Choice Theory and School Improvement

Few things are more critical to school success than the willingness of young people to work hard at the business of learning. Teachers know this - and so do their students. None of the things that we do to promote achievement — higher standards, improved curriculum, more technology, better teacher training or more time for learning — will lead to the results that we want unless students are motivated to take advantage of these opportunities. Yet it is the rare school improvement plan that bothers to set forth the strategies to be employed to promote high levels of motivation, engagement and personal responsibility among students.

William Glasser’s Choice Theory addresses this concern by providing teachers and students with critical insights into human behavior, relationships and motivation. Some examples:

1. Relationships

No one questions the connection between positive teacher-student relationships and school success. But what, exactly, can we do as educators to promote these kinds of relationships in our classrooms? Choice Theory answers this question in considerable detail by describing the “basic needs” that drive all human behavior (safety, belonging, power, freedom and fun), and along with the “caring habits” that result in close personal relationships (supporting, encouraging, listening, accepting, trusting, respecting and negotiating differences). By practicing these habits, we encourage students to include us in what Dr. Glasser calls their “Quality World” — the collection of the people, places, things and beliefs that we associate with the satisfaction of our basic needs. Once a student has placed a picture of his teacher and his school in his Quality World, the chances of engaging that student in meaningful work increase dramatically.

2. Achievement:

Choice Theory promotes achievement by encouraging students to reflect on the things that they want in life — including what they want out of school — and by helping them to see the connection between the choices that they make and the results they get. When counseling students toward higher performance, educators are taught to focus on the following questions:

• What do you want?
• What are you doing to get what you want?
• How well is it working?
• Are you prepared to change your behavior in order to get more of what you want?

3. Grades:

A school’s grading system should encourage all students to produce quality work. But traditional systems that give low or failing marks for material that has not really been mastered are experienced by many students as punitive and discouraging.

In a Choice Theory school, a student whose work reflects the level of quality expected by the teacher receives a grade of “B”. A student whose work exceeds the quality standard receives an “A”. The student whose work does not meet the quality standard receives an “incomplete” — meaning that she needs to continue to work on the problem or the assignment until she meets the quality standard and earns at least a “B”.

Some students will need more time to master a particular topic or skill, and for a while it may seem like instruction is slowing down. But the goal of this grading system is to demonstrate that, with enough effort and with the help of their teachers, every student can succeed. Once a young person comes to see himself as a competent learner, his willingness to work hard increases and future lessons are mastered more readily.

4. Classroom Management:

Choice Theory teaches us to prevent behavior issues by delivering instruction in a manner that responds to the basic needs of safety, belonging, power, freedom and fun. For example, a student with a high need for power will often express that need by disrupting class or challenging the teacher’s authority. But if the teacher anticipates that need by providing the student with an opportunity to exercise power in a more appropriate way — by presenting to the class on a topic of his expertise or interest, for example — the impulse to disrupt is greatly diminished. Likewise, the need for freedom can be anticipated by providing students with choices as to what they will study or how they will share what they are learning. The need for belonging can be anticipated by building small group experiences into the lesson plan.

5. Attendance and Discipline:

Like all behavior, a student’s decision to violate rules about attendance or behavior reflects his or her effort to satisfy one or more of the five basic needs. These problems are more likely to be resolved over the long run if we ascertain which of the needs the student is seeking to fulfill and then help the student to meet those needs in a manner consistent with school success. Does the student feel safe in school, both physically and emotionally? Does she feel like she belongs, that she has friends? Does she feel that school is helping her to become a more powerful, knowledgeable, skillful person? Is she able to exercise a degree of freedom and choice with respect to learning? Is she having fun in school? Once a behavior problem is understood in these terms, the chances of finding a solution are greatly improved. Equally important, this kind of “needs based” approach avoids the use of punishments that can destroy the student’s relationship with the teacher and the school and – over time – result in diminished achievement and more behavior problems.

None of this is to ignore the need, occasionally, to suspend disruptive students from school in order to ensure the safety of others. When students threaten others or persistently disrupt the learning environment, they need to be temporarily removed. But emergency removal must never be confused with identifying and addressing the underlying problems that gave rise to the misbehavior in the first place. Our true purpose with young people who disrupt the school environment is not to “get even” with them – but to teach them how to behave appropriately in a social setting.

In these ways and others, the application of Choice Theory to the management of our schools can have a profound and lasting impact on our young people and the educators who are dedicated to their success.