Growth Mindsets

Last night I participated in my very first Twitter #edchatnz. I started off on my Twitter homepage and quickly realised that I was going to need to venture into TweetDeck. A few minutes later it was all systems go..... at 200km/h it seemed. Tweets were flying through the ether and I was back in noob-ville (population 2 or 3). But I was in and giving it a go - quite apt given that the focus for the evening was a discussion of fixed versus growth mindsets.

There are many ways these terms can be applied in education, and last night's Twitter discussion was evidence of all the ways this is true. My first contribution was to share something I heard a student say that day. She had been talking about "cab maths" (cabbage). It rolled off her tongue and her friend knew exactly what she was talking about. I have heard this term - and those similar - in other schools, so I realise it is not unique to mine. My question last night was "Where did this terrible label come from? Fixed mindset teachers/systems?" Are we perpetuating fixed mindsets through the systems we adhere to in schools and our own fixed beliefs about the students in front of us?

When we stream classes, someone has to end up at the "bottom". How do we remove the ceiling that is imposed by the next class up? How about we let the students know that they can get in the elevator and bypass those floors - that the level they find themselves in is only a starting point and which floor they end up on is only limited by the buttons they choose to push?

As teachers we need to ensure we do not fall into the trap of labelling and settling. We should not enter our classrooms as we return to teaching in the coming week, having already placed caps on what we think our students are capable of. Yes, we can look at the data from previous years, but we have to believe that this gives us a starting point, not an ending point. If teachers do not believe this, then it really is no wonder that "cab maths" exists.

This year there are already lots of challenging and exciting opportunities before me that will help me grow as a professional. My job in the coming weeks is to discover what challenges and opportunities each of my students needs to help him or her grow.