Shubha was eagerly waiting for Reva to come back from the school. Reva, a fifth-grader, was a bubbly child with lots of curiosity in her eyes. After returning from school, narrating her mom the entire day's happening and "school-gossips" was Reva's favorite activity. Shubha also used to enjoy this mother-daughter chitchat. She used to consider this as an opportunity to peep into Reva's school life and explore Reva's school world through her lenses.
Reva quietly entered the house and went directly to her room. It puzzled Shubha. Otherwise, every day, Shubha had to push Reva to go to her room to keep her schoolbag. Shubha sensed something was wrong and started thinking about what she could do for Reva to open up.
To Shubha's surprise, Reva started the conversation on her own. "Mom, is it necessary that one has to solve any problem immediately?" Shubha got puzzled with this vague and' too philosophical' question from her 10-year-old. Also, she could not miss Reva's dejected tone while she conversed.
"Hmm,"….. Shubha answered. 'It is not like that Sweetie. What is the matter, dear?'
"Mom, today in our Maths class, the teacher gave us a word problem on Fractions. It differed from what we have been solving so far. It thrilled me. Not just because it was different, but it was difficult too, I guess. But, I was sure if I try hard, I will solve it".
Shubha was still trying to relate the question Reva asked with what she was narrating now.
Reva continued, "Sania, Neel, and Aryan could solve it immediately. It took quite a long time for me to answer. I had to read the question 2-3 times. Then only I could figure out how to put it into numbers, and finally, I could solve it. I made some mistakes in the calculation.
You know Mom, we had to add two fractions. After I did this addition, I could sense that the sum was perhaps smaller than one of the numbers I added. Immediately I understood that I made some calculation mistake. I did it again, and this time I got it correct. I did it, Mom! My answer matched with that of the teacher,". Shubha couldn't miss the subtle feeling of accomplishment that lit up Reva's face for a moment.
"Okay, that's great Reva. Good job!" Shubha cheered up Reva. "But bachha, still I am trying to figure out what made you come up with the question you asked me. You could solve the problem, right?"
"Yes Mom, I could,". Still, Reva's tone was not normal. "When Sania and all solved the problem immediately, the teacher got excited. When I solved the problem and showed the working to the teacher, she acknowledged it casually. It made me think I need to be very quick in solving any question. So, I asked you that question".
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The above conversation, although a common one has some insightful takeaway for parents and teachers.
Let us analyze.
In this incidence, some students could solve the problem quickly. There is a high possibility that the teacher might have labelled them as smart students. Perhaps the kids also might have considered themselves as smarter kids among the lot. Reva took lots of effort to solve the problem, and at the end, she answered it on her own.
Unfortunately, as a society, we value 'natural, effortless accomplishments' over 'achievements through effort' (Dweck, 2017). When we do so knowingly or unknowingly, we overlook two critical aspects. First, this is a very demotivating experience for a child who has taken effort to accomplish a task. Such situations make believe the child that s/he is a dumb person. Second, we perhaps overlook the fact that the secret of smartness of the so-called 'smart' kids perhaps lies in their systematic and guided efforts taken earlier. These past efforts are getting rewarded today in the form of their higher level of performance. None of us will deny the fact that the great masters and genius across the fields have spent countless hours relentlessly for scaling the heights of their fields. Perhaps, our ancestors knew this wisdom! Almost in every culture or society, we find phrases, idioms that glorify and underline the importance of taking efforts to achieve the goal. Thus, as parents and teachers, we need to emphasize on young minds the importance of taking efforts. Let us make it clear to our younger generation that taking efforts is a non-negotiable step towards achieving success. It is perfectly OKAY if one needs to spend more time accomplishing the goal. Let us not devaluate the success achieved by taking effort against the 'so-called' natural effortless accomplishments (?).
Let us analyze further.
Have you noticed some remarkable qualities that Reva possessed? She didn't lose her heart or give up when she realized that the problem was a difficult one. She could judge herself when she mentioned that she could solve the problem with efforts. Further, she devised her method for learning and solving the problem. (reading the question 2-3 times, then doing its mathematical modelling and finally doing the required calculation). She articulated her strategy for solving the problem. We may consider these to be the most obvious steps, but remember a 10-year-old here is coming up with her learning strategy! Reva didn't stop after doing calculations, but she was very mindful about what she was doing. This virtue of hers made her realize her mistake in the calculation. She could apply her knowledge about addition and sensed that the sum could not be a number smaller than the addends. All these observations suggest that Reva wants to take ownership of her learning. While we say so about Reva's learning qualities, the claim here is not that the other kids didn't have these qualities. The crux of the matter is the encouragement that needs to be given to young learners by observing, appreciating and promoting their efforts towards learning.
Why is this so important?
Today, we live in a knowledge-driven world. More than the knowledge gained, the process of knowledge acquisition and one's self-learning ability are essential assets. Self-directed learners are in demand. They are even more important when we do not limit today's learning to classrooms, but learning happens anytime, anywhere and at any age. Developing and nurturing learners' learning potential is one of the crucial aims of today's education. As stakeholders in education, we owe this to our younger generation. We expect today's education to fulfil a unique demand: preparing a future workforce for the jobs which do not even exist today! Don't you think this can be achieved by creating learners who are well-equipped for their learning journey, right from their young age? Fortunately, recent research about 'cognition', 'How people learn?' and 'How learning works?' is here to help teachers, parents and educators in strengthening this learning process.
It will be a fruitful endeavour to disseminate these research findings. Please look for related articles in this blog!