Tag: Growth Mindset

Categories in education

Within education we often make use of a variety of models in our everyday job and in discussions, as well as on social media.   Currently the model of a fixed or growth mindset is reasonably popular however it isn’t popular with everyone, with some people suggesting that the concept of fixed and growth mindset is very artificial.

 

Other models which have been common at one time or another including the concepts of blooms taxonomy, learning styles, the SAMR model for tech integration, students and gifted and talented students, to name but a few.   The purpose of each of these models is to help in our understanding.

Going back to the idea of fixed and growth mindsets, it is easier to make a comparison between these two models when we assume they are very much different.   Therefore it is easier to understand the two concepts by making such comparisons, with these comparisons reinforcing the distinction between the two concepts.   This leads to the view that distinct categories exist such as people which have a growth mindset and those that have a fixed mindset.

The truth is that in the real world things are not quite so simple.   Firstly humans change with time and dependent on the situations they find themselves in, the company they find themselves with, along with a variety of other factors.   As such a person may display characteristics associated with a growth mindset in one situation while displaying characteristics associated with a fixed mindset in a different situation.   In addition the actual concepts such as that of the growth mindset and fixed mindset are not binary categories with people being one or the other.    It may be better to describe categories such as the growth and fixed mindsets as two opposite ends of a continuum.   As such, within a given situation, a person may be more or less engaged in a growth mindset, displaying more or less prominently the characteristics of this mindset, with the same equally being possible for a fixed mindset.

So considering the above it might be appropriate to suggest that we could describe people as having a magnitude and probability within a given model, such as that of the growth and fixed mindset.   So a given person may have a high probability of displaying a moderate level of growth mindset characteristics, with a low probability of displaying strong fixed mindset characteristics when presented with a given situation, person or event.   This description may be more accurate in terms of describing a person, however I doubt it will catch on given the resulting complexity of the description.   I think a person like that indicated above would just be considered to have a growth mindset.

The main issue here is that the models we use, including the fixed and growth mindset, help us in understanding concepts and make descriptions easier.     This being said this ease is at the expense of accuracy.   It is important to remember this and not to take the models we use as being literally correct in that the distinctions between one and the other are knife edged, clear and provable.   They are not!   Plus people are complex and therefore tend towards unpredictable behavior and on some occasions even randomness.   The best any model can provide is a guide or a probability however a guide or probability is better than nothing.

 

 

 

Obstacles and Learned Behaviour

I was in the process of planning a training session within which I planned to use Stephen coveys circles of concern and influence.   I was considering Coveys comments regarding the fact that as we work more in our circle of influence we grow the circle.    This growth is the result of others seeing our ability to bring about change and to have an impact.   We also build up trust in ourselves that we can succeed and have an impact.   So the impact is two fold changing the perception of other towards us and also changing our own self perception. I found myself considering if this self fulfilling prophecy might be applicable beyond Coveys circles and into the domain of overcoming obstacles.    Where we freeze or shy away from obstacles we may be seen by others as ineffectual.    We ourselves will also start to believe that we are incapable of overcoming the prevalent obstacles in our lives.  It is a negative self fulfilling prophecy.   It may also be considered as learned behaviour as each experience of being unable to overcome an obstacle reinforces the belief that we can’t overcome obstacles. Looking at the other side of things, if we see an obstacle as an opportunity and proceed to overcome it then we show others that we can succeed.  We also build our self confidence in our ability to overcome obstacles.   When the next obstacle makes it appearance we will be more likely to challenge it and to view it as an opportunity.   Again we have a self fulfilling prophecy and learned behaviour however here we have significantly better chances of a positive outcome. Now both the positive and the negative examples above show evidence of learned behaviour.    Such behaviour is often enacted with little conscious thought.  The challenge therefore is for us as individuals to remain aware of what we are doing and why and to rethinking those situations where the behaviour is negative in nature and to encourage those behaviours which are positive. It’s now been a few days since I started seeing the obstacle of being tired and having to get out of bed as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.   Each day I get up and out of bed rather than hitting snooze, the easier it is to repeat the task the following day.  Yesterday the extra time and motivation I gained from succeeding in getting up despite being tired resulted in very significant improvements in productivity.   So next time you hit snooze and roll over in bed give some thoughts to this fact as I promise the impact on your day is bigger than just the loss of 10 or 15 minutes from the available time in the day. As Ryan Holiday puts it in the title to his book, “The Obstacle is the way”.

Obstacles and Opportunities

Am currently listening to “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday on the drive to work.   Now in this hectic world where we are all looking to squeeze every bit of efficiency out of our waking hours I recommend the use of audio books on the drive to and from work, however that’s not the subject of this post.

In “The Obstacle is the Way” the reaction of people to “obstacles” is discussed including how generally people are often found complaining about obstacles or difficulties which they encounter in their life, be it a difficult colleague, students or a disagreeable boss.   Ryan Holiday suggests that such obstacles need not actually be obstacles and that instead they may represent unrealised opportunities or the way ahead.    Marcus Aurelius, for example said:

“Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.“

This approach to obstacles means that little time is wasted on complaining, an act which may provide some self satisfaction however is unlikely to do anything in terms of progressing a resolution to the prevailing obstacle.    Consider the teacher complaining about a lack of resources which are available to them.    The act of complaint is unlikely to help address the issue of the lack of resources however it will take up valuable time.   Instead we might change our perspective and consider the lack of resources as an opportunity to develop new bespoke resources which specifically meet the needs of teaching and learning in the coming weeks.     We might consider it an opportunity to work with the students in creating resources together.   Maybe we might consider the situation as a challenge to our ability to improvise and exercise creativity in our teaching.    These three perspectives provide the teacher an opportunity to at least attempt to tackle the identified obstacle and in doing so he/she might realise new solutions and success which otherwise they may not have.

I myself have found things difficult in recent months mainly due to perceived issues with my workload.    The fact I haven’t posted much since January goes to prove that I have been finding it difficult to manage my time or to find time to actually post anything.    Having listened to the book however I have decided to change my perspective with regards the lack of perceived time.   Instead I will consider this as an opportunity to try out techniques from Coveys, First things first which is a book I am currently reading.   This will include focussing on doing what is important as opposed to trying to do a high quantity of tasks.   Part of this will require me to spend some time on identifying that which is truly important to me both in terms of work, family and also personally.   I will also try to be more efficient in my use of time, no longer hitting the snooze button as opposed to getting out of bed when the alarm rings in the morning.   I have decided to commit to this act of getting up, in order to be able to better trust myself, that I will make best use of the available time to maximise my impact.

It is my intention to take each obstacle that stands in my path, and try and change my perception to turn it into an opportunity.