She said many things but two struck me the most. She introduced me to the concept of moxy. New word. Love it.
And she said, off the cuff when responding to a question from the audience: "Nobody knows what is possible until they try."
There are times when someone speaks and it's like a deep bell ringing, a kind of visceral resonant experience to those words. My bell rang. Long and loud.
I was lucky to catch a moment with her afterward and ask her if she had linked her research with another Stanford fellow, Prof. Robert Sapolsky, whose work on neurobiology and neuroplasticity I'm also very fond of. It turned out no, there hasn't been a neurobiological link established yet, but if you know neuropeptides like I know neuropeptides I'm sure that there is.
Fast forward to now. I have been reading, noticing, very subtle and not so subtle dismissive reports of her work and research into the psychology of learning (which began back in 1975). I'm concerned for two reasons:
1. Her work on growth mindset was specific, deep and carefully deployed but was used by most willy-nilly on a superficial level. I saw people watching videos and putting up pretty posters after some random copy and print lessons hoping to miraculously change academic achievement, followed up by fast-tracked research on how 'it didn't work' followed by metastudies of said research to say 'it's not effective.'
Sometimes I think there could be a Douglas Adams prize for educational conclusions based on educational research metastudies.
2. There is a concerted effort to use educational research to discredit other research (Prof. Dweck's research was into the psychology of motivation, learning and success) that, to me, seems targetted at sowing doubt and uncertainty rather than providing clarity. This essay by Ben Doxdator illustrates some of the pressures causing this situation.
I will explain why Dr. Dwecks's research is relevant and useful for me as an educator.
Cognitive bias
Unless one is open to and ok with making mistakes, then biases find fertile ground in our minds to sprout ideas, ideologies and blind spots that are very hard to get rid of. Being ok with making mistakes, screwing up, saying the wrong thing, failing and having to look at a problem or idea from multiple perspectives is the best antidote to developing any type of bias that I know of.
Biases are an oppression of our minds (Tampan, 2006) that we can overcome with effort and an open mind, and I haven't come across anything as useful as growth mindset theory- applied as recommended, i.e. read the book, not just google Pinterest teaching ideas- to help develop this skill.
Learner Identity and Haoura
Hauora is a Māori concept of wellbeing and details can be found here.
Learner identity is dependent on a balance of power between the teacher and learners where one fosters agency in the other. There are social and cultural aspects in this because of the nature of what we do as teachers to transmit knowledge as part of the cultural replication tool we call education (Shakouri, 2013). I apply growth mindset theory to myself, to how I view my students and the possibilities that might be open for all of us. It keeps me alert to how my biases may be affecting the learning of students and what they might require to help keep their Hauora dimensions strong.
While deploying growth mindset language and pedagogy in the classroom, the ensuing conversation changes the power dynamics between me as the holder of all answers, solutions, and judgment, and gives part of that responsibility to students. I expect them to make some mistakes with new learning because learning is uncomfortable and challenging. I expect them to discover where they've made the mistakes and what they have learned as a result. This is not without due consideration to the appropriate level of cognitive load in the task or the emotional toll mistakes can take on students, nor do I dismiss the need for direct teaching as appropriate or working towards mastery.
Learning from mistakes, it turns out, is a skill that needs to be wired into the brain, i.e. learned. Most adults avoid the uncomfortable risk-taking of making mistakes like the plague, and this video explains why.
When performing gets in the way of improving: Learning vs Mastery
But I cannot be the type of adult who is not willing to take risks if I am going transmit the ability to be an agentic learner. Deploying growth mindset theory strategies help me to create a 'shark-free' environment and thus accelerate learning and the ensuing mistake making. The biggest change that growth mindset made for me was in myself and how I viewed those learning machines I see every day; those human beings I am in charge of helping to flourish.
Learning environments are social environments, and one supports the other if and when the power dynamics between those who know and those that don't know yet are balanced. By helping students to understand the purpose of the struggle and effort dynamics in learning I can help to create an environment where their learner identity grows with Hauora. I haven't found a better tool than growth mindset theory. Yet.
References and links:
Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040.
Retrieved from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/25951781/motivational_processes.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1527818890&Signature=quniOAuRUUUaYcaswyqDeKXO81E%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DMotivational_processes_affecting_learnin.pdf
Sapolsky, Robert (2009). The Uniqueness of Humans. TED. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans
Shakouri, N. (2013). Constructing Learner Identity: A Poststructuralist Perspective. Humanising Language Teaching. Issue 2; April 2013. Retrieved from:
http://www.hltmag.co.uk/apr13/mart01.htm
Tappan, M. B. (2006). Reframing internalized oppression and internalized domination: From the psychological to the sociocultural. Teachers College Record, 108(10), 2115. Retrieved from: http://web.colby.edu/ed215s/files/2010/12/Tappan_TCR_2006.pdf
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