SKEP Classrooms where active listening and student empowerment are essential
From WikEd
By Linda Smith Tabb user:Ltabb
The driving psychology in this model of classroom management is best termed a humanistic psychology as represented by Carl Rogers, his colleagues and students. In this psychology, student intent and needs are basically “good" and productive, and if fostered to fruition will promote learning and self-actualization. The teachers’ role is more like that of a therapist, or counselor, in consort with a resourceful consultant. The main goal of the teacher is to help the student gain contact with his/her “real self" by listening and empowering them to ask good questions, engage reasonable actions and pursue worthy goals.
Humanistic Psychology Defined
"Today, widely accepted as part of the mainstream, interest in what human beings could be and could become, began as a world-wide phenomenon in the 1940's, grew slowly in the 1950's, and picked up speed in the 1960's only to reach full flowering in the 1970's. Many names have been used to describe this including, "third force psychology", the "self-awareness movement", the "human potential movement", and sometimes, just "personal growth". Today, it is less of a movement, and more of a tendancy or approach, within the whole field of self-development (Rowan, 2001)".
Today, the Humanistic Approach to Psychology, according to the Table of Contents in the Association for Humanistic Psychology's Guide by John Rowan, emcompasses theories and practices involving the Person Centered Approach, Gestalt Therapy, Encounter, Co-counseling, Psychodrama, Transactional Analysis, Body Work, Primal Integration, Transpersonal Psychology, Dream Work, Feminist Therapy, and Transpersonal Management, among others. Many approaches have been added and expanded upon. As much has been added and evolved, it is important to recognize its first pioneer, Abraham H. Maslow.
Abraham H. Maslow
Abraham H. Maslow was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1908 and was the eldest of seven children of uneducated Jewish immigrants from Russia. He was pushed hard for academic success by his parents, and had a lonely, book-filled childhood. In order to satisfy his parents, he first studied law at City College of New York (CCNY). After his marriage, he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin, where he earned the B.A., M.A., and PhD., all in psychology. He did work at Columbia University with E.L. Thorndike in the field of human sexuality, taught full-time at Brooklyn College, where he had contact with many European intelletuals, and served as the chair of the psychology department at Brandeis University. Here he began his work in humanistic psychology, which ultimately became his passion. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
His book, Toward a Psychology of Health, written in 1956, speaks of man's inner nature. Each person has a unique inner nature which is unique, essentially biologically based and to some degree "natural" or intrinsic. This nature is not intrinsically evil. Basic needs, basic human emotions and basic human capacities are either neutral, pre-moral, or positively 'good'. It is essential that inner nature be encouraged. Suppression of this essential core will result in sickness at some point. This inner nature is both subtle and weak and easily overcome by habit, cultural pressure and wrong attitudes toward it. It rarely disappears, and presses for actualization.
Another book, Basic Needs and their Hierarchical Arrangements written in 1957 takes this a step further, stating that healthy or gratified people do not demonstrate the same deficiencies as deprived people. The deprived person yearns persistently for gratification of needs. Deprivation of these needs not only eventually causes sickness, gratfying these needs is therapeutic, curing the deficiency illness. These needs are related to each other in a hierarchical way in an order of strength and of priority. All basic needs are simply steps along the path to self-actualization, under which all basic needs can be subsumed.
For more information on Maslow and his theories, see Maslow: Toward a Psychology of Being. For more information on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, see Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
"Maslow was an academic psychologist who later became the president of the American Psychological Association. His key idea was a concept called 'self-actualization', the idea that our purpose in life is to go on a process of development that starts early in life, but is often blocked later. He was joined by others, such as Carl Rogers (another APA president), Charlotte Buhler, Roberto Assagioli, Fritz Perls, Virginia Satir, Kurt Goldstein, Sidney Jourard, Rollo May, Clark Moustakas, Ira Progoff, Jean Houston, Alvin Mahrer and others (Rowan, 2001)".
Carl Rogers, a follower of Maslow, incorporated the concept of needs into his therapeutic theories. "One key difference between Maslow and Rogers is the emphasis that Maslow gave to 'peak experiences'. Peak experiences are moments in life which take us beyond our ordinary perceptions, thoughts, and feelings. The individual feels energized, more 'alive'. Because of the 'mystical' nature of peak experiences, some psychologists are less comfortable with Maslow's theory than with Rogers's, which uses concepts more easily related to 'mainstream' psychology". See The Humanistic Approach.
Carl Ransom Rogers
"Carl Rogers was born in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois and is best known as the founder of 'client-centered' and 'non-directive' therapy. He was born into a family with many Midwestern farm values, including pioneering attitudes toward independence. These values may have led to his belief that people will act in ways that benefit themselves. He studied agriculture at the University of Wisconsin and theology at the Union Theological Seminary and was a pastor in a small church in Vermont. He later turned to clinical and educational psychology, studying at Teachers' College of Columbia University, where he drew on such diverse sources as Otto Rank and John Dewey through W.H. Kilpatrick. He first taught at Ohio State University in 1940, using an experiential form of teaching which required his students to determine the direction of the course and its content. He moved to the University of Chicago in 1945 and published his book, Client Centered Therapy in 1951. After a dozen years he left Chicago for the University of Wisconsin, and in leaving Wisconsin in 1963, left academia.(UNESCO, 1999) (Smith, 2005)".
Rogers was one of the most prominent American psychologists of his generation. His uncommon view of human nature led him to originate a unique psychotherapy and gave him a different view of education. He was widely admired as a person and psychologist, however his therapeutic method generated much controversy. His view of human nature was that a person has the ability to actualize the self, which if freed will result in the person solving his or her own problems. The therapist is not the expert but rather should free the client's power to solve personal problems. This concept of the client not needing an expert was at the heart of the controversy (UNESCO, 1999)
This same view shaped his writings about education. Like the relationship between therapist and client, it is the teacher's job to free and aid the interests and enthusiasms of students. "The whole conceptual framework of Carl Rogers rests on his profound experience that human beings become increasingly trustworthy once they feel at a deep level that their subjective experience is both respected and progressively understood (Thorne, 1992)."
The attitudes that Rogers believed facilitated learning as set out in Mark K. Smith's 2005 article on the Infed website are as follows:
- Realness in the facilitator ~ The most basic attitude is realness or genuineness. An educator is a real person who enters into a relationship with the student. Educators are more effective if they do not present a front or facade to the student. There is direct personal encounter on a one to one basis where the educator is being himself or herself, and there is not denial of the true self.
- Prizing, acceptance, trust ~ The effective facilitator or educator must prize the learner, and prize the learner's feelings and opinions. This is a basic trust that shows acknowledgement of the other person having worth in his or her own right and that the other person is fundamentally trustworthy. In addition, this reflects the facilitor's general trust in the capacity of individuals.
- Empathetic listening ~ When an educator has the ability to understand the way the process of education and learning seems to the student, the likelihood of significant learning is increased. This creates a climate conducive to self-initiated experiential learning.
The strength of Rogers' approach rests in its focus on relationship. Rogers wrote, "The facilitation of significant learning rests upon certain attitudinal qualities that exist in the personal relationship between facilitator and learner."(The Carl Rogers Reader, 1990) Two other general principles of note include that, we cannot teach another person directly; we can only facilitate his or her learning and that the structure and organziation of self appears to become more rigid under threat and relaxes its boundaries when completely free from threat (Barrett-Lennard, 1998)
See Rogers Article by Mark K. Smith on Infed for further biographical materials and commentaries, as well as a list of five key texts of particular relevence to educators.
Concept of Learning as a freedom and student right
Rogers considered learning as a freedom. His work Freedom to Learn, originally published in 1969 with subsequent editions in 1983 and 1993 (reworked by H.J. Freiberg), takes the principles developed by Rogers in relation to counseling, and reworks them in the context of education. Rogers saw "self-directed learning" as the ultimate goal of education.
In Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems, page 201, Charles H. Wolfgang, discusses a concept called Relationship-Listening (RL). In this discipline orientation, students are considered to be "inherently good", and student misbehavior is considered to be the result of inner needs not being met or from a blockage of some inner need. The teacher's role is to establish a nonjudgmental relationship with students and encourage the student to talk out his or her problems while the teacher listens. In this manner, the student is empowered to solve his or her own problems with teacher's facilitation. It is easy to see that the RL model owes much to the theories of Maslow and Rogers and to the humanistic approach to psychology in general.
The essence of many of the rights and responsibilities reflect Rogerian concepts and the humanistic approach. An environment will be created where needs are acknowledged and feelings and opinions are encouraged to be heard.
Approaches used in the Rogerian/Emotionally Supportive/Relationship Listening Model (RL)
One of the most practical approaches to use the Rogerian concepts, is Teacher Effectiveness Training or T.E.T., created by Thomas Gordon. As with all things Rogerian, open and authentic communication between teacher and student is the centerpiece. Central to this approach are Active listening and the use of I-messages. In addition to a six step problem solving schema, one of the key issues in Gordon's procedures encourages an acknowledgment of who owns each problem - teacher or student. Teacher actions clearly observed include critical listening, acknowledgments, door openers, active listening, I-messages, no-lose problem solving, the six steps, and influencing statements. Much has been written on this approach and is internally linked here. In addition, See Gordon Training International.
The Carl R. Rogers Symposium 2002 was held to honor the 100 years of Carl R. Rogers and was held in La Jolla, California on July 24-28 of that year. The event was hosted by the Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, University of California, San Diego. One of the activities involved, was the presentation of papers on work that had been influenced in different fields by the work of Rogers. One paper presented in the field of education concerned a program called Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline (CMCD). CMCD was developed at the University of Houston-Central campus. Its founder, Dr. H. Jerome Freiburg, then professor in the College of Education at the University of Houston, has extensive experience teaching at-risk students at the elementary and secondary levels and is in demand throughout the country to speak about classroom management and school climate. Consistency Management is a proven classroom management program used in Houston, Texas and in school districts throughout the nation. It grew from use in 3 schools in 1995 to approximately 143 schools in 2002 including schools in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Columbus, Knoxville, Newark, Chicago, San Antonio, Minneapolis and internationally in schools in Northern Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
"The main components of CMCD are prevention, caring, cooperation, organization and community. The primary goal of CMCD is to create a disciplined, caring and respectful climate, focused on active learning. The primary objectives of CMCD are to prevent problems before they occur, create a consistent but flexible active learning environment, establish and maintain a caring learning environment, provide student opportunities for cooperative discipline and merge classroom, school and community to support the learner. Consistency Management focuses on classroom and instructional organization. Cooperative Discipline expands leadership roles in the classroom from teacher to student. Classroom management becomes a collaborative effort and students learn to trust and be trusted through opportunities linked to ownership (Freiburg, 2002)." CMCD is a component of Project GRAD USA (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams).
In addition to Maslow and Rogers, other notable individuals in the field of humanistic psychology have made contributions to education. Clark Moustakas in his book, The Authentic Teacher: Sensitivity and Awareness in the Classroom bases his approaches on Rogers' therapeutic concepts. He stresses the importance of the adult in the classroom seeing the child as a human being and the importance of the mutuality and relationship between teacher and student. Moustakas had a concern for the abuse of power of the person traditionally in authority in the classroom, and the desensitizing effect it can bring when teachers "reject, humiliate, hurt, belittle, control, dominate, and brutalize students", seemingly without any awareness of the potential damage they are inflicting.
Yet another model is the Transactional Analysis Model (T.A.) championed by Eric Berne, Thomas A. Harris, and Ken Ernst. "T.A. is a theory of personality that has found application in both organizations and education. It recognizes three ego states: Parent, Adult, and Child. The interaction between these states forms the foundation of the theory. Because the child is born into a helpless state, the child begins with a state of "I am not okay and you are". For students who cannot overcome their early childhood feelings and move to "I am okay and you are okay", they unknowingly play games to get their needs met. T.A. shows teachers how to identify those games and how not to fall into the student trap by becoming a co-player, thus helping to break the destructive interaction (Wolfgang, 2001, p. 208)".
Another well known name in this field is Alfie Kohn, who believes that "human interaction and problem solving is too dynamic and complex to create a model of discipline that would only be a recipe, and narrow the thinking and creativity of the teacher (Wolfgang, 2002, p. 230)". Kohn believed that both punishment and rewards are unproductive because they ignore the underlying reasons for a given behavior (Kohn, 1996, p. 124). In his book, No contest: the case against competition, he argues that competition is essentially detrimental to every important aspect of human experience: our relationships, self-esteem, enjoyment of leisure, and even productivity would be improved if we were to break out of the pattern of relentless competition. In the March 1998 issue of Share International, David and Roger Johnson, international endorsers of competitive learning, conclude, based on Kohn's thesis that genuine self-esteem is best built outside competitive frameworks, that "cooperative learning situations, compared to competitive and individualistic situations, promote higher levels of self-esteem and healthier processes for derivig conclusions about one's self-worth".
A once popular concept influenced by Rogerian theory is the 'open classroom'. They were quite common during the 1970s and frequently are used in Montessori schools today. Rogers believed that the role of humanistic teachers is to organize the classroom so that students will "wish to learn, want to grow, seek to find out, hope to master, and desire to create". Open classrooms take human idealogy into the classroom in a way that traditional classrooms often do not. The traditional classroom is teacher-centered; the open classroom is student-centered and student-directed. In the traditional classroom, the teacher tells students what to do, and fixes the curriculum with little connection between subjects; in the open classroom, the teacher is facilitator, and students choose freely what to study, and there is integration of subjects across the curriculum. In the traditional classroom students often work alone; in the open classroom students work alone, or in groups in a cooperative setting. In the traditional classroom, the focus is on grades; in the open classroom, grades and tests are not important - evaluation is made in terms of what is meaningful to the student. In the traditional classroom students learn facts and rote learning is emphasized to reproduce facts; in the open classroom students learn to learn, using reflexive thinking.
A last model which could be classified as a Relationship/Listening Model is the Peer Mediation Model. As stated earlier, my daughters attended Leal Elementary School in Urbana, IL when Richard Bodine was principal. His books, Peer Mediation: Conflict Resolution in Schools, and Creating the Peaceable School: A Comprehensive Program for Teaching Conflict Resolution, each coauthored with Fred Schrumpf and Donna K. Crawford, outline proactive solutions that were utilized school-wide at Leal. One of my daughters, now a graduate student in labor economics, went through training, and became a Peer Mediator at Leal in 1994. She appeared in the original video made about the pilot program at Leal. She felt the program was effective, and that her involvement in it was worthwhile, providing her life skills in mediation. After Richard Bodine retired from Leal, he and Donna Crawford co-founded Conflict Resolution Education,Inc.. Their website includes links to consultants, resources, workshops, on-site staff development training, and an online store offering books and videos.
Specific Strategies for dealing with student actions
According to the Life Orientations Method, Rogers' view of human behavior is that it is 'exquisitely rational' It is driven by our need for positive self-regard and the positive regard of others, among other needs. We learn what these concepts mean in our development through our experiences and the influence of significant others including teachers. The concept of 'self' is central to this theory. All ideas, perceptions and values characterize 'I', 'Me', 'What I am' and 'What I can do'. This perceived self, which grows out of our experiences of living, influences both our perception of the world and our behavior. We want to behave in ways that are consistent with our self-image; experiences and feelings that are not consistent are threatening. See also Rogers' Influence on Life Orientations Method.
Conflict occurs when the inherent rationality is stifled. It is felt that this stifling occurs in the classroom when teachers set about to order, direct, or force a student to behave according to the teacher's will (Wolfgang, p. 206).
According to Rogerian theory since all persons are unique, it is impossible for one person to make appropriate decisions for another. People experience situations in different ways based on prior experience and their unique goals, expectations and attitudes. This personal "screening" occurs mostly at the unconscious level.
Then, according to Wolfgang, the process or goal for the individual experiencing problems in the classroom is to consciously process his or her difficulties through the vehicle of language. Expressing feelings and concerns will aid the individual to make the most appropriate rational decision. For example, underneath aggressive words and behavior, is a collection of fears, disappointments, and angry feelings of not belonging and being rejected.
The teacher takes an empathic, nonjudgmental position and simply mirrors the student's statements, behavior and feelings, attempts to encourage the child to "talk out" his or her concerns, and in doing so, offers to share his or her power with the student. This theory holds faith in the student's own problem solving capacity and it is correlated with self-concept. It is only through the opportunity to deal with one's own daily problems that one becomes master of one's own destiny. Lectures and advice by the teacher have the effect of weakening a student's self concept. The teacher's role is primarily one of being a supportive, noncritical facilitator (Wolfgang, pp. 206-7).
Some of the most practical applications are in use in the T.E.T. model. These can be found in internal links: Thomas Gordon, Teacher Effectiveness Training, Active listening, and I-messages.
An excellent overview of the Relationship-Listening approach with emphasis on the Rogerian/Emotionally Supportive Model with specific scenarios, strategies and explanations can be found in Charles H. Wolfgang's book, Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems: Methods and Models for Today's Teachers (2001), pages 201-231.
Case studies and success stories involving globalization aspects with this approach
Rogers had a large international following, and had to make difficult decisions about where his help was most needed. He traveled to many nations to do workshops, and to work for peace in what he considered a "fragile" world. In his foreward to Carl Rogers: The Quiet Revolutionary, An Oral History, Eugene T. Gendlin stated that "when Rogers was well over eighty years old, he led huge workshops in countries such as the former Hungary, Brazil and the former Soviet Union and conducted communication groups in South Africa. His influences were many, and in many fields. His impact on the field of education did not end in various settings including multicultural ones in the United States, but continued in other parts of the world, touching other cultures, as well. His theories, methods and approaches caught on at all levels of education and in a mix of diverse settings. His work is particularly favored in university settings around the globe.
A search for applications of the Relationship/Listening approach in education yielded a good many more applications at the university level, both in the United States and globally. This was interesting, because it seems to reflect the commonly held notion that younger children are less capable than older children of managing their own studies and being trustworthy in a school environment. There are some notable exceptions, but not without controversy. It seems that to apply Rogerian concepts in their purest form, as has been done since the 1920s at Summerhill School, in the United Kingdom in Leiston in the county of Suffolk, England, is a most unique and courageous undertaking. The following information is largely drawn from the school's website. See Summerhill School.
Summerhill School is a progressive, co-educational, residential school, for ages 5-18, founded by A.S. Neill. Neill believed that "the function of the child is to live his own life - not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, nor a life according to the purpose of the educator who thinks he knows best". Summerhill is first and foremost a place where children can discover who they are and where their interests lie in the safety of a self-governing, democratic community. This community is seen as unusual in two important ways. First, lessons are optional. Teachers and classes are available at timetabled times, but children decide whether or not to attend. Children make the decisions and are free to choose to attend the lessons they are motivated to learn. Children below the age of 12 have their own teachers and classrooms with multi-activity spaces, which allow children to be in the classroom and engage in independent activity that is not tied to any timetable. Older students can select from a variety of courses on a timetable. Neill is also quoted as saying, "Most of the school work adolescents do is simply a waste of time, of energy, of patience. It robs youth of its right to play and play and play, it puts old heads on young shoulders". The second unique feature is the school meeting where laws are made or changed. These laws are the rules of the school, made by majority vote in the community meetings. Students and staff have equal votes. Issues such as bullying and harassment are dealt with by the whole community and sanctions decided by community vote.
Despite the absence of any teenage pregnancy, drinking or drug problems in the school's long history, and a track record of passing of significant examinations in the state system and recognized qualifications such as A levels and degrees, in March, 2000, OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education) wrote a report after an inspection of the school in March 1999, demanding changes to the Summerhill philosophy. In clear evidence of student empowerment, after this report was published, the students contacted the Children's Legal Centre to see if they could get help and a lawyer to represent them. In addition, staff members Zoe and Tony Readhead were taking steps to prevent the school's closure. As can be imagined, media interest to the threat of closure ran high. National papers, foreign papers, radio news and televsion covered the story. In the summer of 1999, the school hosted an international conference on the 'free child' to examine how alternative schools could contribute to the state education systems. This was both an attempt to save the school and served as publicity for a national and worldwide public relations campaign called 'Binning the Report', referring to the OFSTED report. After the conference, a team of independent experts from the field of education made their own independent report on Summerhill during onsite visits. This report is available at UK~Summerhill School - Ofsted Report and Response. After much publicity, campaigning, and a defense by Geoffrey Robertson, a world-reknown human rights champion in hearings in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, attended by most of the students, an agreement was drawn with the school. As a result, Summerhill has gone from being on a secret 'to be watched' list, requiring frequent inspections like that leading to the negative OFSTED report, to now being the most legally protected school in the country, with a unique inspection process that is the first to include the voices of children.
Interestingly, the original school established by Neill was in Hellerau, as suburb of Dresden, Germany. It was part of an International School called 'Neue Schule' or 'New School'. A similar approach has been taken in Denmark at Bernadotteskolen in Hellerup. The international section of the Bernadotte School, "The Little House", offers education from pre-school to 9th grade (age group 6 – 15 years). It accepts children of all nationalities. Classes are taught in English. An international 10th grade class is taught in both English and Danish. Bernadotteskolen was opened in 1949 by a group of parents motivated to prevent a future of conflict by the promotion of international understanding. The educational desire was to break away from the rigidity and authoritarianism of traditional schooling, and put into practice the new ideas of child-centered pedagogy. Knowledge and learning are seen as tools when enhance the individual's understanding and appreciation of life, rather than a checklist of academic goals which can be pursued in isolation. The school is run democratically and parents, students and teachers all have influence in running the school. Instruction is adjusted to fit the student's individual requirements and backgrounds. Great emphasis is placed on social skills and discussion and negotiation to solve conflict are encouraged. Self-reliance is fosterd in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than competition. The ultimate aim is to develop responsible, caring people, with an understanding of human values based on personal experience (Bech-Jessen, 2005)
Another kind of example in Europe is a school called Klassestrijd in Bijlmer in the Netherlands. This school was referred to as the "battlefield" school in Dutch because of the population it serves, and the difficulties encountered there. Dr. H. Jerome Freiberg, creator of CMCD, brought his methods to the school, and along with Bowen Paulle took stock of the situation there. In reference to life for troubled students in the Netherlands, Paulle, a sociologist at the Universiteit Van Amsterdam, is quoted as saying, "The kid’s life chances are being determined by, of course, family and the neighborhood and the school. The mainstream society cannot do a whole lot about what’s going on the the kid’s living rooms. It’s very hard for the mainstream society to control or heavily influence or shape what’s going on in the neighborhood, on the street corner, or on the soccer field. We have a permanent integration site and we call it school". Freiberg compared the school to Marshall Middle School in Houston, Texas, where he had taught. He said, "When I taught at the middle school during the day, I taught at the maximum security prison at night. And I kid people by saying I did that for my relief. The reason I taught at the prison is I’ve discovered an interrelationship. The inmates that I worked with all had reading problems, they all had problems relating to adults or authority, and the way they got attention was by getting into trouble. And I would teach at the prison on Thursday night. On Friday morning I’d come back an teach my classes and I had students who had reading problems, the way they got my attention was by getting into trouble, and they had difficulty relating to authority or to adults. And so I began seeing a relationship between my students that I was teaching and the inmates that were at the prison". CMCD, an approach based on Rogerian concepts, is seen as a workable option, even in the most difficult school environments, taking into account both Rogers' theories and Maslow's concept of deprivation of needs. Also in Europe, in July, 1997, research findings by another sociologist, Giorgio Chiari, Professor della Universita degli Studi di Trento, Italia, show CMCD in high schools in three cities in Northern Italy have gains in reading, in mathematics, and improved school climates compared to control classrooms.
Some interesting applications of the Rogerian theories have been used in teaching by Dawn McBride, a Canadian, at Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates. She offers advice and recommendations for teaching in a university classroom, when the instructor and students are from vastly different cultural backgrounds. She shows how teaching style can be adapted when one is immersed in an unfamiliar culture. At the outset, the creation of trust in the classroom was particularly important in setting a tone, in a classroom made up exclusively of Muslim women. Using Rogers' emphasis on the facilitator being congruent, demonstrating empathetic understanding, and showing unconditional positive regard, McBride set out to build rapport with her students by showing flexibility, patience, understanding, and sensitivity to their backgrounds. She states, "I welcome the process of getting acquainted with their dreams, hopes, feelings and thoughts. The long lasting benefit of taking this time to get to know them, particularly early in the term, is that they are often forthcoming in sharing their thoughts and feelings about their culture, religion and lifestyle". The instructor in this setting must have excellent listening skills, and ask open ended questions in a nonjudmental way. McBride felt that by using this approach, she was better able to teach in a more culturally sensitive manner.
Bob Mathews of the University of Glasgow, UK, and Pete Sayers of the University of Bradford, UK, presented a paper outlining their use of emotional intelligence and the art of non-judgemental feedback, using methods derived from Rogerian counseling and transactional analysis, with engineering students at their institutions, at the International Conference on Engineering Education in Oslo, Norway in August, 2001. In their article, they point out that students learn more from feedback, when they feel emotionally safe, and so ensuring this safety is one of the roles of 'lecturers'. It discusses how students of engineering at university in the UK no longer have the same deferential respect for their lecturers, and in order to be motivated to learn, need facilitators who don't tell them what to do, but rather encourage students to take responsibility on their own, to ensure life long learning takes place. Facilitation of this type is seen as a skill, and giving good quality feedback is one of the key tools. Good quality feedback is specific, descriptive, respectful, appropriate and non-judgemental. An interesting point of their article is that in order to give students this type of feedback, an effective facilitator must actively listen to feedback from the students themselves, or model the process of active listening, in order to facilitate their listening to lecturer's feedback to them. Active listening skills facilitate this give and take of feedback between and among students and lecturers. Much of what they advocate is reminiscent of Gordon (I-messages) or T.A. (I'm OK, you're OK, being careful not to 'hook' parent or child rather than adult). Given that, in a field like engineering, the ability to give and receive feedback is an essential part of problem-solving, this was a particularly insightful way to apply Rogerian theories in a practical way with a certain specific population.
In an article by Renate Motschnig-Pitrik of the University of Vienna, Austria, entitled Combining Carl Rogers' Student-Centered Teaching with eLearning: Experiences, Consequences, and Hypotheses, the question is put forth that, given all of the evidence of the success of the student-centered approach, why is it not the main paradigm applied to higher education? Many of the advantages of this approach are supplied in the article, but the author suggests that three issues stand in the way of its widespread application in the university classroom, all of which suggest that it is a much more demanding approach for instructors. It requires more time for intense interpersonal communication, which results in more time and organization and scheduling of the course, a larger amount of course material to meet the needs of individual student interests, and the problem that not all instructors hold Person-Centered attitudes, and would need opportunities to mature and grow into their roles as facilitators. Interestingly, she found real advantages in using what she calls 'New Media', which include the Internet, and other derived technologies, in student-centered teaching. This 'New Media' can facilitate communication for instructors, without limits of time or space, make large amounts of material and vast knowledge sources accessible to students according to their interests, serve as a repository and common workspace for documents, and provide the opportunity and environment for students to follow their own particular interests. In this way, learning processes are directed by students, and only initiated by instructors.
Application of approaches using the humanistic psychology model are common in universities in the form of Cooperative Learning and an offshoot of this called Peace Education. In their newsletter of the Cooperative Learning Institute, Volume 15, Issue 1, in February, 2000, David and Roger Johnson report trainings taking place around the world notably in Hong Kong. Along with the cooperative learning model, these trainings focus on giving appropriate personal feedback and positive regard to students. In addition, the newsletter speaks of cooperative learning settings in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Monterey, Mexico, Norway, Tanzania, as well as ongoing work in Bogota, Columbia at Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, and Colegio Rochester.
Advantages of Active Listening and Student Empowerment Strategies
One clear advantage of an effective active listening and student empowerment stategy is that the classroom environment encourages the self-actualization and growth of students and is a safe haven where needs are met and feelings and opinions can be articulated and are accepted. Done well, a community of learners develops together with the facilitation of the educator. Teaching is disconnected from learning and responsibility for learning is shifted to the student. This, in turn, would move students from a passive to an active role, and by encouraging students to be responsible for their own learning, could shift emphasis from the accumulation of credits to the demonstration of mastery (Steeples, 1998). The current school system in the United States with its motivation provided by external rewards, such as grades, encourages students only to do what they are told, and often students do not see their schooling as their own project. Active listening and empowerment strategies encourage students to move past these extrinsic motivations. In addition, our system currently seems to be moving in the direction of learning facts over all other forms of learning and knowledge. The humanistic approach to education encourages personal growth over the learning of mere facts and empowers students.
In his article, Paradigm Shifts in the Classroom, (1998) Lasley contrasts two instructional paradigms. The 'learning paradigm' is quite different from the 'teaching paradigm'. In the learning paradigm, teachers, as facilitators of learning are constantly reading the students to determine how to create a better atmosphere for student growth. These teachers get outside themselves and into the minds of students. They continually ask questions like, 'How do they learn?' 'How can I as a teacher participate in the learning process with my students?' Teachers consider the entirety of a student's experience. McCombs and Whisler (1997) prefer the term 'learner-centered' to 'student-centered' because of its focus on learning as a lifelong pursuit. It seems to followthat in this setting, both motivation and achievement would increase and would not be as limited as in the teaching paradigm.
Esther Tan, Associate Professor and Head of the Psychological Studies Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, asks if strategies for dealing with discipline in the classroom and counseling are compatible practices? The answer is a resounding "yes"! They share something in common - both are motivated by care and concern for the well-being of the recipient, and both aim at bringing about behavioral change, problem-solving, personal growth and development. When properly implemented, both discipline or in the Rogerian model, discipline as counseling, can succeed in fostering in our students the values of respect, self-discipline, social responsibility and moral integrity, the foundations of character building and affective education.
Another advantage of this model is that students learn to solve their own problems and learn how to own them in the process, which leads to the development of responsibility. This model also lends itself the running of a more democratic rule-setting classroom.
Student-centered learning is particularly effective with more mature learners. Implementing student-centered learning in college classrooms can increase teacher effectiveness, and have positive impact in the short term, and in the long term, increasing the possibility of lifelong learning as a goal. According to Maslow, the ideal university has no formal credits or required courses or degrees, and is an educational retreat where students explore various subjects according to their own interests and identities. Teachers would be self-actualizers, provide unconditional positive regard, and help students to realize their potentials. For an excellent article on the student-centered approach in the college classroom, see Carl Rogers and Student Centered Learning by Lora Kahn.
It may seem somewhat counterintuitive, but online classrooms are particularly well suited to a learner-centered approach, but only if they are set up whereby the educator is able to articulate effectively an active listening approach, which can be difficult. Student empowerment goes hand in hand with successful online learning, and is a necessity. For more information on the concept of student-centered online learning, see Humanizing Distance Learning.
Criticisms and Disadvantages of Active Listening and Student Empowerment Strategies
Criticisms
Dr. W.R. Coulson in 1991 was unabashedly critical of the humanistic approach used in the educational domain. Because Coulson, a Christian psychologist working within non-directive therapy, had worked with both Rogers and Maslow for many years, his criticisms seem well considered. Coulson's concerns are primarily moral and ethical ones. In his view, this methodology's use of "non-judgementalism" with children prevents the teaching of what is right and wrong, especially concerning drug use and teenage sex. The focus on "self-esteem" creates in students a world view where everything is accepted. He argues that Maslow's hierarchy was never meant to used with children, and critiques cooperative learning with a caveat that the strongest students in this setting may have the greatest influence on teaching values in the classroom, often with disastrous results. For more details, read Don Closson's Interview with Dr. Coulson
"Another danger is that of underestimating the contribution of 'teaching'. Rogers could be charged with misrepresenting or overlooking the role of teaching because he was such an excellent facilitator. His apparent emphasis on facilitation and non-directiveness has to be put alongside the guru-like status that he was accorded in teaching encounters. What appears on the page as a question or invitation to explore something, can be experienced as a giving of insight by participants in his classes." (Smith, 2005) Thus, not all facilitators are created equally and Rogers created an unusual environment for engagement in students that few could match.
Also of concern is the very concept of "person centered" as an approach to education. A focus on the other rather than on what lies between us could lead away from the relational which is at the core of the method, and instead into a rather selfish individualism. This criticism could also be made of the general direction of Rogers' therapeutic endeavors (Smith, 2005).
Another obvious concern is that teachers are not trained counselors or therapists. No in-service of any kind can adequately prepare teachers in the classroom to successfully carry out any type of ongoing effective therapy, such as the client-centered approach, which Rogers championed. Mental health professionals, be they social workers, psychologists, or psychiatrists undergo extensive training in order to be licensed and practice in their specialities. While teachers may use elements of an approach influenced by psychological therapy models, a general caveat should be made about teachers as therapists, per se. Much harm can be done by laypersons, who have good intentions, when confronted with a troubled student in need of referral to mental health care professionals, with attempts to solve his or her problems in the classroom, and neglecting to refer the student to counselors in the school. The importance of communication in the school setting among teachers, administration, social workers, counselors and school psychologists is essential to ensure the needs of students are fully met.
Disadvantages
It should seem obvious that one important disadvantage to this approach, is the practicality of person centeredness as a concept. The smaller the number of students in a situation to interact with the educator or facilitator, the more effective this strategy can be. In this paradigm, the neediest, most vocal students could dominate the setting. Clearly, this approach would work best in smaller classrooms, where individual attention is more easily given and where listening in general is more naturally facilitated.
In addition, many educators could have trouble effectively using this approach. Some teachers might view this approach as a 'powerless' approach because it lacks a list of proposed punishments or consequences, per se. It might be difficult for educators with certain personality traits to buy in to, and it would be a challenging approach to use in a school setting where the majority of educators use other models. According to Wolfgang, this model requires a very secure teacher who is not frightened by hostility and other 'negative' emotions. This approach would require educators to be well trained and for many to incorporate changes in their approaches. This approach does not include a laundry list of remedies to use when students' behaviors are challenging, rather it provides a blueprint for establishing a certain type of atmosphere or experience in the classroom, which makes the buy in of teachers all the more important. It would be most effective as an all school initiative, which would facilitate the more effective personal growth of all students and all educators in the building.
Conclusion
Many elaborate studies and experiments have been performed by C. Rogers, D. Aspy, F. Roebuck, R. Tausch and their colleagues, which prove the effectiveness of Student Centered Learning at all levels of education, from kindergarten to college (Rogers, 1983), (Aspy, 1972). Effectiveness is equated with the highly cognitive and social, as well as with personal qualities, such as flexibility and self-confidence. This type of teaching allows for superior academic achievement, as well as personal and social growth, and is known to result in a high level of student satisfaction (Motschnig-Pitrik, 2002). If the theories of Carl Rogers and other humanistic psychologists as applied in the classroom are so effective, why then are there not more schools in our nation using these methods? It almost seems as if we as a culture, have turned away from this approach as a new generation of educators is entering our schools. Are schools like Summerhill in UK, likely to be just as controversial in our midst? Are the requirements of testing in the 'No Child Left Behind' (NCLB) landscape at odds with this approach? It was interesting to note that most schools preparing younger students using these methods in their purest form in the US, are listed under the heading 'alternative education', and are likely to be private schools, not schools in the public domain. Examples of these schools include Play Mountain Place in Los Angeles, Puget Sound Community School in Seattle, Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA, and Upattinas School in Glenmoore, PA., all founded on the Rogerian principals of a humanistic environment of trust and respect, individual freedom to learn, self-initiated activities, where play is considered as important and necessary.
This approach to classroom management aligns very strongly with my own value system and what I would want to see achieved in all classrooms. I believe wholeheartedly in the humanistic concepts of Maslow, Rogers and their followers, and the possibilities for personal growth of all students and educators. Educators themselves would benefit from the growth required to move from being teachers as teachers, to teachers as learners, researchers, reformers, reflective practitioners, writers, and reflexive learners (Schon, 1983). If effectively managed, I would prefer this setting for my own children, and indeed, this has been a reality for each of them at one or another point in time.
The difficulty can be in the implementation day in, day out, face to face. It takes great discipline on the part of the educator, and a willingness to relinquish control, which is hard for many. Ongoing training would be an essential component of adopting these strategies, be they an organized program such as T.E.T. or CMCD, or other. The goal and approach to classroom education developed by Rogers would require not only changes in teachers, administrators, and their preparation, but in the entire educational system, including parents (Patterson, 1977). Perhaps in spite of this, or because of it, one of the futures of the student-centered approach may well be in field of distance learning, and with the use of new technologies, that facilitate this approach, drawing learners who are open to new approaches and self-directed learning. So the classroom of the future where active listening and student empowerment are essential may not be a classroom at all. Rogers enjoyed using recent and new technology in his practice and as a tool for learning and research. He recorded interviews and sessions, which was cutting edge at the time, so it seems adaptation of new technology would be in the spirit of Rogers (Motschnig-Pitrik). Rogers himself stated in his book, Freedom to Learn, that a way must be found to develop a climate in the system in which the focus is not upon teaching, but on the facilitation of self-directed learning.
Life experiences, testimonies and stories related to this chapter, "signed" by contributor
If learning is then considered to be a student right, it needs to be protected. One of the core elements of this, is a concept of student rights and responsibilities. Both of my daughters attended Leal Elementary School in Urbana, Illinois when Richard Bodine was principal of the school. He integrated concepts that included Creating Peaceable Schools, Peer Mediation, and "Student Rights and Responsibilities" at Leal. My daughter's first and second grade teacher at Leal from 1989-1991, Becky McCabe, is interviewed in the link on Peaceable Schools. Here is a link to a set of Rights and Responsibilities from Leal School and an adapted version, used at University Laboratory High School, also in Urbana.
Rights and Responsibilites~The Leal Model
Rights and Responsibilities~The Uni Model
Helpful Links
1.Approaches in a culturally diverse EDBD middle school classroom
3.Combinational Approach in Singapore
4.Emotional Intelligence: The Art of Non-Judgemental Feedback
6.Conflict Resolution Education, Inc.
8.Rights and Responsibilites~The Leal Model
9.Rights and Responsibilities~The Uni Model
10.Maslow: Toward a Psychology of Being
11.Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
12.Association for Humanistic Psychology
13.The Person Centered Approach
15.Dissent from the Christian Perspective on the Humanist Approach in Education
16.Education in Humanistic Psychology
17.Report of an Inquiry Summerhill School - UK
18.Timeline~Play Mountain Place School in Southern California
20.Thirty Years of Global Education in the UK
22.Teacher Effectiveness Training from CTER WikEd
24.Active Listening from WikEd CTER
25.Peer Mediation from WiKed CTER
27.Person Centered Information/Carl Rogers bio
29.Honoring 100 years of Carl Rogers at Saybrook - links to articles
30.Carl Rogers and Student Centered Learning -Kahn
32.Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline (CMCD)
33.Examples of Cooperative Learning from around the world
35.Project Grad
36.Klassestrijd - Bijlmer, Netherlands meets Marshall Middle School, Houston, TX
37.Dutch Version - "Battlefield Classroom
38.Cooperative Learning in Hong Kong Universities
40.Foreward to Carl Rogers: The Quiet Revolutionary, an Oral History
41.Rogers' Influence on Life Orientations Method
42.Person-Centered Approach in South Africa
43.Giorgio Chiari University of Trento - CV
44.Rogers Article by Mark K. Smith on Infed
46.Humanizing Distance Learning
48. Puget Sound Community School
49.Sudberry Valley School ~ Framington, Mass
50.Upattinas School and Resource Center
Resources
Aspy, D.N. (1972). Toward a Technology for Humanizing Education. Champaign, IL: Research Press Company.
Barrett-Lennard, G.T. (1998).Carl Rogers' Helping System. Journey and substance. London: Sage
Freiburg, H.J. (2002). Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline: Supporting the Person-Centered Learning Environments http://www.saybrook.edu/crr/papers/Freiburg.html
Kirschenbaum, H. & Henderson, V.L. (Eds.) The Carl Rogers Reader. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Kohn, A. (1996). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Lasley, T.J. (1998). Paradigm shifts in the classroom.Phi Delta Kappan, 80, 84-86.
McCombs, B.L. & Whisler, J.S. (1997). The learner-centered classroom and school strategies for increasing motivation and achievement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Mostchnig-Pitrik, R. (2002). Combining Carl Rogers' Student-Centered Teaching with eLearning: Experiences, Consequences, and Hypotheses www.saybrook.edu/crr/papers/Motschnig.html
Patterson, C.H. (1977) Foundations for a Theory of Instruction and Educational Psychology. Harper & Row
Probe Ministries, Inc.(1991) http://www.probe.org/content/view/829/88/
Rogers, C.R. (1969). Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Rogers, C.R. (1983). Freedom to Learn for the 80's. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Rogers, C.R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist's view of psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Rogers, C.R. & Russell, D.E. Foreward, Gendlin, E.T.(2002). Carl Rogers: The Quiet Revolutionary, An Oral History. Roseville, CA: Penmarin Books.
Rowan, J. (2001). A Guide to Humanistic Psychology. American Association of Humanistic Psychology.
Schon, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. USA: Basic Books.
Smith, M.K. (2005). http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-rogers.htm
Steeples, D. (1998). "'You've got to be very careful...': The quest for best practices". Liberal Education, 84 68-72.
Thorne, B. (1992) Carl Rogers. London: Sage
UNESCO International Bureau of Education (1999) Vol. XXIV, no.3/4, p. 411-22.
Wolfgang, C.H. (2001). Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems, 5th Ed.. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
http://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/humanist.html The Humanistic Approach
http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE2001/Proceedings/papers/311.pdf Mathew, B. & Sayer, P. Emotional Intelligence: The Art of Non-Judgemental Feedback (downloaded 6/22/05)
http://www.scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:d_Cf-yIjJXYJ:www.zu.ac.ae/lthe/vol01/lthe01_02.pdf+Becoming+More+Culturally+Aware+Gulf+ McBride D. Gulf Perspectives: Becoming More Culturally Aware in the University Classroom (downloaded 6/22/05)
http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/pages/index.html Summerhill School
