2014 National Outdoor Education Conference - AdelaideLearning Engagement, Flow and Facilitation
Tony RobinsonDavid Low
2014 National Outdoor Education Conference
Tony Robinson
Gilson College (13 years)
32 years secondary school teaching primarily with young adolescents
Year 9 L4L Program
2014 National Outdoor Education Conference
David Low
Avondale College
from at the dedication stone in memory of an 18 year old taken by a shark at West Beach in 2004
“We possess the potential to unite like mighty rivers that flow and mingle in our
great oceans. The best of men can be likened to water for water benefits all living
things.”
Tony Robinson
While driving from the Sapphire Coast in SouthEastern New South Wales to this conference in Adelaide for the last couple of days it struck me that the two rivers I criss-crossed most of the way provided something of a metaphor for today’s presentation. This was confirmed by this profound inscription I came across yesterday morning beside the beach near where I am staying: “We possess the potential to unite like mighty rivers that flow and mingle in our great oceans. The best of men can be likened to water for water benefits all living things” (From the dedication stone in memory of an 18 year old taken by a shark at West Beach in 2004).
(Cavanagh, 2012)
Tony Robinson
OE theory has much to offer traditional schooling (Hewison and Martin, 2010). The Experience Fluctuation Model developedd by Csikszentmihalyi (19?), and the Flow Theory that emerges from it, has received acknowledgement and usage in the Outdoor Education community (Cavanagh & Kennish, 2009; Fredricks, Blemfeld & Paris, 2004; Gibbs and Poskitt, 2010). Learning engagement literature (Fredricks, et al, 2004) represents flow as another name for engagement within the affective dimension of learning engagement which is something of a misrepresentation of the notion of flow as interpreted within OE literature (Pfab Houge, Hodge and Boyes, 2010; Priest and Gass, 2005; Stremba and Bisson, 2009).
(Cavanagh, 2012)
Tony Robinson
Emerging from the Experience Fluctuation Model is The Expectations Capabilities Model developed by Cavanagh & Kennish (2009). This model replaces the familiar OE terms of skill and challenge with capabilities and expectations to allow for a more comfortable fit with learning engagement literature. Research based on this concept has found a positive correlation between the challenge and skill continuums in secondary school learning engagement (Harbaugh & Cavanagh, 2012; Cavanagh, 2012).
❖ I propose a third dimension to these schema: motivation
❖ The key to engagement, whether it be learning or any other kind, is motivation: “Motivation is literally the desire to do things.” (2014, Psychology Today)
Tony Robinson
Emerging from my doctoral studies is the proposal of a third component for this schema, motivation. Anyone who has worked with young adolescents for any period of time will know that classroom-based learning is not high on the agenda of this cohort. In fact one author was moved to say:Many teachers believe they should receive hazardous duty pay for teaching adolescents. Adolescence is for many – adolescents, parents and teachers alike – a time of turmoil, rapid growth and learning, as well as shifting emotions and searching for personal and social identities (Reilly, in Crawford, 2008, p. vi).
Skills/capabilitiesIntrinsicCognitive
Challenge/expectations/conditionsExtrinsic
Behavioural
Motivation/need/desireHolistic
Self-determination
Tony Robinson
There is huge amounts of learning going on during this time. Very little of it has to do with a formal curriculum however! Finding ways to address this has focussed the minds of many experts, with large amounts of time and effort put into the study of, and preparation for, specific programs for the cohort (Cole, 2006; Cole, Mahar & Vindurampulle, 2006). Victoria has a long and rich tradition in this area, with many independent and government schools offering specific and targeted programs for the students. The Learning 4 Life (L4L) program at the school I work at is but one example, and will be referred to as this presentation progresses (Robinson, 2008, 2013).
❖ Much has been written about the experience fluctuation model and, to a lesser extent, the expectations capabilities model
❖ Much has been written separately about theories of motivation from the early behavioural theories (Instinct: Bernard, 1924; Drive: Hull, 1943; and Deficiency/Growth needs: Maslow, 1943.) to the more recent cognitive theories (Attribution: Weiner, 1986; and
Self-efficacy: Bandura, 1977, 1982; Schunk, 1991) and the meta-theory of Self-determination (Deci, et al, 1991)
❖ Consideration of these may provide a richer framework within which to organise and facilitate OE programs - particularly for adolescent participants
❖ Scaffold mooted by Belland, et al (2013), for motivation for improved learning engagement which may be helpful in structuring facilitation in OE programs
Establish task value
Promote mastery goals
Promote belonging
Promote emotion regulation
Promote expectancy of success
Promote autonomy
1/. Establish task value
Facilitation approach
Choice on aspects of the program
Focus on fostering interest
Attainment value
Expert modelling
Expectation of perceived outcomes
2/. Promote mastery goals
Encourage short-term goals
Provide and promote informational feedback
Promote cooperation rather than competition
Emphasise rational goals
3/. Promote belonging
Encourage shared goals
Accommodate social goals
Allow students to co-construct standards
4/. Promote emotion regulation
Highlight controllability of actions
Promote reappraisal
5/. Promote expectancy of success
Promote perception of optimal challenge
Support productive attribution
Enable identification of reliable processes
6/. Promote autonomy
Lack of autonomy: Compulsory school attendance and program participation
Use non controlling language
Provide meaningful cognitive choice
Help students direct their own learning
❖ Thinking about competence from an intrinsic perspective Hattie found that the self-report grades had the highest effect size (1,44).
❖ Unpacking this relates to the grade (What they think they will get/can do) they believe they will achieve
❖ Improvement is found when the student is asked about/shown ways they are able to improve on this
❖ L4L program has about an 80% participation rate for the OE component
❖ Most of the incentives are extrinsic: L4L Badge; academic disadvantage;
❖ moving the motivation from outside to inside - extrinsic to intrinsic may improve participation and learning outcomes
❖ Conclusion, comments and questions:
❖ we've looked at flow, learning engagement and motivation
❖ self-determination theory
❖ scaffold to assist facilitate improved motivation to learn/engage in OE contexts