I recently had the honor of being the lead facilitator for a Learning to Learn experience at one of our member Institutions. This was a course for students in academic trouble and completing it would give them renewed access to financial aid, and another chance for success. This was my first opportunity to be a lead facilitator. And as a usual self-evaluator, I saw the potential trap of fear and worry about doing a great job. And that if I fell into the trap, I would undermine myself from the outset. But as a self-grower, I wanted to sidestep that trap!
So I pulled out a fairly recent tool: the Methodology for Developing Performance (Van Slyke, Utschig, and Apple, IJPE, 2021). I think of this methodology as operationalizing the Learning by Performance model (LxP; Leasure et al., IJPE, 2020). It gives performers a template to prepare for and execute a big performance, with plans for learning, performance, and growth. The model and the methodology also create a framework for receiving evaluation and producing assessment after the performance. Just what a self-grower is looking for!
This is a hefty methodology (20 steps!), which is excellent because it breaks down the vision of a performance and helps the performer analyze of what is needed for that performance. Here’s the overview of the LxP in its 7 stages:
For the next few articles in the PE in Practice series, I’m going to share my story of using the preparation stages so you can see how it works and consider performances for which you’d like to use it, too. (Are there any stages you’re particularly interested in hearing about? Drop me a line at Ingrid.m.ulbrich@gmail.com to let me know!)
The first stage of the MDP, Performer Sizes Up Expectations, is about understanding what everyone wants out of this performance, the conditions of the performance, needs of the performer, and performance criteria. Let’s look at stakeholders’ desires, and mine, too.
Since discovering Process Education, I’ve really valued the step in a few methodologies that prompts me to think though all of the stakeholders and their desires. There are a lot of stakeholders in a Learning to Learn event! The folks who invited me, my team of coaches, and the students, of course. But also, those students’ families. And the institution’s administration that’s underwriting the course. Collectively, they want me to create an event that makes students more successful when they continue in school, that I use as much assessment as possible, that I leader and guide them in their roles as learners and coaches, and honestly, for me to do my best.
Those are all included in my expectations, but I also have other indicators of success. That most students will complete the course. That many of those earn the level of Start Performer. That they feel they have undergone a transformation over the week. That coaches feel they have had a positive experience and impact. That my sponsor is satisfied and will invite me back. And that I have grown and can validate my impact.
All of that is a lot of expectations! And that’s why I wanted to pull out this methodology and really dig into it – so that I can increase my capabilities to meet these expectations as best I can.
I also have to remember that these are all expectations, not standards. Expectations are the lofty ideals of what the amazing performance can be. In contrast, standards are how the performance will be judged. I was pretty confident that I would meet the standards of the stakeholders with my current capabilities. But my standards? Well, that’s a different story.
That story is about shifting from being a self-evaluator who sets unfair standards for myself to setting realistic standards, and to growing as self-assessor who appreciates what I have achieved instead of focusing on the gap of what could have been. (Spoiler alert: The MPD helped me a lot here, but I still got stuck looking at that gap.)
Putting the MDP to work for YOU: Your Next Class
If your next teaching opportunity is a performance where you want to grow your capabilities and really rock it, that would be a great focus for exploring the MDP!
As I’ve thought about the courses that have been the most fun to teach, I’ve realized that they were the ones where “no one is looking at what I do”. You know what that means? Very few stakeholders! So I get to focus more on my expectations.
For those courses, or for those with many stakeholders, this stage of the MDP can help clarify those expectations so that I understand the constraints they might want for me – and where I can massage things to meet my expectations.
Here are a few of the stakeholders and their ideal expectations for my last general chemistry course:
- Students: To have fun while learning how understanding chemistry unlocks critical aspects of their major and the world around them, and to have a fair way to earn a high grade
- Co-Instructors: That I stay on track with the agreed-upon schedule and contribute quality questions to group-written exams
- Teaching assistants (for recitations): To receive quality recitation materials that help them strengthen learner’s conceptual understanding and skills for performance on tests
- Department Chair: To receive zero complaints about general chemistry
- Faculty teaching courses for which general chemistry is a prereq: Students have full knowledge of the relevant topics for their course, immediately recalled when they mention a key term
Thank goodness these are the expectations and not the standards! Because I never met all of them. But using the MDP to plan my next term would be a great way to choose which pieces I want to strive for in the next iteration and develop my personal strategies to advance that performance.
Who are stakeholders in your next course? And what are their ideal expectations?