A Rolling Programme which Promotes Quality Work
An application of Deming and Glasser in a Reception
Class
by Neil Davies September 1998 2000 words (without
the tables and references).
What could make some reception children drag themselves to school
when they have barely recovered after illness? Too good to be
true? There is an LEA Primary School in Suffolk where some children
cannot bear to be away from the action for half a day longer than
necessary. The rolling programme of activities in the afternoon
is one reason and it embodies precisely those conditions for quality
that I referred to in a previous article; (Davies 1998).
There I suggested that we may have been looking in the wrong places
to improve the quality of work that we see from children; and
hence doing the wrong things to raise standards in terms of scores
on objective tests. We in education have assumed that part of
our task is to motivate children, and that manipulating them from
outside using rewards and punishments, called behaviourism or
external control psychology, is the way to do this. But in the
first five years most of us were intrinsically motivated to learn
the basis for all the language we would ever need. So what can
have happened to damage urges as strong as this? The proposition
being put forward is that behaviourist thinking is quite inappropriate
to education and the raising of standards. It produces the opposite
reaction to the one we desire and expect. An alternative assumption
is that children and adults will always remain internally motivated
to do work which is need satisfying for them, and that we may
recognise the work so produced as what we label 'quality'. It
is surprising to discover that rewards themselves act like punishments
when withheld, see Kohn (1993), and serve to extinguish the worthwhile
work that we want to see? Attempting to control people has been
found to damage the intrinsic motivation which leads to quality,
through harming the good relationships that are vital in any co-operative
enterprise. Lennon, (1997), has argued that it prevents development
of the awareness that people are choosing their behaviour, and
hence inhibits the growth of a sense of responsibility. If this
is true then proponents of Assertive Discipline and other behaviourist
techniques are denying themselves the very outcomes they seek.
In short external discipline may not, alas, inculcate internal
discipline. As I stated in the earlier article, in studies and
in life external motivators are found to detract from, rather
that add to, internal motivation, or 'joy in work'. Glasser (1998)
has called a more appropriate model of motivation 'Internal Control
Psychology'. This alternative model is based on 'Choice Theory'
an explanation of the psychological and physiological behaviour
of all living creatures. For a summary of this idea and the assumptions
on which it is based see the box at the end of the article.
If the classroom behaviour is going well, with the children stimulated
and creative and the teacher sensing that 'this is good, this
is working', (we all know this feeling - some of the time), then
we would expect the work to be need satisfying. The question
is how can we get this result more often and plan for and control
events that usually seem to happen almost by chance? The answer
is that it can be done but we must let go of external control
and learn a new way of thinking based on the internal approach;
in doing so we learn about the need system and motivation in general.
We would predict that successful lesson outcomes would satisfy
in ourselves and our children the five basic needs - survival,
power (or significance), love (or belonging), freedom and fun.
Poor lessons would not meet any of them, with most lessons falling
somewhere in between. This leads to a way of thinking about effective
teaching and explains why the Rolling Programme works so well.
Kohn (1993) has summarised the arguments against external manipulation
by rewards, punishments and competition by suggesting that we
think of three C's when lesson planning:
Choice - the most important aspect. Children want real
and significant involvement in decisions which affect their lives,
in order to satisfy their needs for power and freedom.
Collaboration - children are motivated by working together
because of the need for belonging. Competing for grades and stickers
has a dampening effect on both winners and losers.
Content - to satisfy the survival and fun needs work should
be interesting and seen to be useful. It is a fact that children
of all ages so often mention 'fun' as a major ingredient in effective
learning.
Good content is the least controversial of the three Cs, it is
Choice and Collaboration that seem to present some teachers with
difficulties. At the mention of choice, and needs such as freedom
and belonging, some critics have cited the failed permissive attitudes
felt to have been responsible for poor standards in the past.
But careful management and strong leadership are just as important,
if not more so, when operating from the Choice Theory or Internal
Control Psychology model. The following description shows how
the rolling programme is structured, and is an example of the
considerable amount of thought and planning necessary for positive
results.
In the example given eleven activities are based around the classroom;
see Table I. The session lasts about an hour, takes place every
afternoon, and changes every two weeks. The activities promote
the objectives which are linked to the desirable outcomes for
children's learning, prior to start of Key Stage 1. Some follow
on from work started in the morning, such as reading individually
and in pairs or creating a picture book of rhyming words. Others
stand alone such as games or construction. One that teachers
observed with some fascination, was the simplest and turned out
to be one of the most popular, children hovered in anticipation
at having a go. The activity involved sitting under a table covered
in curtains which represented an underground environment for minibeasts.
Here children were holding hushed and important conversations
whose subjects none of the adults could ever discover! Near each
activity is a photograph of the resources to be used, for example
the reading area shows the boxes of books. Below the photograph
is the learning objective and then a number of velcro strips for
children to stick their names. This determines the correct number
of pupils working at any one time. The learning objectives are
in the form of simple questions; see Table II. At the start of
the afternoon these are explained or briefly reinforced through
whole class discussion, then the children make their choices.
Finally there is a plenary session where children explain their
experiences to the rest of the class. It must be pointed out
that there are no grades or stickers being handed out, in fact
they are totally absent in this class at all times. The children
are encouraged to engage without competition, i.e. there are no
winners and losers. The attempt is to counter the sense of failure
that can be self-fulfilling in a competitive education system.
Children find the activities interesting and undoubtedly see them
as useful. They vary greatly in nature from playdough to computers
yet children continue to choose them in rotation, they do not
always choose what we would regard as mere play. On this point
there is a strong belief in this classroom on the vital need for
young children to engage in free flow play to develop imagination,
language and co-operative social skills. It becomes apparent
that some need it more than others and they are observed to automatically
bias their choices in favour of what they want to fulfil their
needs. At other times they choose to concentrate on writing or
maths for long periods in the afternoon, producing creative, self-generated
results which reinforce the more academic work of the morning.
They are helped at all times to evaluate their own work as part
of a formative testing process which gives the children instant
feedback on how they are doing. This is seen as a key part of
the process that produces work of high standards, as Glasser (1992)
has stressed. For children when self motivated will continue
to raise their own expectations above those imposed externally,
because as with all of us they have a natural urge to want to
get better at what they enjoy doing.
In this mature atmosphere of trust children develop self-confidence.
Performance in maths and English has been monitored during the
introduction of the Rolling Programme. The summative test results
have shown a rapid improvement in attainment, which is felt to
be due in part to the enhanced or recovered motivation observed
during the Programme. It is not the only way that internal control
methods of management are used in this primary class. Children
are taught to be autonomous and self-regulating through the use
of circle work as a means of helping them to solve their own problems.
This atmosphere of mutual help is reinforced at other times,
for example through the use of challenging yet fundamentally co-operative
strategies; see Orlick (1978) for a superb collection of ideas.
During the recent Ofsted inspection one experienced inspector
observed the class with great interest and said that in all the
years she had been visiting schools she had rarely witnessed such
maturity and confidence in children of that age. She particularly
noted the extent to which they were self-determined and co-operative.
It should perhaps be borne in mind that baseline assessment on
entry to school showed them to be below the national average,
and yet they later progress to score around the mean.
We may conclude our observations in this way. When we allow them
more freedom and power we find that children naturally choose
as we would anyway. But when forced they rebel and choose what
they do not really want or need, presumably to underline frustration
of the needs, especially that of power. Here we have a description
of many of the addictive and criminal behaviours that we observe
in society. Humans often make choices that result in self-harm
because they have not learned how to satisfy their genetic needs
through relationships with other people. In other words coercion
may result in temporary compliance, but will guarantee poor quality
of work in the long run, as Deming (1994) observed. The task
for teachers is to create a strong leadership style based on managing
for choice and co-operation, in addition to the good content that
we have always tried to adopt.
CHOICE THEORY maintains that for every minute of our lives all our behaviour is internally motivated and chosen. It is our best attempt at the time to satisfy one or more of the five basic needs (survival, significance, belonging, freedom and fun) programmed into our genetic structure. It rests on ten axioms:
References:
Deming, W. Edwards. (1994) The New Economics, MIT
Davies, N. (1998) The Trouble with Behaviourism in Managing Schools Today. January 1998 pp 37-39.
Glasser, W. (1992) The Quality School, Harper Perennial.
Glasser, W. (1998) Choice Theory. A New Psychology of Personal Freedom. Harper Collins.
Kohn, A. (1993) Punished by Rewards, Houghton Mifflin.
Lennon, B. (1997) Responsibility: The Awareness of Choice. Internet article on blennon@indigo.ie
Orlick, T. (1978 The Co-operative Sports and Games Book. Pantheon Books.
| Table I - Rolling programme activities (2 weeks) | |||
| To familiarise the children with the numbers and letters on the keyboard. To give them practice in counting and matching numbers as well as discriminating letter sounds. | Use Animated Number and Animated Alphabet. | ||
| To familiarise children with the keyboard/ Concept Keyboard. To promote writing skills, spelling and punctuation through IT as well as revising All Aboard vocabulary. | Use the Concept Keyboard overlays for the All Aboard vocabulary. | ||
| To read along with a tape using All Aboard readers and books we are studying in our literacy sessions. | Funnybones and Pattern and Rhyme stories Stage 1. | ||
| To foster an enjoyment of books, reading individually and in pairs. | Use the Book Area boxes of fiction and non-fiction books, as well as, All Aboard books and topic books about the body and the senses. | ||
| Develop conversational skills and co-operative play through role play. | Using the play kitchen cutlery, crockery, and play food the children will take the roles of customers and cafe workers. | ||
| To reinforce and use their knowledge of rhyming words. | Make picture books of rhyming words. | ||
| To reinforce the need for personal hygiene and the importance of washing. Revise parts of the body. | After watching baby Darren being washed by Mrs Fleming the children will attempt to re-enact it with a doll in the water tray. | ||
| Co-operate while playing board games. Reinforce counting on and counting back. Be able to follow the rules of a game. Reinforce shape recognition. | Use Flip It, Shape games, Monster Game, Jungle Game and Ludo. | ||
| Week 1: Observe a collection of bones and the skeleton with magnifying glasses. Observe the bulbs growing closely.
Week 2: Understand that different substances have different smells. | Look at a collection of real animal bones and the school skeleton.
Smell spices, herbs and fruit. | ||
| Explore a construction kit to find out how the pieces fit together using Mobilo. Develop fine control. | |||
| To develop vocabulary and conversational skills through co-operative play. | Use the garage and people at work figures. | ||
| Experience mixing materials together and watching how they change. | Mix Playdough individually and make food for the cafe. | ||
| Table II - Questions at the activity site |
| 1. Can you find the numbers and letters on the keyboard and use the arrow keys? |
| 1a. Can you write your name and a Rosie and Sam story with the Concept Keyboard? |
| 2. Can you read along with the tape while looking at the book? |
| 3. Can you share a book with a friend? |
| 4. What would you like to order at the cafe? |
| 5. Can you make a book of rhyming words? |
| 6. Can you give the baby a bath? |
| 7. Can you play a game with a friend? |
| 8. What can you find out with your magnifying glass? |
| 9. Can you fit the pieces together correctly? |
| 10. Can you make up a story about the people at the garage? |
| 11. Can you make some food for the cafe? |