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Picture personalized learning as teachers setting a “just-right challenge” for every student. Great idea, great for kids—if teachers have the tools to pull it off. And that’s a pretty big “if,” given the level of personalization involved.
The “just-right challenge,” or JRC, is a term found in occupational therapy spaces. Therapists use the concept to help kids who are already receiving therapy or accommodation. However, this kind of challenge is for kids of all levels and likely sounds familiar to educators already.
Educators may recognize the just-right challenge as a cousin of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The two methods are deliberately designed to challenge students while stopping short of frustration. In a slight difference from ZPD, the just-right challenge is determined by what the student is able and willing to do before scaffolding—all on their own.
How teachers decide the right level of challenge for each student
The process looks much the same as any goal-setting process with a couple thoughtful caveats.1. Assess and measure the student’s abilities
Since motivation relies on balancing challenge just short of frustration, it’s crucial to pinpoint where each student is today. Data visualization can help teachers see this precisely without spending countless hours poring over reports.It’s tempting to limit this assessment to academic marks. However, take into consideration also:
- Absenteeism
- Behavior management
- Transportation arrangements
- Housing or lack of housing
These data points help create a picture of the whole child, so their academic challenges can factor in their whole experience.
2. Adjust tasks if needed but keep expectations steady
Accommodation is important, but so is growth. Teachers may use a “warm demander” style to achieve this niche effect on kids. As the name implies, this teaching style balances awareness of students’ lives (whether that’s a diagnosis, challenge, trauma, or something else) with a gentle push forward anyway. Read more about warm demander strategies.What does this look like in practice? Acknowledging kids where they are today, struggles and all, makes them feel seen and known by their teacher. As Jessica Wei Huang notes, “Once a person feels affirmed, they’re open to being challenged.” See also: Maslow and the modern classroom.
3. Offer scaffolding instead of comfort
Productive struggle followed by eventual triumph is core to intrinsic motivation. Instead of rescuing the student, offer supports. This might be the hardest step of all for a generation of students who have grown accustomed to demanding compromise.Scaffolding doesn’t mean answer keys or easier questions. Instead, it can look like pairing up to work with a partner, breaking into small groups, taking a break, increasing space to boost focus, using counters or other manipulatives, or prompting with questions to break down the thought into smaller, more manageable tasks.
4. Measure & celebrate progress
As the demander warmly waits out the stalemate, students meet with intrinsic motivation: the realization they can do hard things, fail, try again, and triumph.Again, the barriers to this type of strategy, progress, and child-centered care often lie in the volume of information teachers must parse to pinpoint that progress level, map the comfort zone and just beyond, and create a path toward growth. Multiplied by about 20 students. There’s value in automating the process using edtech tools capable of not only making and displaying those calculations, but projecting into the future and quickly converting information into insight. Any teacher can master the warm demander style, but computer-based practice programs will forever fall short of real human connection.
Can the just-right challenge also scale to staff?
Do employees also benefit from this growth strategy? Let’s explore what we know about teacher retention.We know teachers are burnt out.
We know districts are looking for high-performing teachers.
We know teachers need continuing education balanced with deep enjoyment of their craft.
We know teacher mentorship helps districts retain great teachers. A mentor is an expert coach who knows when to push and when to listen. And if that sounds just right, research agrees.
As the ZPD family expands with different approaches to capture motivation, maximize growth potential, and energize learners, what we know for sure is that data can support the connections teachers are building, but never eclipse them.
Follow-up resource:
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Check out DistrictPulse, an educational data analytics solution.WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOUR EDTECH? The right combo of tools & support retains staff and serves students better. We'd love to help. Visit skyward.com/get-started to learn more.
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Erin Werra Blogger, Researcher, and Edvocate |
Erin Werra is a content writer and strategist at Skyward’s Advancing K12 blog. Her writing about K12 edtech, data, security, social-emotional learning, and leadership has appeared in THE Journal, District Administration, eSchool News, and more. She enjoys puzzling over details to make K12 edtech info accessible for all. Outside of edtech, she’s waxing poetic about motherhood, personality traits, and self-growth.
