Mistakes Allow Thinking to Happen
The View from Society
“I’m so bad at math,” “math is impossible” are both sayings
we constantly hear perpetuated throughout society by both adults and children.
It is not uncommon for a group of individuals to willingly share stories about
their lack of success in math class. I recently heard two people joking around
about “who was worse at math,” as it was something they took pride in. Why does
society consent to the idea that it’s acceptable to be bad at math? As a future
math educator, one of my main goals will be to change the way students think
and feel about math.
"Don't judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I
fell and got back up again.”– Nelson Mandela
In late elementary school and early high school, I was a student who was convinced that math simply "wasn't" for me." Reflecting back, many of my teachers taught using the Banking Method of Education. During these years, math was a process of repetitively
memorizing and recalling facts and formulas. The classroom was teacher-centred
and I never saw a purpose or felt a connection in the work I was doing.
However, my feelings towards math completely shifted when I had a teacher who
truly believed every single student had math potential. This teacher taught her
students to think using what is known as a “growth mindset.”
Carol Dweck, one of
the leading researchers in motivation and mindset, explains the difference
between possessing a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. In an article posted by Edutopia (2014), Carol explains how, “students who have a fixed mindset
believe their basic capacities are fixed traits, that they have a certain
amount of talent and that’s that.” However, students with a growth mindset
believe their intelligence and their abilities can be developed through
strategies, effort and support from others. Her research supports the notion
that students who possess a growth mindset will become more confident in their
abilities and more motivated to continue trying after they have failed.
Teaching Students to Embrace their Mistakes
The notion of making mistakes and trying again is
important in every aspect of life, however, it is extremely important in
mathematics. Throughout my University journey, I have constantly been told to
be a teacher of change. But what does this change actually look like? Educators
should be teaching their students that mistakes in math are inevitable and that
they represent the opportunity for growth in learning. Students often develop
math fear or math anxiety because they are scared that their answer is
incorrect. We want our students to develop confidence in their math abilities,
regardless of what stream they are enrolled in (i.e. applied versus academic). I
want my math classroom to be a space where students are excited to discover the
solutions to new problems, challenge systems, engage in critical thinking and
recognize it is perfectly acceptable to be incorrect. Although I may not love
every student I teach, I will not give up on any of them.
Eliminating the
Preconceived notion of the “math brain”
In our first few classes of "intermediate/senior teaching mathematics," we discussed the concept of society believing there is such thing as a math brain. Personally, one of the biggest challenges I believe I will encounter as a math educator, will be convincing students that everyone is capable of being successful in math. It will be crucial to teach students that intelligence is malleable and everyone has the potential to increase their math skills. To achieve this goal, I will strive to create a student-centerer environment providing student with the opportunity to be actively engaged in their learning. For example, using Project Based Learning (PBL), learning that begins with student’s questions and
interests provides students with the opportunity to examine real-world
situations. In her book, Mindset, Carol Dweck discusses the strategy of setting
high standards for your students and providing a nurturing environment and
promising students you will help them produce results. I hope to continue to
further develop strategies to teach students that the conception of a “math
brain” is in fact false.
Believing in
yourself is half the battle. No one is born an expert at playing an instrument,
or being a star athlete – these skills require time and practice. Once students
can step over the barrier of believing they are “bad at math” their learning
will look entirely different. Everyone can join the group of people who are
“good” at math. To conclude, here is a short video further explaining the
concept of growth mindset.
Until next time,
Rachelle
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset:
The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
Lencz, B.
(2014). Watch What’s Working: Carol Dweck
Talks about Growth Mindset. Retrieved from
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/watch-whats-working-carol-dweck-talks-growth-mindset-bob-lenz
Vega, V. (2012). Project-Based Learning Research Review. Retrieved
from: http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes
Hi Rachelle,
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you that it will be difficult to introduce to students that intelligence is in fact malleable. They will probably not grasp the concept right away that our minds grow over time and as we add information we become more knowledgeable whether it is in math, English, science or the arts. I find that it is very important to encourage our students no matter what. Even if the student is at the top of your class they can still use that encouragement to grow and succeed just like those who may be at the bottom of our classes.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteYour post was extremely well articulated! I especially enjoyed your reference to the growth mindset, especially in relation to mathematics. I have not really thought about math anxiety and the idea of a growth mindset together, but the relationships that exist are vast. Of course, the fear of failing and not getting the answer right, essentially having a fixed mindset, could lead to math anxiety and fear. Instilling the ideas and concepts of a growth mindset into your classroom is indeed a challenge though. I suppose being a teacher of change, could coincide with encouraging students to be more confident in their abilities and be more open to challenges as well as failure. Very interesting post, have a great day!
Hi Rachelle,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that you believe that one of the biggest challenges will be convincing students that everyone is capable in math. I completely agree with this statement. I believe that as teachers of the intermediate/senior level, we will have a harder time changing students’ negative views on mathematics. By the time students reach us, they will likely already have at least seven years of experience working with math. Therefore, if students have these negative views (e.g. “I’m just not a math person”, “I’ll never be good at math”, “I may as well just focus on the things I’m good at”, etc.), it is likely that these thoughts are very deeply ingrained in their brains. However, it is important to realize that these thoughts are not set in stone. Thus, I believe as math teachers it is our job to remove these negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts towards math. I think that teachers of younger grades should be more aware of how to positively approach mathematics using a growth mindset. This will allow students to grow up and learn math in a positive way. If this thinking began with the teachers of younger grades, our biggest challenge as intermediate/senior math teachers would no longer be convincing students that everyone is capable at math.
Lindsey