Two themes cause my family to tease me mercilessly. Whenever I mention resilience, or just getting through something challenging, they instantly mention my ‘600 pound backpack’. This is a reference to my ten-day trek in the Himalayas, aged 18 and weighing 100 pounds when, in contrast to my rugby playing peer who came into camp on Day 2 on the back of a donkey, I carried my equipment the whole way, and was dubbed Queen of the Trek. I wasn’t fit, I was exhausted after completing my IB exams, but determination and stamina got me through. The 600 pound bit they made up – but I guess it was a good metaphor to describe something that seemed too great a challenge.
The second theme is related to my commitment to the value of a ‘growth mindset’. I first learned about Carol Dweck through my son’s school, where an educational consultant was working with students to develop their Executive Functioning. At the time, I was doing my Teacher Training, and therefore immersed in reflection about definitions of learning and different types of assessment. Being mid-life, I had experienced failure and success in equal degrees, but I was also the classic A type, perfectionist eldest child. I hated making mistakes of any kind; I dwelt on them, replayed them in my head and let them eat away at me. Not productive. So, the concept of mistakes actually informing future success was intriguing.
When I started teaching, I started to explore how I could encourage my students to develop a positive attitude to making mistakes. To start with, when I asked ‘What have you learnt today?’, they would reply ‘I got ten out of ten for my math test’. To which I would reply that I clearly had not given them the challenge they deserved and promised to make the questions more difficult next time. In time the response changed to ‘I got three questions wrong but now I understand’. The boys I taught would eventually have to sit an exam to allow them to attend Middle School, so summative tests were not unimportant, but providing feedback that would help their independence and self- efficacy was far more valuable in the long run. As a teacher, I am far more interested in the progress made by each individual student, because this represents learning better than the absolute scores.
At BISC-LP, we take a similar approach. We celebrate learning in a variety of different ways, and are always proud of students who work hard in areas where they lack confidence, whatever the outcome. Just tonight, I was excited to learn of a Year 6 student who had gone from scoring 15% for a pre- assessment of an unknown topic, to 100% at the end of the unit. I rushed with joy to see them.
At my age, I have had plenty of opportunities to revise my response to failure and to own mistakes without feeling as if everyone is watching me. Our students have not yet learnt the lesson that their peers are far more interested in their own work than anyone else’s. So how can we encourage them to value the process of learning, rather than the number of ticks on the page? Is it ever possible to pass on some of the lessons that we ourselves have learnt? At BISC-LP, we employ some key strategies for encouraging children to adopt a growth mindset.
Of course, there are times when ‘high stakes’ assessment creates more pressure, both for us as parents and for our children: for students sitting the ISEE, ACT or IB exams, the outcomes may determine the next steps in their educational journey. However, students with a growth mindset are more likely to have taken responsibility for their own learning, and therefore appreciate what they need to do to achieve the results they need.
As parents, it makes us nervous when our children fail, even when they may learn from their mistakes. As a problem solver, my natural inclination is to step in and I sometimes have to steel myself not to do that. This week, however, I too failed in this resolve. When my youngest son admitted that he had foolishly ignored our suggestion that he start looking for second year accommodation at University, which had now left him scrambling, I did a little research of my own! He would ex-communicate me if he knew that this research came from me joining the Parent Facebook Group. In my defense, he should also be grateful that I did not, like the other parents, join to stalk their children over exams or their social life!
He, like all of us, will continue to make mistakes and, if I am allowing him to live his own life, I probably won’t know about most of them. I do know, however, that he is not stuck in a fixed state of mind but has the power to adapt and change when things go awry. Having the space and the environment to fail, safely, equips us all to learn through our experiences.
The author of ‘a kids book about failyure’, Dr Hicks, deserves the last word:
I know failure seems scary.
That it’s not fun.’
What if you didn’t try?
Sure, you’d never fail.
But you’d also never succeed.
You’ll never become who you want to be.
Your true best self.
Judith Scholes
Learning Resources Leader & Director of Safeguarding, Inclusion and Culture
British International School of Chicago, Lincoln Park
814 and 821 W Eastman Street
Chicago
Illinois 60642
United States
