How To Give Students More Control Over Their Education

Giving students control over their education means giving them independence in their learning. When we talk about independence, it is the student’s ability to be responsible for his or her own learning process that we are referring to.

This is something deliberately done intentionally. With this autonomy, students decide to make decisions for themselves about learning, participating and taking control of their education.

In collaboration with their teachers, they develop certain abilities, for example the following:

• Choosing content.
• To choose the subject sequence.
• The ability to plan lessons.
• To evaluate themselves.

By giving students more control over their education, they cease to be mere receptors for information. Instead, they become an active part of the learning and teaching process.

Allowing students to engage and control certain aspects of their education equips them with the tools to be successful.

For teachers and educators, the idea of ​​giving students control over their education can seem risky. But the fact is that it actually makes students more receptive to learning.

As a result, they become more motivated to accept challenges. In the following article, we look at some of the things we can do to give students more control over their education.

Evaluate their understanding in different ways

There is a lot of study about knowledge evaluation in school. The results make it increasingly clear that it is time to get rid of the traditional methods. There is a great need to renew and update the evaluation methods we use.

For example, experts recommend that students should be able to choose between two or more questions on a test or test. By changing how we evaluate students, we make the understanding of the subject better and more easily accessible to them.

Create more flexible tasks

The debate about homework continues. It is common for students of all ages to complain about having too much homework after school. One way to reduce these complaints and the stress the homework exposes children to is to give them the opportunity to choose from several alternative tasks. In this way, they can choose what they want to cultivate in themselves and what they think is particularly interesting. At the same time, they practice being more autonomous and feel that they have more control.

For example, you can give students a sheet of language exercises… Of the 15 exercises on the sheet, they can choose 10 to complete. When it comes to history, you can give them several subject areas to choose from to write their essay on.

In math, children can choose to do half of the problems they have been given. By doing so, you help to change students’ attitudes towards their homework.

Individualized subjects and personal content to give students more control over their education

Teachers and educators often want their students to read a book to delve deeper into a particular subject. If so, it is a good idea to give them a list of books on the subject and let them decide for themselves which one they want to read.

The idea behind these choices is that they should be able to create their own personal content and maximize their autonomy.

Personal goals

At the beginning of the year or a semester, hold a meeting with your students and together you can explore which goals and orientations your particular class wants to immerse themselves in. Also ask your students what their expectations are.

You will find that your students have a wide range of goals, from simple to complex. And you will always find that you have some students who are really interested in learning. Others will talk about what they want to do when they finish school, while some may seem more apathetic.

All of this is interesting and important to consider when planning lessons and introducing topics, designing assignments, and looking for materials. It helps to make students responsible for their own achievements.

Evaluate the teacher

As teachers and educators, we constantly evaluate our students. But to give them more control over their education, we should let them do the same. That is, that you regularly and in a way that you establish together encourage them to evaluate you as a teacher.

It helps them feel that you are listening to them. In addition, they know that they have a voice and that their opinions are important when it comes to their own learning.

It is important to constantly strive to let students have more and more control over teaching. In this way, you create an educational method that is more useful and effective for both you and your students.

Giving students more control over their education means changing your perspective. It may seem difficult and complicated at first, but over time you and your students will see how good it is for everyone.