WHAT SHALL I DO WITH NON-LEARNERS?

Today's post is for deep overthinking and analysis of your strategies in motivating students. So, be ready for a long reading.

Why do some pupils are eager to learn, while the others aren't? The answer to this question has found Carol Dweck in her book MINDSET. THE NEW PSCYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS. 

It is the fixed and the growth mindset that are responsible for the pupil's eagerness to work at the lesson, at home and their willingness to learn something new.

The interesting fact here is that the level of intelligence and abilities are acquired by means of effort. The author proves we are not born mathematicians, scientists, world champions. What may bring you to success is the process of work, investigation, training and hard work. The truth is as clear as water, we all understand it perfectly. Still there are pupils who don't believe in their potential and are sure that they can't be good at mathematics, languages, sport or other spheres.

Who or what is to blame? It is the mindset of us, parents and teachers and our reactions to the pupils' success or failure. I can foresee your question, what do we do wrong? If the pupils gain success, we praise and give a good mark for it. If fails, we explain what is wrong and evaluate it accordingly.

Carol Dweck claims that we have to praise but for the process that leads to a good result. There shouldn't be praising for talent or achievement (Oh, you are so good at drawing or writing/speaking, You've got a six for a test. Good job! ), for process itself that didn't lead to a result (I know how you worked hard and I will give you a little bit better mark for that), no praising should be if the task for a pupil is too easy or they did it very quickly (You managed to do the task so quickly! Bravo!). Why not praise for that to raise the child's motivation, you may say? Only because when the next time they fail, the thought will come to their mind that they have no talent or abilities, if they can't do it or do it quickly, they will start to panic - I won't manage to do it, I can't think that fast, I will not get a six. As a result they surrender, lose interest and give up.

As a rule you can hear from such students sentences like that:

I don't know English, my parents learnt German at school.

I'm not good at maths/drawing/writing.

I won't do the task, I don't understand it. I’m not that good at it.

What shall we do in case the students fail?

*First of all, never reduce standards. (If you know they have to read the whole book or learn something by heart or retell the story or write an essay, they should do it. ) What is important here is not to leave the student face-to-face with the problem, you have to give him/her an instrument how to do it and be a helping hand. Otherwise they give up and don't want to make a try.

Your students have to think: WE DO DIFFICULT TASKT HERE, BUT WE DEVELOPE OUR BRAIN.

How should we, teachers and parents speak to these pupils if they fail but we want to motivate them to make a new try?

Here is a list of clichés that Carol Dweck suggests saying in different situations:

In case of success:

“You really studied for your test and your improvement shows it. You read the material over several times, you outlined it, and you tested yourself on it. It really worked!”

“I like the way you tried all kinds of strategies on that math problem until you finally got it. Youthought of a lot of different ways to do it and found the one that worked!”

“You took on that challenging project for your science class. It will take a lot of work— doing the research, designing the apparatus, buying the parts, and building it. Boy, you’re going to learn a lot of great things.”

“I know school used to be easy for you and you used to feel like the smart kid all the time. But the truth is that you weren’t using your brain to the fullest. I’m really excited about how you’re stretching yourself now and working to learn hard things.”

“That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it.”

“That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.”

“You put so much thought into this essay. It really makes me understand Shakespeare in a new way.”

“The passion you put into that piano piece gives me a real feeling of joy. How do you feel when you play it?”

In case the student worked hard, but didn’t do well:

“I liked the effort you put in, but let’s work together some more and figure out what it is you don’t understand.”

“We all have different learning curves. It may take more time for you to catch on to this and be comfortable with this material, but if you keep at it like this you will.”

“Everyone learns in a different way. Let’s keep trying to find the way that works for you.”

“Elizabeth, I know how you feel. It’s so disappointing to have your

hopes up and to perform your best but not to win. But you know, you haven’t really earned it yet.

There were many girls there who’ve been in gymnastics longer than you and who’ve worked a lot harder than you. If this is something you really want, then it’s something you’ll really have to work for.”

He also let Elizabeth know that if she wanted to do gymnastics purely for fun, that was just fine.

But if she wanted to excel in the competitions, more was required.

In case of quickly done task without mistakes:

When we say to children, “Wow, you did that so quickly!” or

“Look, you didn’t make any mistakes!” what message are we sending? We are telling them that what we prize are speed and perfection. Speed and perfection are the enemy of difficult learning: “If you

think I’m smart when I’m fast and perfect, I’d better not take on anything challenging.” So what should we say when children complete a task—say, math problems—quickly and perfectly? Should we deny

them the praise they have earned? Yes. When this happens, I say, “Whoops. I guess that was too easy. I apologize for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can really learn from!”

In case of failure:

“Son, it really makes me upset when you don’t do a full job. When do you think you can complete this?”

“Son, is there something you didn’t understand in the assignment? Would you like me to go over it with you?”

“Son, I feel sad when I see you missing a chance to learn. Can you think of a way to do this that would help you learn more?”

“Son, this looks like a really boring assignment. You have my sympathy. Can you think of a way to make it more interesting?” or “Let’s try to think of a way to lessen the pain and still do a good job.

Do you have any ideas?”

“Son, remember I told you how tedious things help us learn to concentrate? This one is a real challenge. This will really take all your concentration skills. Let’s see if you can concentrate through this whole assignment!”.

In case you want to encourage a child:

“It must be a terrible thing to feel that everyone is evaluating you and you can’t show what you know. We want you to know that we are not evaluating you. We care about your learning, and we know that you’ve learned your stuff. We’re proud that you’ve stuck to it and kept learning.”

In case students don't care:

I am not going to give up on you. I am not going to let you give up on yourself. If you sit there leaning against this wall all day, you are going to end up leaning on something or someone all your life. And all that brilliance bottled up inside you will go to waste.

 “If you do not want to participate, go to the telephone and tell your mother, ‘Mother, in this school we have to learn, and Mrs. Collins says I can’t fool around, so will you please pick me up.’ ”

When teachers are judging them, students will sabotage the teacher by not trying. But when students understand that school is for them—a way for them to grow their minds—they do not insist on sabotaging themselves.

More than that, any comment should be growth-oriented to let the children understand what we expect from them, because very often our expectations are not clear for anybody except us.

Here is link to an English version of the book by Carol Dweck MINDSET. THE NEW PSCYCHOLOGY OF SUCCESS,  pdf. I strongly recommend to read it for every teacher or parent, because the ideas can be used in every sphere of life, not only education.

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