“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
“We make our choices; then our choices make us.” Anonymous
Giving students a choice is an effective way of differentiating my teaching. In my experience, student choice increases involvement and engagement in the course, elevates motivation and reduces stress. When learners read a list of options and identify ones they can achieve, they experience a sense of “I can do that!” empowerment. Granting choice in academic contexts also prepares learners to take responsibility for their progress. Additional benefits are learners knowing their strengths, exploring what they know and making choices accordingly; these decisions based on metacognition are crucial for development. Allowing students to make meaningful choices in their learning encourages them to develop a sense of ownership for their work. I have witnessed these benefits with primary school students and pre-service teachers.
In this post, I share the kinds of choices students make in my ‘Rhetoric Skills and Readers’ Theatre’ course at the Oranim College of Education. I give these choices for all the reasons mentioned above and because they afford me authentic opportunities to get to know my first-year students.
After learning the principles of public speaking, the students choose a speech available online, usually a TED Talk. Many students describe their deliberation and the time they spent selecting the perfect speech for them. The speeches chosen are diverse and are presented on a Padlet board. It is fascinating for me to connect the speech choices to the students; learning who the students admire and who their role models are is always informative. The task allows a wide range of opinions to be sounded in class and invites a variety of cultural representations into the syllabus. Students who can bring respected thinkers from their ethnic groups into the academic arena feel empowered and have a sense of belonging; they realise that their lives outside of the college are relevant and significant. This is a valuable bonus in a student cohort comprised of Jews, Christian and Muslim Arabs, Druze and Circassians. There are additional choices in the task that requires analysis of the content and the presentation techniques in the speech. I offer a range of questions, and the students choose questions that suit their selected speech and their understanding of it.
In another unit in the course, students prepare a speech on a topic of their choice. I explicitly ask students to choose a topic they know about and have experience in. I call it a topic ‘close to their heart’, explaining that I want them to bring their world into the classroom. It is essential that they concentrate on their presentation technique and language skills; most pre-service teachers are presenting in English, their second or third language. Hearing the speeches is an exciting way to get to know students; the rich stories that unfold, the depth of expertise, and the diversity of the fields are stimulating.
Some of the topics that have been presented have been:
Western and Islamic civilisations: Eternal foes or potential partners?
Finding love on Tinder
Being an introvert
Reading books as an escape from real life
Diabetes
Gendered marketing
Stepping out of my comfort zone
Stop everything, and go outside
My grandfather as an inspiration
How Videogames Influenced My Life
An additional layer of choice is given in the presentation mode. Students can choose to present their speech live in class with an audience or prepare a Flipgrid video. Speeches are three to five minutes in length. Students presenting live receive questions from the audience, and feedback is written and collected using the Nearpod app. On Flipgrid, peers can view the recorded speech and leave feedback written or on video. The learners know there are advantages and disadvantages in both modes; they weigh these up and choose what suits them. Last year, all the live speeches had to be delivered via Zoom; this year, we heard a few live in the classroom.
Another central unit in the course is the Readers’ Theatre, it too is grounded in student choice, but I will write about the program in a separate post.
I highly recommend introducing student choice for learners of all ages. I would love to learn from your experience. Please feel free to add your ideas in the comments.
