Thinking...

What is thinking? What types of thinking are there? Is some thinking more effective than others?

This week in class we have looked at a range of 'thinking' really. Computational thinking and some of the elements this entails, as well as Carol Dweck's 'Growth Mindset' and the accompanying ideas there. I'm going to focus on the latter in this blog entry.

I love the idea that intelligence isn't a fixed thing. Neuroplasticity and the way we can exercise our brain like a muscle, was a key component of one of the inquiry units we undertook with our students this year. I found this to be one of the best units we have taught because I can just see the universal application this has opened up for students to enable them to have a better understanding of just what it means to learn and to be a learner.
Some of the issues I had in my classroom, from this inquiry, was with students who have an overtly negative outlook- on themselves, their abilities and their learning. Intelligent, articulate students who have this overwhelming compulsion to switch into negative thinking. Now, I'm  not saying that everyone should be walking around with a false impression of themselves or of the world, but with one particular student his thinking always went (and still goes) to the 'worst case' type of scenario- no matter what. This made me think about - well, what impact has this learning really had on your students? And one of the key things that has sort of struck me, is how difficult students can find transferring those ideas explored in class into their 'real' world. This brought me face to face with an idea that a colleague of Carol Dweck had had shared with her, about noticing a 'false' growth mindset being taught/developed in some classrooms.
In the following link, Carol Dweck (2016) describes how Recognising false mindset is important for teachers to reflect upon. She begins by stating that a growth mindset is the belief that you can develop talents and abilities through hard work, using an effective strategy and by receiving help from other people. She also said that there are key elements that teachers are doing, that are actually helping to create a sense of 'false' growth mindset in their students. These were really interesting to think about:

1. Praising effort alone- Carol talks about how important the process of learning is for students when developing a growth mindset; overcoming the obstacles, applying specific effective strategies to help them solve problems, seeking help etc. This has ended up being boiled down to praising effort alone. Not her point at all. 
2. Telling students they can do 'anything'. Making hollow promises does not help  our students to develop a growth mindset. We need to have high expectations of and for our students, but more importantly provide them with opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and strategies to be able to work towards what they want to achieve.
3. Blaming a student's Mindset- for their inability to learn. We need to create the environment where students can begin to leave their fixed mindsets behind and develop their abilities. We can do this through providing meaningful learning activities, giving honest and helpful feedback and opportunities to revise and show their learning.

Sooooo... going back to my original problems or issues I found on reflection to our Inquiry unit. The negative thinking space and mindset of my one student identified previously. I would have to say that although I haven't blamed the mindset of the student for his lack of learning ( because he is most definitely progressing and learning) but I can see how his negative outlook impacts on his own perceptions of his own abilities and learning potential. How can I tackle this and seeing students take their learning into practice? Well I feel that if I keep on going providing that really essential feedback in an environment where risks are valued, mistakes are seen as wonderful learning opportunities and where relationships are valued and promoted, then maybe I can start to chip away at that armor students put up around themselves. I do believe though, that for many of students, there are very deep set and psychological issues that we do need to take into account as well. 

Here is the stop motion movie Holly and I made looking at one effect of a false mindset on students. We selected the first point- outlined above. This was my first attempt at creating a stop motion video. Haha lots and lots of fun!

One of our tasks for finishing up the session was to reflect on how a growth mindset could affect the change initiative you investigate for the Leadership one assignment. 

"...it's still not easy to attain a growth mindset. One reason why is we all have our owned fixed- mindset triggers. When we face challenges, receive criticism, or fare poorly compared with others, we can easily fall into insecurity or defensiveness, a response that inhibits growth. Our work environments, too, can be full of fixed mindset triggers." (Dweck, 2016). 

I think overall the willingness to grow and take on leadership and encourage that in others, is a big challenge and one that with the use of a growth mindset can be achieved. Taking the criticisms or the fixed way of thinking that others have can be very hard. Recognizing that these are triggers for me, I know that I have needed to display and work through those hard times using a growth mindset. Its so easy to see the fixed mindset thoughts and limitations creep in. Awareness my friend!

Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset. Retrieved July 26, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck