Growth Mindsets

Checking Our Assumptions.
One of the most vivid memories of my first year I had as a teacher was Mr Flinders the teacher in the classroom next to me.  He can be best described as a *seasoned campaigner*, a likeable guy, respected by the students, but set in his ways.  I can clearly remember him saying to me "Justin - you just can't teach smarts".  These words impressed upon me - I liked these words. 

You see the idea was appealing to me - it provided me with a quick mantra that I could use to deflect.  If my classes struggled with the content... "you just can't teach smarts." 

It was deficit thinking in action.  I've seen the same idea presented a million ways...

• "The family don't value education",
• "Those students they'll get a job in the factory they don't need my subject",
• "I taught the brother/sister - this guys just the same"...

We see it getting engrained.  Parents at teacher interviews "I never could do it when I as at school".  Teachers in the staff room "I had that class last year - good luck with them".  Even in the students themselves. 

I think that we need to check these thoughts.  I think that we need to move away from them and value the essence of improvement through education.

Dr Carol Dweck created a very interesting set of work covering this idea under the notion of *Mindset*.  She identifies a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.

Here is a illustration of her idea...






 This post relates to RTC # 8. demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.