INVOLVING STUDENTS IN THE WORK

DeLee M. Brown

My first grade students, all 100 of them, gave a wonderful musical performance for their parents and friends this last week. I was pleased with the outcome, but more pleased with what has been happening in music class after the program. In each class we talked about the evening. They shared with me how much their parents loved the singing and the story. They talked about how their families went for a treat afterwards. They talked about how fun it had been to be on the stage even though they were nervous. After that we jumped into our singing warm-ups. There was a marked change in all four of my classes. All students were singing. They were sitting up straight. They were engaged and they sounded like 2nd graders! They had all contributed to the success of the performance and were now more invested in what we were doing in class.

It probably is no surprise to you that when students are involved and have successful moments, they become even more invested. They are willing to work harder, knowing the payoff is worth it.

What happened to the students could be referred to as the IKEA effect, labeled by a team of business-oriented psychologists associated with Professor Dan Ariely. “The effect refers to this situation: whenever someone takes an active role on the production of a positive outcome, then he or she is disposed toward valuing that outcome more positively, even to the point of overly inflated assessment, which the person believes is true, fair, and correct” (Hattie & Yates p. 306). The Swedish company, IKEA, offers products that you put together yourself and Ariely’s team has some interesting research regarding how people value the things they had to put together. This idea has some merit for us as educators.

We can involve students in the work of our music programs. If they help, they are more invested. Of course, working on music and performing is one of the best ways, but there are others. Consider having students take active roles in your classroom like helping with attendance, filing music, leading sectionals, tracking uniforms and other such things. Do you have a student council that helps plan activities and make decisions? I have a choir council for my 4/5 choir. My 5th grade choir president is a go- getter and she and the council do a great job promoting morale and modeling appropriate behavior. I meet with them once a month and involve them in selecting music, announcing programs, and planning field trips. It would be much easier for me to do this all myself, but I love to see the kids involved, making an investment in the choir program and leading the way for other students.

Next time you start doing something yourself, ask if this is something a student could do? When you second guess yourself about calling that extra rehearsal at lunch, don’t. Let the IKEA effect work for you! Our students will value their work and will continue to make investments in our programs and in themselves!

Citations

Hattie, J. &Yates, G. (2014) Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn. New York, NY: Routledge