How might the use of empowerment strategies impact student learning?

Seminar Title

How might the use of empowerment strategies impact student learning?

Empowerment

7th Grade

Middle School

Art

All Disciplines

Student empowerment, ownership, and agency; what does it all mean? How do we get students to have it? Are we sure we want students to have it? Does it mean we, as teachers, might lose order in our classrooms or sacrifice control of what our students are learning? If you’ve ever pondered questions like these I’d like to invite you to join in on this discussion. Come along with me as I practice strategies that will empower students and shift learning from a teacher-centered to a student-centered approach. I’ll share strategies I used like creating choices for students, and teaching students how to evaluate their work using a critical voice. I will be describing my work as it relates to a middle school art class. However, empowering students is something we can do at any grade level and across disciplines. In my research, I learned that empowering students builds confidence and provides motivation for students to achieve at a higher level. Even more, students are likely to practice skills learned into adulthood becoming lifelong learners. Let’s dig into what it means to empower our students.