WHY IS THE GROWTH MINDSET SO IMPORTANT?
In my specialization of teaching, which is technology, having a growth mindset is imperative because it is necessary to evolve as the world evolves with you. Imagine a teacher without a growth mindset who enters the field in 1995 and who still teaches a CTE class in 2020 based on that era's technology. In my specialization of teaching that's pretty unimaginable, but it happens all the time in other content areas. I'll walk into, say, a math classroom and see the same classroom setup and interaction that would have been used not only in 1995, but also 1955: desks in rows, paper and pencil, textbook based, direct teach. In order for the landscape of public education in America to change with the times it's necessary that ALL classes adhere to a student-centered, problem-based learning model. It's a shift in thinking that absolutely requires a growth mindset dedication; one that is not only dictated by technology but facilitated by it.
PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN GROWTH MINDSET
My classroom philosophy has been guided by a few tenets that I find indispensable for all educational settings. The first is PBL, or Problem-Based Learning. Too often in educational settings do you see content taught in isolation. "Let's learn the cumulative sum total...in isolation." I can't tell you how many math formulas or science experiments that I learned without the context it would be used with in the real world. I can recite and apply these teachings verbatim, but how do I implement said teachings when it really matters? That's where problem-based learning with real world application comes into play. The student learn the information and then use it to solve a real-world problem.
How does this pertain to a growth mindset? The problems of real world society change day-to-day; they're not static. Look at how fast society changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. New challenges arose with a need for people to solve them. Growth mindset allows for adaptation to those problems. If you are constantly growing, constantly adapting to the situations around you then implementation of change comes naturally. I am seeing it firsthand as we speak. During this semester's disruption of distance learning my educational instruction has seen a smooth transition due to our emphasis on blended learning. The instructors who have struggled or been reticent to adopt a growth mindset; those who have remained static in their teaching philosophies throughout their tenure; have had tremendous difficulty in adapting.
REVISITING THE GROWTH MINDSET
-
How have you personally adopted the growth mindset?
According to Dwayne Harapnuik, the FIXED MINDSET is a model where memorization, cataloging and retrieving are considered primary, whereas a GROWTH MINDSET emphasizes communication and participation in a teacher-as-facilitator model. In the 13 years of teaching I have been incrementally moving towards a student-centered, growth mindset model as my experience in education has progressed. My first year in the classroom was rote drill-and-skill, with an emphasis on standardized testing achievement. Given I was a STAAR-tested English teacher at the time so it served ME well, but did it the students?
Today I see myself as a student-centered facilitator of knowledge. I limit direct teach to a minimum and focus on collaborative real world skill building. If I am to be honest, this shift in ideals has benefited from the fact that I have shifted from teaching a core class to a non-tested, technology careers elective, so I acknowledge the challenges core teachers may have in the shift to a GROWTH MINDSET model. It is a systematic change that needs to occur from all facets of education.
In my class, since all learning is hands-on, feedback is necessary and immediate; problem-based coding and engineering necessitates it. However, one area that students will "cheat" at is participation. With the limited number of supplies and my emphasis on a collaborative learning environment, working together is key and with some participation can be non-existent (especially with my school's approximations in the social-emotional development space). To combat this I try to promote a student-centered, student-driven classroom environment. It is not "my class," it is "their class" (I do not even have a teacher's desk). If a student enters my class with a FIXED MINDSET he or she is given space to navigate and explore on his or her own. Usually they will wander about the class, looking at various projects that students are working on. Maybe the next day they will ask questions, but I will still maintain my position that I am there as a facilitator of knowledge; not there to boss them or force them into anything they do not want to do (the counselors office is always available if they ultimately decide to switch electives). Before long even the most obstinate of students has willingly and voluntarily bought in. It is that buy-in that is necessary to facilitate a GROWTH MINDSET, both in terms of student ownership but in casting away the ages-old "preoccupation with grades" that permeates our educational system. Grades in my classroom has always been a means to an end and not the focus.
Social-emotional Learning --> Student Ownership --> Growth Mindset
Some will argue that this approach deemphasizes the course rigor needed to be successful. That is where differentiated learning comes into play. GROWTH MINDSET denotes being dynamic in your teaching and avoiding the static "one-model-for-all" approach. Differentiation, I believe, should demand a higher emphasis in the GROWTH MINDSET model because it allows for student differences. If you come into any of my engineering classes you will see a myriad of student activity on various projects at various skill levels. Tailoring rigor to the students' approximations is key to this model.
In all, I hope to continue finding new avenues to implement a growth mindset in my classes through new technology, with an emphasis on BLENDED LEARNING (an initiative that Austin ISD is ahead of the game at this point, with the standardized CANVAS-BLEND hub across the district). My goal is to then take this new model of learning and not only introduce its processes to my colleagues, but to help define and evolve the model as the world changes around us.