Copyright © Louis Schmier and Atwood Publishing.
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 11:02:32 -0500 (EST)
Random Thought: On Motivation, IV: "The Chair"
The class had already done two of the four theme setting exercises
for everything we were going to do in the class over the course of the
semester. They had done what we titled, "Never Forget The Story." We had
done the "It's Communication, Stupid" exercise. Now came the one they had
been waiting for. It is the one that I always had thought was frivolus and
has been slow to seeing its true meaning. It is a simple exercise. It has
profound impacts. It is the one that always proves to be the most
powerful. It is the one that comes up time and time and time again, as it
should. It is the one the students always throw at me, as they should and
I as want and as I expect. It is the one that the students mention most in
their confidential letters. It is called, "The Chair." This is how it
goes. This is how it went yesterday in one class.
The setting is simple. I ask that two communities join to form
into seven clusters. The clusters sit around the edges of the room
leaving a space in the center. Into that middle space of the classroom I
slowly carry a chair, deliberately set it down, and catch their attention
by saying, "Now we are at the third oeprating theme of the class. It is
known as "The Chair."
Then, as I slowly, very slowly, walk around the center of the
room, I slowly, very slowly, lay down the rules, spacing periods of my
practiced silence between each statement of the rules. "There are rules.
There are always rules...."
Holding my index finger high above my head, I say: "Rule number
one: a respresentative from each cluster, one at a time, will come out to
the center of the room. After we finish a cycle, a different
representative from each cluster will come out....With me?...."
With two emphasizing fingers held high, I continued, "Rule number two:
that person will introduce him/herself....
Three fingers shoot to the ceiling, "Rule number three: that person will
sit on the chair, butt touching....
Rule number four: no one can sit on the chair the same way anyone else
has sat on it. I'll repeat that. No one can sit on the chair the same way
anyone else has sat on it.
Rule number five: since there are consequences to eveyrthing we do, there
are always consequences, should anyone violate any of the just mentioned
rules, his or her entire cluster must come to the center of the room, and
sound and act vividly like a barnyard animal of our choice and to our
satisfaction. Do you want me to repeat the rules.............."
There is a buzz of laughter, giggles, whispers as I go through the
rules and repeat them and repeat them again. The students are turning to
each other and talking and pointing and moving their hands animating how
they might sit on the chair in ways no one else before them would think
of. The hands shoot up and the questions begin.
"Do we decide which cluster goes in what order?"
"You heard the rules."
"Do we decide who is going to represent us each time?"
"You heard the rules."
"Can we move the chair?"
"You heard the rules."
"Do we have to follow the rules in the order you gave them?"
"You heard the rules."
"Since you said 'on' the chair instead of 'in' the chair, can we
sit on any part of the chair?"
"You heard the rules."
"Can you repeat the rules?"
I repeat them still again. The exercise began in one class with a
small-large miracle. Cowanna came out and started introducing herself as
no one ever had in the years I have run this exercise. "I am Cowanna.
I'm a freshman. I am from (her town) and I.....
"I didn't ask for a biography. All I...." I laughingly
interupted.
She turned with a smile and cut me off. "You said we had to
introduce ouselves and this is how I want to introduce myself. So, let me
finish."
"Yes ma'am," I answered with an apologetic tone, a saluting nod of
my head, and a silent scream, "Yes!!" First miracle.
Then there was Gary. He came out. "My name is Gary."
"Tell us more like Cowanna," someone shouted.
"Nope. It's my introduction. That is all I want to say."
Gary picked up the chair, pulled it to his rear end, and
walked around. "Chicken! Let's have a chicken from you all," a few
voices called out.
"Heck no. I'm within the rules. He said, 'sit on' the chair. He
didn't say, 'sit down' on the chair. I decided to 'sit on' the chair
while sitting 'up.'"
And I issued another silent "YES!!" Second miracle.
And then there was Heather. She came up, sat on the chair in her
own unique way, went back to her cluster, sat down, and as a credscendo of
"you didn't tell who you are," "broke the rules," "cow," "let's have some
pigs," "a goat" rose, she introduced herself. She defended herself
successfully by saying, "He didn't tell us the order we have to follow the
rules or where I had to be when I introduced myself. Remember he told us
earlier to listen to what the rules say and what they don't say. I
decided to be different and decided to introduce myself after you saw how
I sat in the chair and while I was sitting with my cluster. I followed
the rules."
And, I screamed still another silent "YES!!!" Third miracle. And
on and on went the exercise. The chair was moving. Students sat on it in
all sorts of unique ways, too numberous to list. There was anticipation;
there was applause; there was laughter; there was support of one cluster
for another; there was excitement; there were smiles; there were shouts of
approval; there was conferencing; there was encouragement. Well, you get
the idea.
After everyone had had his or her turn, we debriefed. "Why do you
think we did this exercise?" I asked.
And out from the proverbial mouths of babes came pearls of wisdom
and meaning:
"We're seeing the basic rules of how to do the projects."
"We made the decisions on how to sit on the chair."
"I never thought I would do what I did."
"We made the choices, not you."
"Challenge. And, it was okay to challenge you."
"We laughed with each other."
"We could be creative and imaginative."
"There's more than one way to do something."
"There was a lot of support in this room."
"We weren't competing 'to the death.'"
"When we asked you a question, we had to decide because all you
said was 'you heard the rules."
"No way was right or wrong, just different."
"All the ways were good. None was bad, just different."
"It was fun and that made it easier to learn."
"Curious to see what people would come up with."
"I didn't think I could be that imaginative."
"Weren't afraid to take a chance."
"I wasn't afraid of looking stupid."
"As someone did something different it opened the way for the rest
of us of play on that."
"Cowanna caught you and you agreed she did."
"What didn't you see or hear?" I asked.
"You didn't tell us to do it your way."
"You didn't crush Cowanna just because she did something you
didn't think about."
"You were willing to learn from us."
"I heard a lot of what you didn't say, what the rules didn't say
we couldn't do."
"So," I said. "when you do any of your projects or anything in
this class, remember the chair. There is no right or wrong way as long
as, Michelle?"
"....you're within the rules."
"There is no better or worse way as long as, Michelle?
"....you're within the rules."
"There is more than one way to do a project as long as, Michelle?
".....you're within the rules."
"You can challenge me and do projects in the way I didn't of
doing as long as, Michelle?"
"....you're within the rules."
So, whenever you do a project, please don't waste you time
thinking about, dreaming about, or even asking each other, class?
"What does he want?"
"If you ask me, 'Is this okay?' I'm going to ask, Michelle?
"....is it within the rules?"
"If you ask me, 'Doc, what do you want?" I'm going to answer,
Michelle?
"Remember the Chair."
"Look at 'The words for the day," as I pointed to the board: 'No
one puts limits on you but yourself.' Now you know our third operating
theme of the class: REMEMBER THE CHAIR!"
So I think after going back to my office after this class, I
started thinking. This is what I think was going on in that class that is
key to planning motivation. There must be two general, guiding
principles: First, know our students for whom they each really are. Too
many of us know, or, at least, think we know, a lot in general about them
and very little in particular about each of them. That's why I ask the
students to journal daily and I read their entries weekly; that's why we
all complete the statement "I feel....." on the blackboard as soon as we
enter the classroom. Yesterday, words like: tired, sleepy, alive,
excited, stressed, sad, energetic, blessed, unattractive, content, hungry,
clean peppered the board. Second, like Escalante, we shouldn't focus on
controlling students, on trying to do something we can't do in the first
place. I have found that the more we tell students what to do, when to do
it, and how to do it, the more they will mutter and resent. You'll get
more with sweetened whispers of persuasion and encourage and love than
with soured shouts and threats of coercion or manipulation. Our challenge
is to provide a balance of a general framework of rules and freedom, that
is, freedom and choice within a boundary of rules. I always tell my
students to listen to the rules, but listen more intently to what the
rules don't say. Freedom is a motivation when it is a "freedom to" rather
than a "freedom from," that is a positive movement toward achievement.
An art major hands in her journal in the form of a one page image. She
works on it each day and has it completed by the time the journals have to
be handed in. She is engaged in visual journaling; she is within the
rules.
So don't focus on making students do something, focus on figuring
how to get students to want to do something. I think were are seven
criteria at work in "The Chair" and in the projects to come for doing
this:
1. Students will do to the extent they think what they're doing is
important, purposeful, valuable, meaningful.
2. Students will do to the extent they feel that are involved, that the
class is there for them, that they are involved in the decisions and
choices.
3. Students will do when they feel they are moving forward; when what
they are doing is challenging and has possibilities for success.
4. students will do when they feel safe, when they are safe from feeling
embarassed, stupid, incompetent, unprepared, etc.
5. students will do when they feel they're loved, valued, have a sense of
belonging, listened to, sincerely listened to, included.
6. students will do when they feel enabled, when the classroom
facilitates rather than hinders.
7. students will do when they no longer feel isolate, alone, strange;
when they bond, form friendships with others.
Now, you ask, "what about grades, those 'extrinsic motivators?"
Tomorrow my thoughts on that.
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