Three Principles for Instructional Design that Empowers

"It got me thinking..."

That phrase continued to rattle around in my mind after reading the article my husband had texted me. It was about the eighteen-year-old who won the Google Science Fair in 2019.

He was out kayaking. He was observing. And he had time to think. To ponder. To make connections.

That's how he discovered a way to use magnetic liquid to remove microplastics from water. He was able to synthesize, innovate, and take meaningful action. And it all started because he had the time, space, and experiences to get thinking.

Flashback to the very night before: we'd had our latest #PYPchat. The focus of the chat was the PYP exhibition. (Check out the Wakelet for the chat here.) During the chat, a wise and wonderful PYP Coordinator amplified some vital points regarding student action:

[embed]http://twitter.com/loonyleabra/status/1369722568001941511?s=20[/embed]

[embed]http://twitter.com/loonyleabra/status/1369723162200510466?s=20[/embed]

Yes! The key is authenticity in action and inquiry. When exhibition becomes a smoke-and-mirrors show, the true purpose and power are missed. At its heart, action is about being authentic, mindful, responsible, and responsive. It's about making a difference as internationally-minded humans and agents of positive change. It's about empowerment.

With all of this in mind, how might you work to create learning experiences and environments that empower? This is an "onion question" with many layers, and I'm sure the list could go on and on. For now, here are three key tenets to start with:

Protect Time for Living the Work

You get better and better at what you practice. Violin, handstands, cooking, baseball. You name it. And although the old saying is "practice makes perfect," I find an adapted version of that to ring even more true: reflective practice makes exemplary. Practice in and of itself can only go so far; a huge part of why practice helps us grow is because we reflect.

Across the ages, the power of reflection has been studied. Many agree that there are three powerful ways we reflect. We reflect in our practice. In the moment, we shift our sails as needed. We reflect on our practice. After an experience, we think about what we've learned and what we might change the next time we practice. And we reflect about our practice—about the context, conditions, and environment. We consider what is working for—and what is detracting from—growth and progress. All three of these types of reflection interplay with one another. Reflecting on and about our practice are a big part of what makes reflecting in our practice—effectively, with expertise, in the moment—possible, and they require time and space.

We need that time and space as teachers to grow in our practice, and so do our students. Too often students spend the majority of their school days being talked at rather than learned with. They are told a lot about reading, about history, about writing, etc.—but rarely get the chance to live it. If you are designing for empowerment, you protect time and space in your classroom for students to inquire, act, and reflect—with you there to confer and coach along the way. (The Workshop framework is especially helpful in bringing this to life on a daily basis.) What's more, you provide many opportunities for students to develop the abilities to self-monitor, self-assess, and—perhaps most importantly—self-adjust. In other words, they take action with authenticity based on both feedback and reflection.

Honor Agency

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you probably knew this principle was coming. When students have voice, choice, and ownership honored, they are invested and authentically driven to take action. You don't have to assign or cajole them into action; if they are truly invested in something, they will feel undeniably compelled to act. And they will act in ways that really matter. This brings us back to where this post started and the wonderful insights lifted up in the Twitter chat. Action can look many different ways. It can be large-scale and grand. It can also appear small, yet change a life (or many!) for the better. When students can infuse their own voices and the fabric of their own beings into their work, empowerment and positive action follow.

Just as action can take many different forms, so can honoring agency. Each unit, inquiry, and learning experience you design will likely have different opportunities to recognize agency. Sometimes there might be space for a wide, broad range of choice, voice, and ownership. For example:

• As a community, we are all exploring techniques writers use to show voice. In our minilessons each day, we will examine strategies and craft moves writers use to do this work. You can choose which genre to write in (narrative? poetry? informative article? comic book?), what topic you are writing about (Minecraft? Plastic waste? A story of friendship? A pirate adventure?), where to sit when you write, what tools to use to produce your writing (digital? paper? both?), and who to partner with for feedback.

Other times there might be a selection of choice under an umbrella based on the scope of an inquiry and/or the context. For example:

• As a community, we are exploring how readers use critical and creative thinking skills to analyze fantasy novels in book clubs. I have provided six novels for you to consider. Read the blurbs and list your top three choices. I will look at the lists to form the clubs; you will get one of your top three book choices. I'll let you know which days we are having book club meetings in class, but you and your club get to decide how many pages you'll read each day, how you'll collect your thinking, and any other club expectations for collaboration. Together, we'll explore learning standards and co-create success criteria. Then, you'll decide how you would like to demonstrate your learning, progress, and understanding.

There's not one way for agency to look in our classrooms, but there is always room for it to thrive. If you consider your instructional design through the lens of agency, you will see the opportunities are abundant.

Design for True Learning: Transfer

Think of a time you experienced what you would consider true learning. What was it like? How did you know you had truly learned?

When asked these questions, most of us will think of experiences where we had to apply what we learned in new situations, teach what we learned to someone else, and/or adapt what we learned by synthesizing it with other knowledge and making it our own. Indeed, from Marton and Säljö in the 1970s to Fisher, Hattie, and Frey today, educational theorists have come to similar findings in their research. In fact, it is proposed that learning develops across three phases: surface, deep, and transfer. All phases have a purpose in our development—with transfer being the goal. If you can transfer your learning, you own it; you are empowered.

Circling back to the young scientist who helped inspire this post, he demonstrated transfer learning. He was able to take his understanding of chemistry and transfer it to a novel experience while kayaking. He synthesized his understandings to form a new idea. He was empowered because he owned those scientific concepts and skills and was able to transfer them in meaningful ways.

You can think about units as journeys—with bends along the way. As you design a unit and project potential experiences, consider where students will have opportunities for transfer—certainly by the final bend of the journey, and often along the way as well. After all, what better way to demonstrate deep, conceptual understandings than through transferring them in original ways that are all your own? Designing for transfer helps you to ensure you are not merely assigning, but rather empowering.

What do you think? What principles have you found most helpful when designing for empowerment? Share your insights and ideas in the comments!