Through completing the coursework in this most recent installment of the Applied Digital Learning program, I have had the opportunity to reflect and design a plan to create a significant learning environment for my learners. Developing an environment that fosters a growth mindset is imperative if I want my innovation plan to succeed. It is difficult to cultivate, guide, and nourish a true growth mindset in the classroom, because students are conditioned to constantly want that “A”. For many of my own students I find that they come to high school already engrossed in the fixed mindset and it is a real challenge for me to help them understand how they will be able to reach their full potential.
I was surprised to find a number of researchers and scholars who are critical of Dweck's Growth Mindset. I then learned that Dr. Dweck herself finds her theories flawed at certain points in its development. Sisk, et. al. (2018) conducted two meta analyses to find what it takes in addition to Dweck's concept of the Growth Mindset to truly see results. As a result of the readings I feel there has to be a visceral inquisitiveness and energy to wanting to learn. Students have to have the "Grit" to see a project through. Many of the students I encounter- even at the Honors level- do not have the visceral "why" to get through the assignments and projects that I post. When there is the slightest gap in which I want the students to think for themselves, ask and answer the "why" on their own, that gap seems to stop them in their tracks because I am not giving them the answer. I always had that visceral "why." That is the reason I became a teacher, and more so the reason I enrolled in this program.
I have decided that if I model the growth mindset in my classroom everyday that my students will begin to open up to the idea of facing challenges and growth. I want to let them know how much I learn from them every day, and that I don't have all the answers, "yet." I try to be honest with them about my progress as a continual learner and their progress in class. I have to often remind them that failure is part of the process and they should not give up when they encounter it. I often find myself telling my students that the word "just" needs to be excised from their vocabulary. There are so many times I see students make mistakes and then the excuse is, well I "just..." I want to see that the "just" has to be replaced with the yet and their statements revised and refined to include the "Yet." I also allow them to be open and honest with me about my teaching. If something that I am doing isn’t helping them, I need to know. If I want them to understand the true value of learning the lesson of not reaching their goals “yet,” I need to be sure that they know that I am on the same journey.
Learning how to give, receive, and properly use constructive criticism is one of the major components of my innovation plan. I believe that once students can successfully grasp the idea that analyzing and applying critical feedback will allow them to grow exponentially in their learning journeys that their mindset will change and they will be more apt to challenge themselves instead of take the easy way out (cheat). They will be able to really show their true grit and potential by putting in the time, effort, and focus that will be needed in order for them to become better learners and more prepared citizens. I like to think of the adage, "It's not the destination, but the journey." The students see the end point of their educational journeys as the final grade, not the ideas and skills they have mastered along the way. And for that mindset I blame the education system. In the early grades in many districts in my state, a standards grade or score is given- "Advanced" to "Below Basic." Advanced does not equate perfect and below basic does not equate absolute failure. Do we need to employ that standard to all grades K through 12? There is no perfect answer, but until the system identifies new measures, it is our job to emphasize that no one is there "Yet." This is where we need to install a new Learning Philosophy in the minds of our learners. I hope that by challenging my learners to reach their full potential that they become less occupied with their grades and begin to focus more on their process.
I believe that by modeling the growth mindset everyday and sharing my own learning reflections with my learners, that they are more apt to work hard themselves. It is my hope that once they start truly failing forward, working hard, and reflecting on their learning, that they will see the true rewards of their hard work in the classroom. The emphasis on the journey of learning and expanding how students see their journey is the one way to make sure that the Growth Mindset does not become a fad, and something to be replaced in a year or two with something else. No one should be able to replace a love of learning and growth with a phrase or initiative. The Growth mindset is a good starting point, but it going to take more than the praise for effort to get it to cultivate in young minds. We need to accept that all learners learn differently and that just because a student does not do something the way we wanted them to, that it is wrong. Why is the student who is asked to draw a tree, and produces a picture of a tree with bare branches alone in a colorless landscape not as "correct" as the students who produce a picture of a fully sprouted green tree in a field of grass and flowers?
To ignite or reignite the Growth Mindset my learners deserve to know why they are engaging in the material and activities that they are. As Harapnuik and Thibodeaux (2021) point out, a typical five year old asks up to 500 questions per day, most of them starting with "why." As a high school English teacher, I rarely- mostly never- here "why" asked in class unless 1) it is my response in trying to get a student to expand upon a answer already given or 2) in response to a "No" answer that I have given a student about their ability to do something non-content related. I want to here that question in response to other questions and comments that are content related. I want to see a "rebirth" of the five year old in the teenagers that walk into my classroom each day. I want to have those conversations as I walk down the hall beside a student at 11 a.m. who has had a question or idea burning in their mind since class ended at 9:30 a.m. Designing the Blended Classroom using Fink's 3 column table and then expanding on the one aspect of my idea in my UDL template is what I hope to begin engaging my students in the asking of the "why" again.
After reflecting and building a plan with my learners' end goals in mind, I now know that we will be able to really dive in deep together and truly begin growing as learners through this process. Allowing my students to be part of a significant learning environment community that engages them in honest learning exploration and as well as a chance for them to reflect on their process will not only keep them engaged in the course content, but they will also remain engaged in their growth process as learners.
References:
Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
Fink, L. D. (2003). A self-directed guide to designing courses for significant learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Harapnuik, D. (2021). Learning philosophy. http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=95
Harapnuik, D. (2016, June 16). Mapping your learner’s journey. It’s About Learning. http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6420
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances
Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549–571.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change.
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
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