S. Keller:
Do we as a society believe in growth
mindset?
Why or why not?
We have not
been successful in building a society with a growth mindset. In my 40+ years in education, there has been
a dramatic shift in expectations of academic achievement. The emphasis continues to be placed on the
“teacher” providing the experience for student success with less emphasis on
student responsibility for learning. As a result, if a student does not
experience success the blame game begins. There must be something wrong with the
teacher, the curriculum, or perhaps the student has a “disability” that has not
been addressed. Students begin to believe that if they cannot experience
success, there must be a reason that should be addressed. I believe this has
resulted in a culture with no resilience. If things don’t work out right, we
give up or blame the situation or others for standing in our way for success.
Is
this what we were taught? Or how were we taught? My
experience with growth mindset was developed from my parents and not from my
school experience. I was taught to believe I had the ability to succeed in what
I would seek with effort and hard work. My school experience provided
opportunities for compliance rather than for growth. I followed the rules and
accomplished what was asked. The door of education opened to me when I was
older and was able to pursue my academics at my own pace; this is when I
experienced personal satisfaction in learning new information.
Discuss how student praise and
feedback influences student’s mindset.
Dr. Dweck’s discussion of gifted is helpful in
understanding how feedback influences a student’s mindset. She shares that simply
praising an individual for having a talent often leads them to believe they do
not have to put in the work necessary to sustain the talent. In the classroom,
the expectation must exist that differentiated, responsive instruction will
occur at all levels. With this differentiation, the student is provided a task
that within reach and opportunity and expectation to challenge for growth. The
focus of praise is on the process rather than the task at hand. This serves as
the catalyst to move to the next level and beyond.
Society as a whole embraces a “fixed mindset”. We acknowledge “winners.” The end result is what is emphasized and rewarded. Very rarely is the process acknowledged. Cheating has become common place. Athletes cheat by taking performance enhancing drugs. Stockholders hide behind the corporate veil and have no responsibility for the bad acts of the corporation. The corporation has no “moral duty” and its’ only obligation is to make money for its stockholders regardless of its impact on society as a whole. The idea that the pie is limited and “I’m going to get mine” prevails. Who or whatever makes the most money is what counts. There used to be a balance – where how you won was just as (if not more) important as winning. But even under that mentality the fixed mindset was still the rule.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up students were divided into college preparatory, vocational, and special ed classes. I assumed all students were just like me. On the plus side, I didn’t think I was smarter than anyone else and I worked very hard in my classes. On the negative side, obviously, the students identified as “non-college” material were labeled before they even entered high school. Students were placed based on their IQ scores and intelligence was viewed as “fixed”. After I took the IQ test in elementary school I was told I scored much higher in the spatial concepts area than expected “for a girl”. Clearly, there were also assumptions about intelligence based on your sex.
In grade school, I was the quiet child who observed others from a distance. The only teacher who encouraged me to expand my mind was my tenth grade English teacher, Mrs. Reinfeld. She recognized that I’d internalized some of my dad’s sayings such as, “If you can’t do something right, don’t do it at all.” Mrs. Reinfeld praised my writing, insisted that I share my opinions, and talked to me about my life at home. She took the time to know each of her students. Another teacher, my tenth grade math teacher (Mr. Malinack) ,wrote something in my yearbook that also impressed me. He wrote, “Ursula, you have a lot of potential but remember, performance is everything.” My paternal grandmother was also a positive influence who was definitely of the “growth mindset”. She was a successful, self-made spitfire of a woman. She was intelligent, loved to debate and argue, and she would always tell me that if I worked hard I would succeed. So, obviously, I received mixes mindset messages while was growing up.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this response, I believe the fixed mindset is the primary way in which society views things. This attitude is frequently expressed when students tell me “My parents don’t care about my conduct grade as long as I have an “A” or “B” in the class” or “I don’t want to be in advanced because it is too much work and if I get less than an “A” my parents will get mad at me.” If I point out to students that even though they may be able to do two things at once (talk and work) other students can’t they often respond “Well, that’s their problem!” So, not only do we have an over abundance of “Eaters” we have a serious lack of empathy. Empathy needs to be taught in the classroom too.
I need to work on improving student praise and feedback. Too often I praise the student herself or the end result instead of the actual process. Student praise can definitely impact the student as I personally attested to above. Praise helps a student develop self-confidence and positive feedback can help a student continue to work hard instead of giving up. Steady reminders about the brain being something that grows with use, coupled with an understanding that failure or mistakes are of value will help students want to learn for learning’s sake instead of just trying to get an “A” (whether by hook or crook) on their report card. Praise and constructive feedback will help students develop a “growth mindset”.
As mentioned in my previous posts, positive praise is a major cornerstone of my classroom management plan (superstar awards, positive behavior referrals, etc). I questioned this process in my last post based on Dr. Keller’s response to intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards and the studies shared in Ricci’s book regarding these two topics. However, after reading further and giving it more thought…. I think I’m on the right track. After all, in order to promote and maintain a growth mindset, teachers need to give positive feedback, and students need to hear it. The point Ricci is making is to make sure it’s the right “type” of positive praise and that it is “earned” through "effort".
ReplyDeleteGenerally the superstar awards I give out are effort and improvement based, and the positive behavior referrals make note of “I’m proud of you because_______” (insert effort comment). Where I think I could use some improvement would be with my day-to-day conversations and interactions with students. As I think back, I see myself praising their end product and “talents” more often than the process and their efforts. This is something I will need to be more consciously aware of as I try to promote more of a growth mindset in the classroom.
Lisa Stavropoulos
ReplyDeleteI think that this is one of my strengths in my classroom. Having worked with drop out prevention students, I have had to give the praise and reward as teacher and in a sense "mom" too. I found that when I am using positive raise and feedback majority of the students respond well to this.
I think that this plays a big role when it comes to student mindset. For example, I had two African American students in my regular
science class, who I felt for 8th grade they needed to be in advance and had the ability. When I mentioned this to the students they were like you believe in me that much and this really made a difference in their mindset.
I strongly agree with teacher, parent, student, and school on the same mindset. Yet, parents and school might not be there. Especially when we place students based on testing scores and not their ability in the class that the teacher observes.
When I have my students survey me at the end of the year. I need to really improve on my praise daily when it comes to my feedback towards them. I do give grade period game day,student helper of the week, and student of the month in my class yet my praise feedback needs help.
I believe that our society is divided between those with a growth mindset and those with a fixed mindset. It seems to me that it may be divided by socio-economic group or by education level. I was raised by parents who taught me to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up, and that I could do anything I wanted to do if I worked hard enough. I hope I am teaching that to my personal children as well.
ReplyDeleteI THINK I was also taught this in school, but I can't swear to that. I remember teachers pushing me and encouraging me, and getting me to try things I wasn't particularly excited about just to have a taste of it. Overall, I would say my teachers displayed a growth mindset about ME - but not, perhaps, about all students. I think there were students from whom teachers expected less than from others. And I think they mostly came from a lower socio-economic class, and at least a few of them had parents who had not attended college. Sad, now that I look back on it.
In my classroom there is a standard pep talk I give to my students both before and after a test, especially a test on which some students have done poorly. Kids jump to the conclusion “I’m stupid” because they fail a test. I ask students to think about how much time they spent preparing for the test, to be honest with themselves about what they did to study, where they were sitting when they studied, how long they worked at it, over how many nights. I try to show that it is generally those students who actually WORKED for the grade who got the good/better grade, and that students who put in no effort at all often did less well than they would have liked. When students produce great work, I ask them what they did to have done it so well, also asking how they broke down the task, talking about the time and effort it must have taken them. I try by my comments, and my praise for student work, to reflect my belief that the EFFORT is what helps most students to be successful. Students need to believe that they can be successful, or at least improve their performance, if they just TRY. I think this sort of praise, feedback, and encouragement helps students to grow and learn and, hopefully, succeed, and internalize a growth mindset.