Learning Manifesto & Growth Mindset
Learning Manifesto
When I think about the learning process and learning experiences for students, the main components that come to mind are being student centered and being the kind of education that I want for my own children. I want children to be ready for the future and to be successful at the criteria that will be sought after for future careers. Students should learn how to embrace challenges, collaborate with others, be innovative, respond with empathy, and know how to contribute positively to society. When I think about learning experiences for students in today's classrooms, they should be filled with deep discussions, real world contexts, and open ended projects that force kids to think outside the box. Technology should be used as a tool to transform the learning by providing personalized learning experiences and making outcomes more student driven, giving the teacher the opportunity to be more of a facilitator and coach. Teachers should be incorporating voice, choice, and goal setting to increase student engagement and ownership. When looking at this video, it reminds me that learning targets cannot be in isolation as a means to say that we "taught something." Students have to be able to envision solutions to problems that haven't even happened yet, and they have to be comfortable with productive struggle when presented with problems. For example, in this video (Kaplinsky, 2013), the student struggles to answer this math problem when presented in a real world context, but then solves with just quantities. Even his explanation doesn't REALLY prove he knows why he got the correct answer. We have to do better than this to set our students up for success in the long term.
I believe that it shouldn't matter what classroom in a grade level a student is in because every classroom should encompass learning at high levels. We shouldn't have certain teachers who go above and beyond with high leverage, engaging, open ended activities, and others who only use worksheets. All students have the right to a viable curriculum and a rigorous education to prepare them for the future. This is why I wholeheartedly believe in collaboration and teachers working together so that they are a team learning from one another and creating an environment where the students as a grade level all benefit from every learning experience regardless of who the teacher is. I also believe that all students should have access to the curriculum. One of the issues that was really brought to light this year was the amount of inequity when it comes to technology, access, and home environments as we embarked on virtual learning from home. Impairments, socioeconomic status, race, access to technology, access to internet, access to a support system at home, etc, shouldn't determine whether students should learn at high levels. We need to provide scaffolds and remove barriers so that they can also access their education to the fullest extent. I am lucky to work in a district that worked tirelessly to address these inequities, but there is still much work to be done. Take a look at this graphic that beautifully shows how equity and equality are different. It even takes it a step further to show that when inequity is addressed and barriers are removed, everyone benefits.
Another issue in public education right now is teachers not having enough time. It takes so much longer for teachers to create meaningful, authentic learning experiences for kids than to just pull out the worksheets they used for the last several years. Even though students are so much different than they were 20 years ago, there is little that has changed about how many teachers approach instruction. One of the fundamental issues is that teachers' contract time ends at 3:20 in my district. A lot of teachers do stay past that time to work, essentially without pay for it. So if teachers do leave at 3:20, it is almost impossible to be prepared with highly engaging and authentic learning experiences for students. Teachers do get a planning time during the day, but a lot of time is taken up by parent conferences, team meetings, preparation, and 504 or ARD meetings. One way this could be fixed, is to extend teacher contract time and pay them for it. I know teacher funding is one of the biggest issues as well, but there is a ton of funding that goes into state testing each year. I wonder if when we switch over state testing to online, how much money is left that can go to teachers? Teachers are some of the lowest paid experts in the professional world. If we want teachers to have time to learn, research, implement best practices for students, and truly do transformational teaching within our field, they need to be treated like professionals and be given the means to carry out their learning. We also have to provide teachers with the means to support students with the amount of technology in their classrooms. We can't ask educators to provide all of these experiences if they don't have the equipment and training to be highly successful.
There are also so many things going right in education. In my district, we are encouraged to be innovative, and our district really practices what we know as best practice according to research. All of our schools are in a roll out process to be one to one with technology, so that teachers and students can more easily be risk takers in the classroom. Schools are also getting furniture refreshes, so that our classrooms can be more flexible and give each student the learning environment they need to be most successful. Our district relies on research and what is best for students at every decision making level and provides campuses with whatever support they need to reach campus goals.
Within digital learning and leading, I find myself wanting to continue to break down the old methods of professional learning. Teachers should be learning in ways that we know are best for learners in general. There should be no more "sit and get" professional learning experiences. Teachers should no longer have to sit through learning that they already have mastered. We need to practice what we preach and let teachers feel the difference in excitement and ownership that goes along with authentic learning experiences. If we are expecting teachers to transform their classrooms through use of technology, we have to help them experience these learning platforms as learners themselves and train them how to use them. This also includes learning about the SAMR model, so the learning is transformed, not just a substitution as a lower level activity just presented on tech. I have been creating professional learning for my campus and district for over a year now, and we are always trying to reinvent the way we offer it. Here are some examples of what I have collaborated on so far.
If we can make some simple, but dynamic and disruptive changes to the way "we have always done things" in education, we can make the world a better place with producing the most disruptive and critical thinkers the world has ever seen. The key to this is growth mindset in educators and being willing to sit in the uncomfortable to experience growth.
References
(2013). Student 14 Both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XujdqrPcaQ.
Equality vs Equity. Diffen. https://www.diffen.com/difference/Equality-vs-Equity.
Growth Mindset
A lot of my job over the last few years as an instructional coach and a math coordinator, pushes people outside their comfort zone and into the learning zone, which requires having a growth mindset.
Yet... who knew such a small word, could change the meaning of a phrase so much? It can change "I don't understand." to "I don't understand yet." The power of yet within growth mindset is so important because it allows people of all ages to believe that they can still learn new things. There is such freedom in that, which allows for an abundance of grace between people because mistakes are just part of the learning process. So much more innovation will happen, more risks will be taken, and people will live fuller lives if they view everything as a learning experience. When adults and children have a fixed mindset, there are so many dangers that appear. The victims of a fixed mindset avoid new challenges, rarely excel at things because they believe they were born with a certain amount of talent that doesn't change, and they are likely to give up after a few mistakes or trials when new tasks are presented (Jeffrey, n.d.). We see from the video, Famous Failures (2012), there are many examples that have become some of the most well known and talented individuals in their craft, not because they were born that way, but because of their growth mindset and desire to achieve and put in the work to get better and better.
Within education and life in general, there are many people who do not encompass a growth mindset. We teach students to have one, yet some teachers do not model it themselves. Now, I do attribute a lot of this right now to our current reality this year of COVID-19, and I do believe everyone is embracing change at differing levels, with some being at their max level of stress. As a first step to having teachers realize their current reality of mindset, I have created the attached professional learning that I plan to push out to my staff next month. In A Complete Guide to Changing Your Fixed Mindset into a Growth Mindset by Scott Jeffrey (n.d.), Dweck references the four steps to change your mindset from fixed to growth. The first thing you have to do is be self aware of what mindset you are having and be able to hear that fixed mindset voice. In order to start my teachers off in the professional learning, I have them taking an assessment, so that they will be mindful of what mindset they are starting out with as a baseline. The next step that she suggests to change your fixed mindset is to realize that you have a choice. Throughout the professional learning I have developed, it really informs teachers of the way they can change the words that they think and say and that there is a science behind how the brain works to learn new things. This essentially busts the myth that people have a set amount of intelligence when they are born. Dweck next says the step is to talk back to your fixed mindset voice with a growth mindset voice. To address that step, I have teachers doing a sort so that they have statements they can say instead of the fixed mindset statements. Next I teach them about the learning pit and how to react when they experience failure instead of quitting and giving into that fixed mindset mentality. In the fourth and final step, Carol Dweck talks about how they need to take the growth mindset action. For this step, I have teachers creating a goal for themselves after watching a video on famous people who have experienced failure, but used their growth mindset to rise to the top.
The message of "YET" is the most important part to impart, especially to children. In order to impart that though, we have to truly believe it and model it. I think this learning experience that teachers will go through that I have created, will give them the reminder of what growth mindset is all about. It is not just a fad that came into play a few years ago. It is a scientifically proven way of thinking that makes our lives better in all aspects. Instead of children focusing on the negativity around them or their failures, it is so important for them to speak the word yet as they experience hardships in learning and other aspects of their lives. Reminding teachers of Dweck's philosophies with her video, The Power of Yet (2014), will help with the implementation in our building that I am hoping will trickle down to students.
The videos and content that I am using are embedded within this Genial.ly. We actually decided that we will send it out as a personalized learning experience for teachers to gain one of their hours of GT credit this year. They will turn in their reflection in order to receive professional development credit. As I was reading for this project about growth mindset, I realized that I may have some areas of my life where I tend to have a more fixed mindset right now. Going forward, I will be sure to listen out for the fixed mindset voice, and I will use the tools I have found for my teachers in order to reframe my thinking and take action toward a growth mindset, especially when learning new technology and modes of delivery. I challenge you to walk through this learning about growth mindset below, in order to be more mindful of your own mindset as an educator, leader, and whatever other roles you hold within your life. Having a growth mindset can enhance the way you experience all aspects of your life, and help you to meet goals you may have never thought possible.
References
Cullins, A. (13AD). The Ultimate Guide to Praising Your Kids. Big Life Journal. https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/praise.
Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Ballentine Books.
Farmer Kris, D. (2015, June 10). Preschoolers and Praise: What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow? KQED. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/40369/preschoolers-and-praise-messages-that-can-help-kids-grow.
Jeffrey, S. (2020, June 23). Change Your Fixed Mindset into a Growth Mindset . CEO Sage. https://scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/.
Khan Academy. (2014). Growing Your Mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtKJrB5rOKs&feature=youtu.be.
Motivating Success. (2012). Famous Failures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYECIjmnQs&feature=youtu.be.
Sesame Street. (2014). Sesame Street: Janelle Monae - Power of Yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeUvZvuvAs&feature=youtu.be.
Take the Mindset Assessment to Learn More about Your Mindset. What's My Mindset? (2015). https://blog.mindsetworks.com/what-is-my-mindset.
TEDx Talks. (2014). The Power of Yet. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-swZaKN2Ic&feature=youtu.be.