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Reaching Students through Project-Based Learning

Following our exhibition, I interviewed my focus students on how they felt about

having choices during projects. My hope was that building autonomy, competency, and

belongingness in the project would help my students love learning despite the

challenges they faced with the work and in their teams. I found they enjoyed how theircuriosities were meaningful to an audience. Ultimately, my first graders became

empowered. This experience encouraged them to use their voices with confidence and

to drive their own learning. This experience lived beyond this moment. My focus

students responses highlighted a few themes about the impact of choice and listening

to students within projects.

Students want to take the work home

I love trying to look at [butterflies], see what it does when I do nothing. I test it, test it,

and test it.

When I talked with Abbey, she explained how she explored butterflies (her

project topic) while at home. Because Abbey had chosen her topic, she was excited to

work on her project, even when we werent in class or when it was expected. Brown

states, In play, most of the time we are able to try out things without threatening our

physical or emotional well-being. [...] We can create possibilities that have never existed

but may in the future. We make new cognitive connections that find their way into our

everyday lives. We can learn lessons and skills without being directly at risk, (2009).

When student curiosity is incorporated into what they learn, they retain skills easier

because it feels like play. Play makes learning fun. Her reference to testing showed thatshe was learning how to be a close observer to dig deep into her topic. By asking Abbey

to choose what she wanted to learn, she treated what she learned as if it was play.

Since Abbey felt safe to explore her passion through play, she was willing to invest

more time learning about butterflies. Abbeys quote revealed that when kids have choice

within their project they are excited about the work that they take it home, even when its

not required.

Students learn how to rely on each other

I asked Dante to help me with the map.

Asking for help was a big step for Charlie. He was used to working alone

because he didnt think he needed anyone. When I asked Charlie how he felt working

with his volcano project team, he said he liked working with his team. In the beginning of

the project, he wanted to work on a product by himself. But after we formed teams to

create one product together, he had to work out of his comfort zone. Charlie was patient

and willing to help his team members find research information during the project. When

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there were times of conflict, he talked it out with his team and found ways to share roles

to finish their product. According to Gloria Ladson- Billings, students are to care . . . not

only about their own achievement but also about their classmates achievement

(Sluijsmans et al, 1994). Charlie began to learn how to depend on and trust others.

Students embrace the hard work

Its harder and we learn more. I like to make the projects.

Andy was the most vocal and resistant to doing hard work, like writing. But when

I asked him how he felt about projects, he said he liked it despite the hard work. There

were plenty of writing in our projects. He was motivated because it was in the context of

a project that was meaningful to him. Andy was willing to do the hard work because

having choices met his innate need to direct his own life, to learn and create new things,

and to do better by himself and his world (Pink, 2009).

Andy moved away in the middle of this project. Teachers were surprised that I

wasnt relieved but instead was saddened to see Andy go. He taught me how to listen to

student voice and implement it. He taught me to not judge student voice as a form of

defiance, but as a way to help students understand the relevance of what we do. His

voice enabled other students voices to be heard because he advocated for choices and

his courage gave them courage. Teachers remember certain students in their career for

various reasons. Andy will be remembered as the one who taught me how to teach with

relevance through the power of listening. I am grateful for the gift of being taught by

Andy.

Students know what they want

I want to have [choices] because teachers dont know what we want.

Annas response to having choices was profound to me because she was right. I

do not know what she or my other students wants are. I spent most of my time

assuming what it was before I simply asked them. Having choices on what they wanted

to learn, the questions they wanted to research, what they needed more instructional

help with, how and who they wanted to share their work with as well as choosing how to

solve problems when working together through projects, motivated my students to come

to school. Their learning had purpose and it gave them perseverance to do the workeven though it was hard because they had a team to provide kind, specific, and helpful

feedback. Project-based learning motivated my students to learn because it honored

their innate need to have autonomy, belongingness, and competence or mastery.

Students are individuals who need opportunities to practice what it means to be a

citizen who contributes to a society that prides itself on human dignity, equity, freedom,

and justice (Apple & Beane, 2007). Anna needed me to trust her to practice her basic

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human right and freedom to make choices. My trust in her through the opportunity of

choice, gave her confidence to recognize her contribution to our community.

It was worth it!

In the beginning ofmy findings, I asked the question, What did I get myselfinto?! I was plagued with fear of losing control and yielding chaos. What if I had

empowered students to have choices in our norms, curriculum and relationships, but

their performance was still academically low? Even though test performance was not

why I chose to move ahead with my action research, this common question still haunted

me. When I took a look at each of my precious first graders and the hopes that their

families had for their futures, my fears paled in comparison. I couldnt ignore that I had

an opportunity to pursue the possibility that my students would come out of this

research empowered and in love with learning. That was a risk I was willing to take.

Playing it safe and continuing to do what didnt reach my students year after year now

seemed ridiculous. Was it hard? Yes. Were there times of chaos? Sure. Did I ever fallinto my old controlling habits? Some times. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Its worth it because I now recognize the moments of discomfort for myself and

my students as the natural process of a democracy. In democratic classrooms, Kohn

argues that conflicts or dissention arent seen as threats but as opportunities to

strengthen democracy by remaining faithful to its process (1993). My students and I are

no longer threats to each other. We are learning how to see dissention as an

opportunity to listen to each other and come to consensus. This willingness to listen has

strengthened trust from teacher to student, student to teacher, student to student, and

finally student to self. Now, when I struggle with how my students are to learnsomething or when they argue, I dont feel paralyzed with being the holder of the

answers wondering What am Igoing to do?! I share this responsibility with my

students. I hate to break it to you, but having choices and listening to student voice

within a democratic classroom doesnt change students. I believe students are able to

be more of themselves in this learning environment. Students do not enjoy resisting or

being defiant to the point of enduring punishment. It is we, the teachers, who are

changed. I needed to change to allow my students to be more of who they were, not

merely children, but people whose current needs, rights, and experiences are taken

seriously (Kohn, 1993).