I recall fondly the times in elementary (and sometimes even
high school) when I received a test back that was adorned with a splendiferous
sticker sprawled out over the expansive top right hand corner of the front
page. This was usually followed by a
positive comment from the teacher. For
the most part these were a vague: “Good job!”, “Excellent!”, or “Nice work!”,
but they added a little something more than just knowing that you managed to do
well on the test – they showed that the teacher was impressed.
Feeling that the teacher
genuinely cared about how I did brought some life into the mundaneness of
assessment. I even had one teacher who
gave out prizes for students who achieved a 90% or higher on her tests. They were only from the dollar store but they
were nonetheless coveted in an academic stream French class full of
over-achievers. Although such incentives
were helpful, they contributed to the anxiety associated with assessment. The concern was over doing well and managing
to regurgitate the content rather than retaining and actually learning it. In some ways, this topic is tied to “playing
the game”.
What I found so interesting in
last week’s lecture was how something as simple as redirecting praise towards
effort can have such a drastic effect on a child’s development. I had never considered the distinction
between praising intelligence verses praising effort until recently. I can see that in many ways I am a product of
a fixed mindset environment as I can specifically remember that “Keep it
simple” was usually my motto when selecting an essay topic; why choose the more
interesting and involved topic which may or may not get the desired grade when
you can play it safe and choose the easier paper? Instead of praising the student for their
intelligence, talents, or abilities, simply praising their effort can redirect
their concerns towards a process of personal growth. The onus is oriented towards growth and
learning and the only failure is giving up.
As I reflected on this further, I
couldn’t help but be reminded of Bob Ross, a famous oil painter who had a show
on PBS. The concept of the show was that
in 30 minutes, Bob would breakdown and demonstrate painting techniques as he
went along, in hopes that the audience could follow along with him. He had a sense of sereneness about him and
was famous for his positive attitude, often saying that there were no such
things as mistakes, just happy accidents which provided opportunities to learn
and grow. I love to draw. In my job at a historic site, one of my
duties was to teach calligraphy to young guests. When the kids did really well right off the
bat, I often praised their talent and success.
Without realizing it, my praised shifted for those who found it more
challenging towards the opportunity for growth.
By breaking the process down further and having them see how they
improved after various attempts, many of them realized that if they applied
themselves they would be able to improve.
The activity could sometimes take over an hour, but praising the effort
of the students often paid off. A few
were even bothering their parents to buy them a set for home.
By providing the right kind of
praise, students will be intrinsically motivated to pursue their interests,
develop their talents, and paint, as Bob would say, “Happy little trees”. To end with a quote from Mr. Ross:
Here is a link to a song and a video clip which illustrate some of Ross' positive attitude and an atmosphere of personal growth:
