Creating empowered users
Friday, August 6, 2010 at 06:31AM God The Tech Dept helps those who help themselves.
In an e-mail Blue Skunk reader Russ wrote:
As a teacher, one of my goals for this coming school year is "to be less helpful." In practice, I see that to mean asking more questions and giving away fewer answers. When students are "stuck" and they come to me, I'm going to work hard so my first response is, "What have you tried?" instead of "Here's how you do it." ...
Cool. He goes on to ask:
...[what] type of situation is something we would ask our students to figure out (learn) on their own -- with me there to help them navigate if they fail? Why do we use bigger "kid gloves" with our teachers than our students?
Good goal. Good questions. Let's all have it our goal to make explorers, problem-solvers and independent technology users of both staff and students. They may, heaven forbid, have to get along without us one day.
Here's my two cents worth about when to provide tech support and to expect others to try for themselves:
- Distinguish between one-time (or once-a-year) tasks and on-going tasks. When it is a one-time shot (setting up an account), I generally just do it for a person. When it is an on-going, regular task (how do I change my password account, how do I log on, how do I whatever), then direct training and a set of written directions for reference seems the best.
- Especially with adults, rely on the "less helpful" approach after a training other support materials have been given. This is seems especially true for tasks for which there may be multiple good ways of completing them or any sort of creativity involved.
- When a request for help comes, immediately schedule the support for about a half hour in the future instead of providing an immediate response. Amazing how many people figure out their own problems in that time.
The evil part of me feels that creating a dependency is empowering - to me. But as I re-read Carol Dweck's book Mindset, I am more convinced that ever that our teachers need a "growth" mindset before they are able to encourage growth mindsets in their students. And such a mindset can be encouraged in adults, especially when it comes to technology.
Reader Comments (6)
Insightful post, Doug! Your statement "The evil part of me feels that creating a dependency is empowering - to me" really walloped me upside the head! Do I often step in and do because it makes me feel powerful or because it gives me a sense of job security? I have always loved the saying "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime" but I wonder if I'm actually living that in my teaching practice. I really like your three suggestions, Doug, and believe I will adopt them as guidelines for myself. Between now and when school starts new week, I will diligently practice saying "what have you tried" over and over again until it becomes a habit!
A couple of years ago my district issued laptops to all the teachers. My response to any request for help is "Sure, bring your laptop to the library after school or on your break and I'll be happy to help you." It's amazing how the number of "emergencies" were no longer emergencies when their feet had to do the walking! We have some librarians who have really spoiled - perhaps enable is the better word and make house calls for such minor tasks as replacing an ink or toner cartridge. I am no longer one of those librarians. Knowledge is power!
Hi Marian,
I think it is hard for all of us to identify the true reasons we do things - and few of us are consciously evil!
Thanks for the kind words.
Doug
Hi Guusje,
Another good reason for laptops!
Doug
I observed a teacher taking this approach in a 4th grade Montessori classroom (What she actually said was, "figure it out") and I asked if her if her students cried when she didn't jump in with the answer. She said some did the first month of school but after that, they got the message that most of the time they knew how to do it. It was a "DOH!" moment for me:)
Good timing for me - I have often wondered how many time I am supposed to give a student the exact same information. Understanding the difference between a "once" task and a "many" task will make a big difference. I believe that many students figure if they are nice (or have a good excuse) the teacher will give them the exact same information as many times as they ask.
So along with "What have you tried?" another good question would be "Why should I tell you?" If the task has been covered multiple times and the student has not written it down or really worked to solve it, are we really offering education or just information?
Hi Dorothy,
Montessori just gets so many things right. I don't understand why it is not the rule instead of the exception!
Thanks for sharing this,
Doug
Hi Kenn,
Sometimes I believe our supportive natures as teachers work against us. I like the concept of "tough love." We might need to practice a little more of it!
Thanks for the comment,
Doug