EssaysMSC10 December 2018p. 1 of 31

Kym Buchanan

EDUC 370/570 Motivation, Safety, & Community

Essay 1: Course Concepts

I do something unusual with this course. I dropped many of the original readings. Instead, I write and revise a series of essays that highlight some big ideas. In some ways, these essays also take the place of lectures. These essays may not be as polished as published readings, but you will only have to read ideas that I believe are important.

In most cases, these essays will only provide an introduction to the big ideas. If these ideas interest you, I encourage you to continue studying them far beyond this course.

About Big Ideas

By "big ideas", I mean organizing principles, useful insights, and compelling strategies. Organizing principles may include perspectives, patterns, models, structures, recurring cases, or other ways of looking at something and making sense of it. Useful insights may include ideas that transcend surface features to the underlying dynamics--correlations, causes, synergies, cycles, etc. Useful insights are more than abstract discoveries; they are useful because they point to dynamics that help us act and react more effectively. Compelling strategies may include steps, recipes, plans, advice, or other ways of acting or reacting that seem promising.

Big ideas are the most important ideas in any academic discipline or professional field. We'll be reading two chapters by Jere Brophy, one of my mentors. Jere uses the big idea of "building shelter" to illustrate the importance of big ideas in teaching, learning, and practice. If I was teaching social studies, I might teach my students about the different kinds of buildings various civilizations have built around the world: teepees, house on stilts, grass huts, igloos, etc. My students might simply conclude that other people live in weird houses. But the big idea is that people use intelligence and local materials to build shelter. For example, since they lacked trees, some people built teepees. "Building shelter" is the big idea, not the teepees.

Personal Reflective Planning

If big ideas are what we want to learn, personal reflective planning is the best way to do it. This course is part of the School of Education. Our program focuses on professional preparation and ongoing professional development. We don't study topics like motivation or community just out of pure intellectual curiosity. We have jobs to do, teaching and helping people. Personal reflective planning is not a complicated idea. It simply means going beyond developing conceptual understanding, to reflecting on how we can apply our understanding as professionals and in our personal lives. As just one example, if you find yourself writing something like "Teachers should", stop! Change that to "As a teacher, I will" (or "If I were a teacher, I would").

At this point in your career, you may not foresee doing work in education or wellness. Even still, you can personally reflect and plan on using the big ideas in your own life. Unfortunately, nearly all of us are going to be touched by serious/crisis issues, either directly, or through those we care about or work with.

MSC

In this course we'll explore a series of related ideas. At first glance, motivation, safety, and community (MSC) may seem only loosely related. However, I've been a professional educator for about 13 years, and I have come to believe these are three of the most important ideas in education and wellness.

Teachers and wellness professionals have the awesome duty of nurturing and aiding other people. In education, too often we focus only academic goals: knowledge and skills that must be taught and learned. However, over the past few decades, research into motivation has made it increasingly clear that we need a more "whole student" approach. Gone are the days when teachers could just "pour learning" into their students, if those days ever existed. As we'll see, current models of motivation prompt us to rethink how students' interests and expectations fundamentally impact what and how they learn.

But the challenge to educators is broader than just trying to understand and connect with students' interests. From the wellness professions, like medicine and counseling, we are learning how serious/crisis issues in students' lives interfere with their ability to function. Many serious/crisis issues are caused, aggravated, or mitigated by the kind of community we create (or don't create) in our schools and other shared places. Our students need to feel safe to manage the non-academic issues they struggle with. Where the discussion gets interesting is when we consider what "safety" really means. We'll do that in this course.

Caring: Why It Matters

One of the recurring themes in this course is "Dare to care." This means that as teachers and wellness professionals, we commit ourselves to helping students or clients as people. We do not treat them as just rows in our gradebook or symptoms to treat. We try to understand and empathize. This is a daring act, because it's risky to try to get close to someone. We might feel awkward or embarrassed, and we might get hurt.

Yet caring is an essential part of good teaching and good parenting. Diana Baumrind did some compelling research on parenting styles and their effects on children. She loosely categorized parents into four styles, based on how much structure they imposed (including setting expectations and enforcing them), and how much caring they demonstrated.

Here's how children typically matured, based on the parenting style:

  • Authoritative: happy; self-confident; curious; independent & self-reliant; likable, with effective social skills; respectful of others; successful in school.
  • Permissive: selfish; unmotivated; dependent on others; demanding of attention; disobedient; impulsive.
  • Authoritarian: unhappy; anxious; low in self-confidence; lacking initiative; dependent on others; lacking in social and prosocial skills; coercive in dealing with others; defiant.
  • Uninvolved (Neglect): disobedient; demanding; low in self-control; low in tolerance for frustration; lacking long-term goals.

To understand these styles, we only need to think of the stereotypical couple. The father is stern but unapproachable, while the mother is affectionate but indulgent. Unfortunately, an authoritarian father combined with a permissive mother does not magically combine as authoritative parenting! Both parents need to use a mix of structure and caring. As teachers, also need both structure and caring.

A needs-based approach to motivation also supports daring to care.Abraham Maslow proposed that our fundamental needs as human beings are hierarchical. We focus first on our lowest, unmet needs. Until those needs are met, we cannot focus on higher-level needs—we cannot focus as well, or we cannot focus at all! The pyramid below is one visualization of Maslow's ideas.

Here are some examples of each level of need:

  • Self-Actualization: growing and learning
  • Esteem: feeling valued by self and others
  • Love & Belonging: family, friends, romantic love
  • Safety: no danger and no fear of danger
  • Physiological: food, water

This hierarchy is a big idea, but it is not an absolute or always-accurate description or prediction of human behavior. The big idea is that we have needs, and our students or clients can't focus on meeting some needs, if they feel that other needs are unmet. Notice that Maslow put self-actualization at the top, which means if we want our students to learn or our clients to grow, we have to make sure all the lower-level needs are met.

About Serious/Crisis Issues

Serious/crisis issues are a central part of this course for many reasons. One reason is that by studying these issues, we can better understand motivation, safety, and community. When I say "serious/crisis issues," here are some examples of what I mean:

  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • Alcohol & Tobacco
  • Anxiety
  • Body Image
  • Bullying
  • Death of Someone Else
  • Depression
  • Discrimination
  • Drug Abuse
  • Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder
  • Rape
  • Sex
  • Suicide

That's not an exhaustive list, but it gives you a sense of what I'm talking about.

Here's a more theoretical definition. There are four steps or stages in a serious/crisis issue:

  1. Wellness
  2. Serious
  3. Crisis
  4. Harm

For example, a person suffering from bullying might go through these stages:

  1. Teasing
  2. Bullying
  3. Fear and/or Hate
  4. Violence to self or others

As another example, a person suffering from low self-image might go through these stages:

  1. Self-Conscious
  2. Unrealistic Self Image
  3. Self Loathing
  4. Self Destructive Behavior

The first stage is general wellness. For example, children commonly tease each other. As another example, many young people are very self-conscious (especially during adolescence). However, it's not healthy to be bullied or to develop an unrealistic self image. An example of an unrealistic self image is a teenager who thinks he/she is too fat, but is actually at or near the healthy weight for his/her height. In either case, the serious issue can develop into a crisis issue and into harm. The teenager who thinks he/she is too fat might develop an eating disorder. The student who has been bullied might do serious or lethal harm to him/herself or others.

We cannot completely prevent most serious/crisis issues, for a variety of reasons. One reason is that life tells young children confusing, unrealistic, and dangerous things, about issues like body image, drugs, and sex.Fortunately, most issues can be slowed or reversed with prevention and/or early intervention. We can help a person move back up to the 2nd and 1st stages.

Respecting the Complexity of Serious/Crisis Issues

At this point, you may be thinking, "My students will be too young for that." Unfortunately, age may surprise you. (As an example, look up the current statistics on teen sex). Also, many of these issues have deep roots in childhood.Early intervention can be invaluable.

Humans are complex, so human problems are complex. I don't have all the answers, and smart people may disagree on the best strategies. For example, after a failed teen suicide attempt, one counselor may want the patient to return to school as soon as possible, to reintegrate into their "normal" life. Another counselor may want the patient to stay home and heal (physically and psychologically). It may depend on how fast and how well the patient is recovering, and even that may change from day to day.

These issues are also complex because many of these issues are connected. For example, many issues are related to depression, and depression is related to suicide.

This course is only an introduction to serious/crisis issues. Understanding is the first step. As teachers and wellness professionals, we should continue to learn about serious/crisis issues. As just one example, while sitting in a waiting room you may have a choice of magazines. If the cover story for one magazine is about a serious/crisis issue, pick that magazine.

Final Thoughts

If you have personal experience with a serious/crisis issue, you have opportunities to draw on your experience in this course (e.g., in your Wisdom Story). However, we need to take care of ourselves. Even without personal experience, studying these issues can be psychologically strenuous. Be sure to take care of yourself during this course. Get enough food, liquids, and rest. Take time to relax. If you need to talk to someone, I'm more than happy to read or listen to you. I can also recommend the UWSPCounselingCenter (346-3553).

You're doing an admirable thing, by trying to learn more about serious/crisis issues. I hope you find this course compelling and useful.

It's easier to build a child than repair an adult. -Unknown

Essay 2: Serious/Crisis Issues

Each of you will study one serious/crisis issue in depth. In this essay, I'll provide an overview of how we should think about these issues, and some important ideas about some issues.

"Stupid Girls"

Before we get started, go watch Pink's music video for her song "Stupid Girls" (see Readings for a link). You can also find the lyrics online.

As a father of daughters, I'm deeply intrigued by the issues and messages this song and video explore. For our purposes, body image is one of the relevant serious/crisis issues. However, Pink and the video director do a good job representing the confusion and black humor of some issues. In our study of serious/crisis issues, we should adopt this tone: playfully irreverent yet deadly serious tone—a paradox. These issues are huge and terrible, yet sometimes if we can laugh at them, we take some power back. For example, some of the funniest people I know are recovering alcoholics. As the cliché goes, if you don't laugh, you'll have to cry.

Let me say something about my tone as a teacher. Some of these issues make me very angry and/or uncomfortable. But, as a teacher, I try to approach teaching these issues calmly and professionally. If you want to know how I feel as a person, ask me when I'm not wearing my teacher hat. :-)

How to Approach Serious/Crisis Issues

For almost all serious/crisis issues the basic strategy is:

  1. Prevent
  2. Perceive
  3. Investigate
  4. Intervene
  5. Debrief/Detox

Most of us will be ill-prepared to investigate or intervene. We should seek out specialists instead, like counselors. We can do a lot to prevent issues, through how we create and maintain our communities. However, we can't prevent all issues. So the most important step, for most of us, is perceiving. We need to build relationships with our students or clients, and we need to understand what is common for the individual and the age/grade/etc. the individual belongs to. Then we can perceive abnormality when it happens, and look closer.

As educators or wellness professionals, we may have minors in our custody (17 years old or younger). If we suspect an issue, we have an obligation to our suspicion to an authority, someone like an administrator, social worker, or police office. We are called mandatory reporters. We don't need to wait for proof. If we have a reasonable suspicion that a minor is in danger, we must report. Possible issues include: abuse, addiction, alcohol and tobacco, drug abuse, rape, sex, and suicide. If you're not sure whether you need to report an issue, you can have a hypothetical conversation with an authority. "Suppose I had a student who said blah blah. Would I need to report that?"

Your personal beliefs about an issue shouldn't interfere with your duty as a mandatory reporter. For example, in many states, the age of consent for sex is 18. A minor can't give consent to sex. You may not be troubled by learning that two 17-year-olds are having sex, but you are still obligated to report it.

When we do intervene, with help from a specialist, we must remember that for many of these issues, we probably can't cure the issue. But we can help.

Some Possible Strategies

  • Talking, including phone calls
  • Writing, including email
  • Extra reminders
  • Extra help
  • Arrange help (e.g., tutoring)
  • Alternative assignment
  • Excuse an assignment
  • Excuse an absence
  • Alternative mode for an assignment (written vs. presentation; face to face vs. online)
  • Incomplete contract
  • Partnering with parents/guardians
  • Partnering with counselors
  • Partnering with other teachers, with coaches
  • Referral for outside assistance
  • There are many more possible strategies

Protect Yourself Professionally

The nature of a serious/crisis issue means that our professional reputations are in danger. Someone who is hurt or confused may not be acting rationally, and we need to be careful. You may perceive a problem or be told of a problem: don't ignore the problem in either case. For some issues, you shouldn't discuss the issue with just the student or client (i.e., you shouldn't discuss the issue alone). A colleague can help with the discussion, and serve as a witness, if the discussion ever becomes controversial. For most issues, don't try to solve the problem by yourself. Seek outside assistance (e.g., by writing a referral). When you are asked to make accommodations (e.g., to assignments), make them: it's the right thing to do, and there may be laws mandating accommodation.

Boys & Sex

Knowledge is power. A big part of prevention is educating. Here is one example of how educating helps prevent serious/crisis issues.

I was raised by a single mom, and I'm an only child. When I was about 12, my mom gave me a book called Boys & Sex. It was written for pre-teens and teens, and it gives clear, factual information about puberty and sex. My mom said, "Read this, and ask me if you have any questions."

I am very grateful to my mom for giving me the book, because it saved me from a lot of confusion and misinformation. It remedied the normal ignorance and curiosity I was experiencing, and made me far less likely to engage in high-risk sexual behavior. Moreover, the author also wrote a matching book called Girls & Sex, and reprinted portions of each book in the back of the other. So I also had a better understanding of what my female friends and girlfriends were going through in the years that followed. Reading Boys & Sex dramatically increased my chances for healthier, safer, happier sexual identity and relationships.