Sorry for the delay in posting...I blinked and April was almost over!
"No parent [or teacher] thinks, 'I wonder what I can do today to undermine my children, subvert their efforts, turn them off learning, and limit their achievement'" (Dweck 173). This is the opening sentence of chapter 7, and I loved it! I made me realize that none of us intentionally sets out to crush or squelch our students' passion for learning, we all try to be and do the best we can. As I read this chapter I felt a range of emotions. From: "Yes, I got this!" when I use a growth mindset when dealing with students...To: "Oh no! I do that...I have a fixed mindset, I have destroyed my students' self worth!" when I saw myself in a not so flattering scenario. I realize this range of emotions was okay. As I reflect back on this chapter, and my practices as a teacher, I am hoping that I can go forward and try to be in the "growth mindset" frame more and more. I want to be better, as I am sure we all do. One of the benefits of this book group, I feel, was to make me more aware of how I can modify my thinking and become more open to a growth mindset.
Through our discussions I hear that some people are somewhat frustrated that Dweck does not provide more "how to" information to foster a growth mindset. And, I agree with this to a degree. I felt her "list" on page 177 that demonstrates the kind of praise that focuses on effort and choices to be very helpful, and fulfilled my need for examples of best practices. Did anyone else? I almost feel as if I should post this somewhere handy so I can pull from the list when I need it, to avoid praising intelligence or talent.
Also, as I read this chapter, I was struck by how many students I come across that just don't seem to care about their work. Dweck talks about these students in this chapter. I worry that we are lowering the standards for them, just to get them through the system. Is this right? Or am I not reading the situation correctly? Are we as a district heading in the right direction? I connected with the quotes on page 193 and 195, " Lowering standards just leads to poorly educated students who feel entitled to easy work and lavish praise." "If you don't give anything, don't expect anything. Success is not coming to you, you must come to it." Curious to see what you all think?
Kathy, I, too, am interested in the idea that we lower standards to meet lower level efforts rather than abilities. It seems that there is a larger and larger group of kids that have no motivation to succeed and don't really care. I try to tell myself that all kids care no matter what, but the outward demeanor of these kids is definitely a negative attitude and apathy. I don't know if this is a behavior fostered at home or in the schools, but I don't know of anyone who isn't guilty of this at some point. There is so much pressure to "get kids through" from parents, administration, colleagues and the state that we try all different ways to entice a kid to just pass rather than to learn. If we held kids truly accountable for learning, we would not be so afraid of failing grades, poor report cards from the state, drop out rates, ineligible athletes, etc. Our concern seems to be to make the data look positive rather than holding kids accountable for their success. We are asked regularly what we can do to help a kid get through; the real problem is the kid didn't help him/herself from the beginning (in most cases), and, when he/she finds himself/herself, in a hole, we are expected to alter standards to help dig the student out. I am really struggling with this whole idea as it is the way our schools are operating.
ReplyDeleteIf we raise the standards, would a person's mindset change for the better or get worse? I agree with Kathy and Maria regarding the lack of motivation and feel it is not appropriate to lower the standards to get students through. With that said, I have had to do that to get students through. For example, my senior English classes have no reading homework (we read everything to them) and fill in the blank essays because students can't or won't complete the work on their own. If we try to give work that is higher level and holds them accountable, students will not complete it, which leads to them failing, which leads to a variety of other problems. I worry about the time when pushing students through will catch up with us. It is going to be a problem in society because we will have so many students/people that do not really have the education that they need to function in the real world. I do believe if we hold them accountable in elementary, middle and high school as times passes, we would see a shift for the better.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Dawn and Maria's comments, I found myself nodding and agreeing. I too struggle as I see students barely trying and handing in work that is not up to par. I too think this push to "get them through" is ultimately going to do us more harm in the long run. Sadly. I liked Dawn's comment that perhaps we need to start holding them accountable in the earlier grades we might see a shift for the better. Who do we talk to about that?! :-) Are we, as a district, willing to say, to heck with graduation rates and statistics...let's raise the bar, increase rigor and to hell with the numbers!?.
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