As teachers, we personally understand the concept of growth mindset and how important it is for us and our own personal professional development. We also see the value in it for the kids in our classroom as well. But developing and appreciating a growth mindset in students can be difficult. Kids often like easy answers and easy tasks; productive struggle can be exhausting! It might be challenging to get students to see the benefit of a growth mindset, say, in language arts, because that might require things like writing multiple drafts of an essay, incorporating feedback, and meaningful self-evaluation. These seem daunting or mundane tasks, especially if a student isn't a particularly strong writer. In science, it might mean having to redefine a hypothesis or start an experiment over from the beginning because of an error in measurement or calculation. Kids can be reluctant to do these things because it can feel like a lot of work or they just don't see the benefit in trying again.
One way to show kids the value of a growth mindset might be to reference the arts. For instance, a student in choir who has a solo performance likely doesn't sing perfectly the first time around. She might have to spend extra time memorizing lyrics, pay attention to feedback from the choir director about her tempo, and listen to herself singing to check her pitch. Then sing again. And again. And again. Growth mindset.
A student in speech club or in a play follows the same process. He will have to learn lines and rehearse them, get feedback from the director about onstage behavior, and practice in a mirror to evaluate his facial expressions and physical gestures. For weeks. Growth mindset.
This is also true for artists, dancers, and athletes. It's how kids learn to ride a bike or do a trick on a skateboard.
Helping students develop that growth mindset in an academic class might be less challenging if we show them that growth mindset is a part of their life already. By relating what they see when they run plays at basketball practice to correcting their math errors, we just might get kids to see the value and learning in productive struggle and making mistakes.
As a quick side note, this also underscores the absolute necessity and importance in arts education. By having students take classes in physical education, drawing, painting, cooking, or sewing, or being in sports or in speech, drama, or choir, students experience learning through mistakes, feedback, and self-evaluation.
Check out this article from Edutopia about the connection between the arts and growth mindset.
I love this post! I think it is important to add that we have a duty to help students identify areas of strength and interest, which can also help us to identify those necessary content areas that we need to simply become proficient in. For example, math is not my area of expertise, but as a person who really enjoys the intricacies of the game of baseball, I could see math's practical application to something I love. I knew I would never become a mathematician, but I found a way to increase proficiency and, dare I say, enjoy math in the context of the baseball diamond. No doubt it requires creativity on the part of the student and the educator, but I believe effective differentiation/teaching requires us to capitalize on students strengths and interests.
ReplyDelete