POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY / EDUCATION
Re:
Growth Mindset
Fr:
Maxwell, J. (1991). Developing the leader
within you. In Addington, T., Graves, J., & Womeck (2000). The life@work book. Nashville, TN: Word
Publishing, pp. 126-127 (headings, caps & underscore mine).
“Psychology
101 taught me that we see what we are prepared to see.
A.
Anecdote
A
suburbanite, unable to find his best saw, suspected his neighbor’s son, who was
always tinkering around with woodworking, had stolen it. During the next week
everything the teenager did looked suspicious – the way he walked, the tone of
his voice, his gestures. But when the older man found the saw behind his own
workbench, where he had accidentally knocked it, he could no longer see
anything at all suspicious in his neighbor’s son. Flip Wilson taught me that what
you see is what you get.
B.
Experiment
“Nell
Mohney, in her book Beliefs Can Influence
Attitudes, pointedly illustrates this truth. Mohney tells of a double-blind
[126/127] experiment conducted in the San Francisco Bay area. The principal of
a school called three professors together and said, ‘Because you three teachers
are the FINEST in the system and you have the GREATEST EXPERTISE, we’re going
to give you ninety HIGH-IQ students. We’re going to let you move these students
through this next year at their own pace and see how much they can learn.’
“Everyone
was delighted – faculty and students alike.
“Over
the next year the professors and the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
The professors were teaching the BRIGHTEST students; the students were
benefitting from the close attention and instruction of HIGHLY SKILLED
teachers.
By
the end of the experiment, the students had achieved 20 TO 30 PERCENT more than
the other students in the whole area.
“The
principal called the teachers in and told them, ‘I have a confession to make. I
have to confess that you did not have ninety of the most intellectually
prominent students. They were run-of-the-mill students. We took ninety students
at random from the system and gave them to you.’
“The
teachers said, ‘This means that we are exceptional teachers.’
“The
principal continued, ‘I have another confession. You’re not the brightest of
the teachers. Your names were the first three names drawn out of a hat.’
“The
teachers asked, ‘What made the difference? Why did ninety students perform at
such an exceptional level for a whole year?’
“The
difference, of course, was the teachers’ EXPECTATIONS. Our expectations have a
great deal to do with our attitudes. And these expectations may be totally
false, but they will determine our attitude.”