Freedom helps kids learn more

Letting them take charge, bonding with them will motivate them: Experts

By Amelia Tan

The study

THE research by professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan examined the factors shaping the learning outcomes of students from 15 countries. Here is a summary of their findings:

Students encouraged by their teachers to take charge of their own learning have a better grasp of the subject and higher self-esteem than those who are controlled.

Students are best motivated by intrinsic factors such as their personal interests.

Parents and teachers both play powerful roles in determining how motivated children are as learners.

Students are better engaged and more motivated to learn if their teachers relate to them.

An over-emphasis on testing makes students less engaged and less likely to want to learn on their own.

Professors Edward Deci (left) and Richard Ryan, both from the University of Rochester, have put in more than 20 years of research into educational psychology across 15 countries. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

TOO much control over a child's learning - and this includes excessive testing - is bad, a pair of visiting researchers have said.

An emphasis on exams puts stress on the child, and also on the teacher - whose performance hangs on how well his students do.

This was the message two American psychologists offered The Straits Times in an interview yesterday.

Professors Edward Deci and Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester in the United States have put in more than 20 years of research into educational psychology across 15 countries.

They were at the National Institute of Education (NIE) yesterday to give a talk to 400 educators and education researchers on nurturing motivated learners and the effects of tests.

They told The Straits Times that they recommend instead that teachers encourage children to take charge of their learning, that is, to allow them some freedom to decide how and what to learn.

The professors' research indicates that students understand concepts better and are more likely to continue learning on their own if they are given this kind of autonomy - rather than if they had to mug through set texts to prepare for tests.

This autonomy could include, for example, the freedom to choose the type of reading material instead of following a book list prescribed by the teacher.

The professors also recommend that teachers spend less time preparing their classes for tests and more on getting to know their students.

Prof Ryan suggested that teachers should be looking at intrinsic factors such as what their students are interested in and what motivates them.

'Parents and teachers need to support students for who they are, rather than to control them.

'This means relating to them, finding out what they like and what problems they are facing... They are authorities, but it is important that they do not become authoritarian,' he said.

Prof Deci added that how students respond to their teachers depends on how attached they are to them - and this has a great effect on how well they learn.

'Students who feel that their teachers are showing them care and concern are more likely to be interested in their studies because they want to do well for themselves and their teachers,' he said.

The formation of those very bonds may be hindered by an overemphasis on testing.

Mr Daniel Tan, a primary school teacher on secondment to NIE who attended the talk, said he agreed that it was crucial for teachers to build a rapport with their students and involve them in learning.

But he added: 'The biggest challenge I see is in time constraint - we need time to build rapport and we also need time to ensure that the students do well.'

Pre-school teacher Josephine Koh, herself a mother of two junior-college-age boys, acknowledged that parents feel the pressure to ensure their children do well.

'But I think parents need to understand that each child is unique and there is no point in drilling them to ensure they excel in tests if they are not interested.'

Source: Straits Times, 20 Jan 2010.

Comment by Property Maestro (PM):

George Michael proposed this a long time ago. So did Freddie Mercury. Now before you go instituting this a la Summerhill, a.k.a. a socio-educational experiment that went awfully awry (I love my alliterations!) in England some decades back, just relax and learn to go with the flow in the classroom.

What most people (read: teachers) would do is to either:

a) disregard this as trash and continue steadfast in their entrenched positions; or

b) embrace it helter-skelter and cause confusion and mayhem among their charges.