Control

How much say students have in how they spend their time on open literacy activities and tasks.

• “…when teachers share control (e.g. invite children to sequence tasks, choose partners, or design a strategy), students interpret instruction as information they can use to learn and improve.” (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991, as cited by Turner & Paris, 1995, p. 667)

• “…research has shown that children in shared-control classrooms reported more interest in their schoolwork and perceived themselves as more competent than those in teacher-controlled classrooms.” (Ryan & Grolnick, 1986, as cited by Turner & Paris, 1995, p. 667)

• “When students are actively involved in controlling their learning, they feel greater ownership of their performance and achievement.” (Turner & Paris, 1995, p. 667)

• Some examples of how teachers can provide opportunities for students to control their learning in literacy, according to Turner and Paris (1995):
• Trade book reading
• Composition
•  Partner reading
•  Game or interactive activities
•  Sequencing sentence strips
•  (p. 667)

Reference:

Turner, J., & Paris, S. (1995). How literacy tasks influence children's motivation for literacy.The Reading Teacher,48(8), 662-673.

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