An Emerging Pedagogy?
This week I’ve been reading about an ‘emerging pedagogy’ called Growth Mindset, and I’ve been wondering whether it is in fact an emerging pedagogy (or paradigm, as some would argue), or whether it is something that some parents and teachers do naturally. I would argue Growth Mindset has been around for years, but that it never had a label. I also wonder whether the education system, as we know it, has requirements and metrics that work against a Growth Mindset, and that perhaps we need to change the metrics of the system to fully allow for the cultivation of this ‘emerging pedagogy’ or paradigm.
This week I’ve been reading about an ‘emerging pedagogy’ called Growth Mindset, and I’ve been wondering whether it is in fact an emerging pedagogy (or paradigm, as some would argue), or whether it is something that some parents and teachers do naturally. I would argue Growth Mindset has been around for years, but that it never had a label. I also wonder whether the education system, as we know it, has requirements and metrics that work against a Growth Mindset, and that perhaps we need to change the metrics of the system to fully allow for the cultivation of this ‘emerging pedagogy’ or paradigm.
Carol Dweck: Struggle, the Growth Mindset, and Deeper Learning
What is Growth Mindset?
Carol Dweck (2014), a professor of psychology at Stanford University, states in her video Struggle, that Growth Mindset converges with deeper learning – I discussed deeper learning in a prior blog post. Dweck states we can be taught that by pushing out of our comfort zone and trying new and challenging things, our brains form new connections; these new neural connections help us to get smarter over time. Therefore, as Salman Khan (2014) states in his video You Can Learn Anything, “each wrong answer will make your brain a little bit stronger”, as intelligence is not fixed (neural connections can be formed and deepened). Dweck goes on to comment that research indicates that students who learn Growth Mindset earn higher grades than those in control groups. The emphasis is on struggle… With a Growth Mindset, students learn to be proud of struggling with messy, frustrating, confusing problems, and they thereby learn that failure is part of the process through which they learn. Failure is a motivational part of learning, hence the slogan used by some schools advocating a Growth Mindset: “Work hard, get smart”. With a Growth Mindset, students are interested in their mistakes, and this leads to deeper learning. Furthermore, students with a Growth Mindset are said to demonstrate a sense of purpose; they feel they can contribute to society and are ready to tackle the challenge of an uncertain future.
What is Fixed Mindset?
Salman Khan in his post, The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart, reiterates Dweck’s point that a Fixed Mindset arises from the belief that people are either smart or not (i.e., failure says “you’re dumb”), and that intelligence is fixed by genes – a Fixed Mindset believes that failure defines you. This leads to a Fixed Mindset focusing on tasks with a high likelihood of success as opposed to those that involve struggle and perhaps failure.
Carol Dweck (2014), a professor of psychology at Stanford University, states in her video Struggle, that Growth Mindset converges with deeper learning – I discussed deeper learning in a prior blog post. Dweck states we can be taught that by pushing out of our comfort zone and trying new and challenging things, our brains form new connections; these new neural connections help us to get smarter over time. Therefore, as Salman Khan (2014) states in his video You Can Learn Anything, “each wrong answer will make your brain a little bit stronger”, as intelligence is not fixed (neural connections can be formed and deepened). Dweck goes on to comment that research indicates that students who learn Growth Mindset earn higher grades than those in control groups. The emphasis is on struggle… With a Growth Mindset, students learn to be proud of struggling with messy, frustrating, confusing problems, and they thereby learn that failure is part of the process through which they learn. Failure is a motivational part of learning, hence the slogan used by some schools advocating a Growth Mindset: “Work hard, get smart”. With a Growth Mindset, students are interested in their mistakes, and this leads to deeper learning. Furthermore, students with a Growth Mindset are said to demonstrate a sense of purpose; they feel they can contribute to society and are ready to tackle the challenge of an uncertain future.
What is Fixed Mindset?
Salman Khan in his post, The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart, reiterates Dweck’s point that a Fixed Mindset arises from the belief that people are either smart or not (i.e., failure says “you’re dumb”), and that intelligence is fixed by genes – a Fixed Mindset believes that failure defines you. This leads to a Fixed Mindset focusing on tasks with a high likelihood of success as opposed to those that involve struggle and perhaps failure.
How do Parents and Teachers Promote a Growth Mindset?
Salman Khan (2014) states in his post that parents and teachers should praise children when they persevere through difficult tasks, as opposed to when they succeed – “the brain is like a muscle, the more you use it the more it grows” (n.p.). Parents and educators need to understand that tenacity and effort can change learning outcomes, and that mindsets can be taught and are malleable. Therefore, praise the process and the struggle, and encourage tenacity, resiliency and grit, as these are not innate traits.
Is Growth Mindset Pedagogy or Paradigm?
David Hochheiser (2014) in an Edutopia article, Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool, argues that there are two problems with championing Growth Mindset as pedagogy. These are:
Salman Khan (2014) states in his post that parents and teachers should praise children when they persevere through difficult tasks, as opposed to when they succeed – “the brain is like a muscle, the more you use it the more it grows” (n.p.). Parents and educators need to understand that tenacity and effort can change learning outcomes, and that mindsets can be taught and are malleable. Therefore, praise the process and the struggle, and encourage tenacity, resiliency and grit, as these are not innate traits.
Is Growth Mindset Pedagogy or Paradigm?
David Hochheiser (2014) in an Edutopia article, Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool, argues that there are two problems with championing Growth Mindset as pedagogy. These are:
1. Those who use Growth Mindset as pedagogy fail to dignify the lives and experiences of the students who often show plenty of grit and perseverance in their home lives, much less their managing to make it through time in school where they're considered unsuccessful. If anything, it's actually the students coasting through our classes, schools, and assessments who don't understand what it is to work through adversity and need to be coached in resilience.
2. Although there are examples of growth as a valued indicator of success, too often we still use a limited view of achievement as our measure of success. (p.2)
Therefore, how do we measure success? Do grades represent struggle and perseverance, or do they represent achievement? Are we using a continuum of learning, and are we encouraging and praising struggle, tenacity, resiliency and grit for all of our students?
Hochheiser (2014) suggests that Growth Mindset should be a paradigm, indicating that it will take people to the next stage in their learning journey (whatever that is), instead of a pedagogy which implies that Growth Mindset is a method to help address the problem of students not meeting the achievement criteria we’ve set for classes, schools, and districts. Sal Khan also suggests that Growth Mindset should be encouraged for all society, because with this mindset we can take advantage of a powerful tool for learning: the Internet.
Hochheiser (2014) suggests that Growth Mindset should be a paradigm, indicating that it will take people to the next stage in their learning journey (whatever that is), instead of a pedagogy which implies that Growth Mindset is a method to help address the problem of students not meeting the achievement criteria we’ve set for classes, schools, and districts. Sal Khan also suggests that Growth Mindset should be encouraged for all society, because with this mindset we can take advantage of a powerful tool for learning: the Internet.
Salman Khan (2014): "You Only Have to Know One Thing: You Can Learn Anything!"
Final Thoughts
I truly believe that Growth Mindset has always existed, but to what extent I can’t say - I for one certainly raised my daughter with a Growth Mindset (I just didn’t know it at the time). I also spent my early years attending school in Africa, where I don’t remember being assigned grades. Looking back through reports and my early work samples, all comments were anecdotal and praised the process. Perhaps this is why I remember my early school years so vividly, especially the interest in science I developed during those years - I learned science as a process, not a set of facts.
These days, I believe the testing, reporting and district metrics that are often chosen to represent student learning are antithetical to the pedagogies we are trying to instill. I believe the only way ‘emerging pedagogy’ can be successful in bringing about the desired outcomes is if it is embedded throughout every level of the education system. It makes no sense to implement a pedagogy for which the evaluation of its impact does not match the pedagogy itself. Only through alignment of these factors will our students and our education system reach potential.
I truly believe that Growth Mindset has always existed, but to what extent I can’t say - I for one certainly raised my daughter with a Growth Mindset (I just didn’t know it at the time). I also spent my early years attending school in Africa, where I don’t remember being assigned grades. Looking back through reports and my early work samples, all comments were anecdotal and praised the process. Perhaps this is why I remember my early school years so vividly, especially the interest in science I developed during those years - I learned science as a process, not a set of facts.
These days, I believe the testing, reporting and district metrics that are often chosen to represent student learning are antithetical to the pedagogies we are trying to instill. I believe the only way ‘emerging pedagogy’ can be successful in bringing about the desired outcomes is if it is embedded throughout every level of the education system. It makes no sense to implement a pedagogy for which the evaluation of its impact does not match the pedagogy itself. Only through alignment of these factors will our students and our education system reach potential.
References
Dweck, C. (2014). Expeditionary Learning: Carol Dweck on Struggle [Video]. The Teaching Channel. Retrieved January 29, 2016,
from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/embracing-struggle-exl
Hochheiser, D. (2014, September 16). Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool. Edutopia: Teaching strategies [Blog
post]. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/growth-mindset-driving-philosophy-david-hochheiser
Khan, S. (2014, August 19). The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart [Blog post]. Khan Academy. Retrieved
January 29, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/95208400815/the-learning-myth-why-ill-never-tell-my-son-hes
Khan, S. (2014, August 19). You Can Learn Anything [Video]. Khan Academy. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from
https://youtu.be/JC82Il2cjqA
Dweck, C. (2014). Expeditionary Learning: Carol Dweck on Struggle [Video]. The Teaching Channel. Retrieved January 29, 2016,
from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/embracing-struggle-exl
Hochheiser, D. (2014, September 16). Growth Mindset: A Driving Philosophy, Not Just a Tool. Edutopia: Teaching strategies [Blog
post]. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/growth-mindset-driving-philosophy-david-hochheiser
Khan, S. (2014, August 19). The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart [Blog post]. Khan Academy. Retrieved
January 29, 2016, from https://www.khanacademy.org/about/blog/post/95208400815/the-learning-myth-why-ill-never-tell-my-son-hes
Khan, S. (2014, August 19). You Can Learn Anything [Video]. Khan Academy. Retrieved January 29, 2016, from
https://youtu.be/JC82Il2cjqA