Follow us
Learning to Learn - Differently
  • Home
  • What's the Difference?
  • 21st Century Governance
  • L2D2 Open Forum
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Resource Bank

What's the difference?

Thoughts on making a real difference in the lives of learners...

View all Blog Entries

Grit is for Sandpaper

11/30/2015

6 Comments

 
Picture
Last week we held our fall term parent/teacher/tutor interviews. The school was buzzing with animated conversations and positive exchanges between our staff and the families of the students whom we serve. As the day progressed, as usual I had a number of parents drop in to share stories and ask questions. However, this time there was one comment that really gave me pause. One of our new parents said to me that her interview had been a revelation. It turns out, she told me, that her daughter had been working hard for years to overcome her learning challenges with little apparent success - while all of this time, her family assumed that her failures were due to the fact that she was simply "lazy"!

She told me that at her last school, her teachers had told her that she lacked "grit", that she didn't persevere hard enough to be successful and that with greater effort she could do just fine. One teacher went so far as to tell her that she had a "fixed mindset" that she couldn't do things and that was what was getting in her way. What was the sub-text? Basically that it was not her teachers' fault that she wasn't succeeding at school, it was hers.

​
The American educational philosopher Neil Postman once commented that hearing a teacher say: "I taught that concept, the student just didn't learn it." was akin listening to a car salesperson say: "I sold that car, the customer just didn't buy it." Teaching and learning (like selling and buying) is a symbiotic process, neither can live in isolation from the other. The teacher who "teaches" something that nobody learns, hasn't taught anything at all. 

My concern is that recently - and perhaps this is the result of the pressures brought on by high stakes testing, or regional/international examinations (Provincial, IB, AP, etc.) - educators have scrambled to place the onus for success or failure squarely on the shoulders of the student. Complaints about "class composition" or a lack of grit, or a fixed mindset all point to the child as the source of the problem, not the school or classroom or teacher. 

So what can we do to change this seemingly "fixed mindset" in ourselves as educators? To begin with, we have to understand what the terms really mean, and where they come from. A glib turn of phrase should not replace the need to delve deeply into the individual challenges of each student. Low self-esteem, a product of repeated effort and failure, does not show a lack of resilience, it shows a need for support and understanding. A preconceived notion that a particular task is hopeless is not a product of a "mindset" but a hard-earned realization that comes from completing painstaking work that has reaped little or no reward. 

It is our job, as parents and educators, not just to recognize that a student is "stuck", but also to help them to back away from a seemingly impossible challenge and find a different pathway around it. That is not a lack of grit, it is just common sense!

6 Comments

What is success?

11/18/2015

0 Comments

 
On September 26, 2015 I had the privilege of speaking on the topic "What is Success" at TEDxWestVancouver.

Here is a link to that TED talk.

What is Success?

Happy viewing!



0 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    Dr. Jim Christopher is the Head of Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School and Maplewood Alternative High School in North Vancouver. A parent, author and long-time teacher, and educational administrator across Canada, he has been actively involved in the drive to differentiate learning experiences to meet the needs of all learners.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All
    Education
    Homework
    Independent Schools
    Learning Disabilities

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.