapped in systems that are hurting their potential and sufficating their passion to learn.

Notes from the Global Summit Day 1

What a powerful day. So much has happened- so much is going to support my studies. I saw a group of students speak today and they blew me away! They were shining as they spoke of personal vision and their love of school and their dreams.

I met Sean Covey today and told him about my dissertation- he connected me with the director of research who is going to assist me as I study the effets of the Leader in Me. He told me 5 others are doing their dissertations on this topic as well. I was excited to hear that now 250 schools are Leader-in-Me schools and India is going to launch 100 schools next year! All of the high schools in Guatemala are required to use the 7 Habits!

I also ate dinner with David Langford from Langford Learning. He invented the consensusgram. His work with Quality tools is powerful and he had a diagram that represented schooling on a spectrum from external to internal motivation. I will connect with him in the future too.

I also shared the meal with Principal Solome Thomas-El. He is an inspirational speaker- one of his lines that made me laugh was when he said: "I have students that give asprin a headache." He is working on his doctorate and it is focused on Self-Efficacy. He says part of his motivation is to be a role model for children and teachers. He wants to build data folders into his school.

Over and over I felt confirmation that this research is important- we can help this profession move forward by identifying the student levels of the Private Victory in students.

Off To The Global Summit

I am going to meet school leaders who are using the Leader-in-Me framework. I can't wait to see what people are doing to develop the personal mastery levels in students...