Answer to Question #220990 in English for Gaskin

Question

On page 42, Ritchhart (2015) presents five beliefs that encourage setting high expectations for students: 

• focusing students on the learning vs. the work
• teaching for understanding vs. knowledge
• encouraging deep vs. surface learning strategies
• promoting independence vs. dependence
• developing a growth vs. a fixed mindset 

Choose one of these areas as your focus for this assignment. Create three actions a teacher can take to promote this area. For example, if you chose ‘promoting independence vs. dependence’, you would create three strategies a teacher can use to promote independence in the classroom. 

• Be sure to explain each action/strategy’s educational merit. 
• Lastly, explain how these actions encourage student motivation and promote a positive classroom environment.

Answer 1

Teachers form expectations for student performance and have a tendency to treat learners differently in regard to these expectations. One of these expectations is developing a growth vs. a fixed mindset. Teachers must logically challenge the presumption that mainly prosperous students have high ability levels.

Some of the strategies that a teacher can use for him/her to develop a growth vs. a fixed mindset for his or her learners are;

Firstly, setting achievable micro-goals to encourage students’ stability and incremental progress. This is because small wins repeated over time can lead to a growth mindset and increased confidence.

Secondly, the teacher should also praise his or her students when they succeed for their efforts. This is because praise for intelligence can actually weaken motivation and performance, as learners praised for intelligence gradually view intelligence as a fixed trait; in the face of failure, these learners will show less task persistence, less task enjoyment, and overall worse performance.

 Thirdly, the teacher should help students to focus on and value the progression of learning. Without this emphasis on learning, students will regularly base self-perceptions of intelligence and worth on grades received and this would promote a fixed mindset to them.

In conclusion, these actions encourage student motivation and promote a positive classroom environment by encouraging students to work with a variety of peers for positive peer modeling, linking success to inspiration, determination, and goal setting, and through these actions, the teacher is able to work with all students equally.