What do your students want?

Blurring the In-School Ouf-of-School Line

Powerful Learners and Critical Agents: The Goals of Five Urban Caribbean Youth in a Conceptual Physics Classroom

Sreyashi Jhumki Basu

Department of Teaching and Learning, Steinhardt School of Education,

New York University

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In my interview protocols, I asked students several questions about their goals, the aspect of agency in which I was most interested for this paper. For example,

  • What was your favorite part of this science unit, and why?
  • What do you want to learn in your physics classroom? Are you learning what you want to? What is missing?
  • What are some strong beliefs you hold in your life? What are some of the things you care about the most? What are your most important goals right now?
  • Does this physics unit contribute to anything you want to achieve for yourself or in the world? If so, could you tell me more about how you think about this? “

Reply :

These questions are powerful. The thoughts that these questions provoke allow an individual to grow as a student. The questions get students to reflect on what they have learned, how they feel about what they have learned, and what they actually want to learn. The answers can help educators create a more productive learning environment for their students. The ideas of students are at times neglected in schools. Out dated, “in the box,” ways of teaching have prevented growth within our school systems. Taking our student’s words into consideration when developing school curriculum, and  environments, may prove to be beneficial to students, educators, and administrators.

The essential goal for me as an educator is for my students to learn while also expressing the hunger to learn. If my students don’t express or understand the value of knowledge; then I am failing them as an educator. People have to want to learn in order to learn anything. Finding out what my students want to learn should be my goal in the beginning of the school year; then maybe I can teach my students something. Often we are passive in our students learning because of the pressure on our shoulders to have them succeed in standardized testing. We need to stand up and make a change and teach our students how to learn, express what they learn, and act on upon what they learn, to build, and progress as people.