Hub and student voice: want vs need

How might I be responsive without losing integrity?

For my teaching as inquiry I’m looking at giving hub time more value through being more demanding and adding structure. The problem is the resistance I’m facing.

Yesterday I found that when I asked the class to work on their blog (a challenge in itself) I was faced with a lot of resistance. The students wanted to do something ‘fun’, because I never give them the chance. Now, I proposed (as I so often do) that we could play a game if they met my expectations in terms of the tasks I presented, but so often these don’t get completed, so we don’t get to play games.

As coaches, we try to listen to student voice, but it can be hard when it is so often connected to what students want rather than what they need.

I remember on EOTC last year, if we had listened and allowed the students to do want they wanted, then I believe they would have stayed in their tents most of the time playing on their devices. I imagine in this situation, that when they got home they would have said how boring it was. We made the decision to insist that they went on the excursions and did the activities, despite the resistance. So often afterwards, they would thank us and express how much they enjoyed it.

So it’s also about believing in the best outcome.

But what if the best outcome is so gradual that it will take years to realise? How can you feel a sense of achievement when that thing that you’re striving for is always moving forward?

I think with the students’ age and the hub dynamic, it’s so hard painting a picture to say that what you are doing will one day benefit them. They just don’t know yet. Our dispositional curriculum isn’t measured and the students’ growth is so slight that they might not see the changes.

So how do you make student voice feel listened to when you believe that their wanting isn’t related to our mission?

#TeachingasInquiry #studentchoice