The third chapter of "An Ethic of Excellence" deals
with providing students with opportunities to make genuine accomplishments
leading toward strong self-esteem. Berger
indicates that one way to get high quality work from students is to give them
assignments that "inspire and challenge" them in meaningful ways. These are not so much contrived projects that
do not go beyond the classroom but are truly real-world problems that provide a
service to the community. Berger's water
quality and radon studies with students are good example of his inspiring and
challenging real-world projects.
As students work
through their projects they must engage in a great deal of reading and writing.
Unlike with traditional models of
literacy assignments where the reading or writing is the goal, with real-world
interdisciplinary projects, the students must acquire important knowledge
through reading and are required to prepare compelling written reports of
findings. This literacy work is embedded
in the overall work of the assignment. Because the work is genuine, the students are
highly motivated in their assignments and the associated literacy.
While students
prepare their work for the assignments, they must keep the aesthetics of their
product in mind. An appreciation of
beauty is always woven through the work of students, emphasizing the arts.
Many times
students do not produce the quality of work desired by the teacher because they
cannot visualize the outcome. If the
teacher provides a “go-by” for the students they can see an example of what the
teacher wants. The students have a picture
of what quality work looks like. To this
end, Berger archives "tribute works", products of prior students that meets his
expectations for quality. Multiple
examples of quality work shows the students that there are multiple ways of
achieving the goals of the assignment.
It is unlikely that any student will produce the best possible
product on the first attempt. Just like
any professional preparing a report or important project, multiple drafts will
be prepared and reviewed by peers and supervisors. That process is utilized in school projects
in which a student’s work will be critiqued and modified until the standard for
excellence is achieved. While this
process will require more time, students develop a culture that “good enough”
isn’t good enough and that excellence is worth the work and that quality means “rethinking,
reworking and polishing”.
After you have viewed Dr. Maynard's video introduction to Chapter 3, please read the chapter and comment on this blog posting responding to the prompts below:
- What some ways that students can visualize excellence in their work?
- How can we provide our students with examples of "beautiful work"?
Also, please remember to make professional comments of the responses of two other participants in this professional learning community.
