by Curtis Cunningham, SPS Professional Learning Specialist
Welcome back to another school year! We have a clean slate, a fresh start. What will we do with the time we are given during the 2014-2015 school year?
If you’ve had much opportunity to engage in professional reading, you’ve probably become familiar with the work of Carol Dweck in the area of mindset. Simply put, Dweck (2006) learned through her research at Stanford “that there were two meanings to ability, not one: a fixed ability that needs to be proven, and a changeable ability that can be developed through learning” (p. 15). Our approach to ability can have profound impact on the way in which our students interact with our curriculum, our instructional strategies, our school culture. The sometimes merciless pursuit of excellence can seem to threaten the slow methodical pace of gradual improvement. Our students experience this pressure, and it can affect even the most stalwart teachers.
Oftentimes we place a focus on how we want our students to grow. But what about our personal growth? What do we want to see in ourselves? Is there ever a “good enough” when it comes to teaching? Is this a dangerous term? We say we’ll never arrive at the destination of becoming a perfect teacher. Do we sometimes use that as an excuse to stop trying?
In the coming years we will have a unique opportunity to apply a growth mindset to our performance as educators. The new teacher evaluation system will reflect a continuum of several criteria. These criteria are indicative of high performing teachers and as such can serve as a useful tool for continued professional growth. On the other hand, these criteria can serve as a checklist whereby an experienced teacher can satisfy their own fixed mindset and neglect continuous growth. I suggest the difference comes in the question we ask ourselves. As we review the criteria, we can ask “Am I doing this in my classroom?” or we can ask “To what degree am I doing this in my classroom?”
There is little doubt that effective teachers are already implementing many of these criteria. After all, these criteria are designed to create a picture of effective teaching. It seems logical that effective teachers would naturally gravitate toward behaviors that support student learning. If we simply ask “Am I doing this in my classroom?” we are in essence looking for an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back and check the box.
However, if we ask ourselves “To what extent am I meeting this criteria?” we have the opportunity to validate what we are already doing well and recognize what we might need to do more frequently or in greater depth.
At Leadership Institute, Dr. Jungmann asked each leader to write down two roses and two weeds which exist in our district. Perhaps one weed might be a “good enough” mentality. Perhaps we need to be intentional to plant a growth mindset each day where we determine that we indeed have a “changeable ability that can be developed through learning” (Dweck, 2006, p. 15).
Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.