CHAPTER 5: Traditional grading demotivates and disempowers
Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
In what ways do schools and classrooms end a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
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Comment on two peers' posts by clicking "reply" > choose "name/URL" in the drop down menu underneath their posts and add your name. Participants are required to comment on one " I notice...." and one " I wonder..." on two peers' reflections in each chapter.
1. Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteMost of the students I interviewed were interested in being successful. I would say about 25% were in school just to pass. Varying grading policies, teacher judgment especially when negative, extrinsic rewards, and lack of encouragement lead to students who are unmotivated learners. I learned that when school focuses on rewards, students will seek out easy tasks to achieve high grades. I will continue to think about how I will implement a rigorous learning environment that also supports a growth mindset.
2. Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I believe my teaching tasks are a mix of performance and mastery goals. There are department wide evaluations such as EES where school administrators rate teachers based on their learning evidence. There are also surveys that students take to rate their teacher’s performance. We also have collaborative inquiry team meetings where we share student work and learning strategies with our department members. These are also opportunities for critique and feedback from colleagues. In terms of the class activities, projects, formative assessments, and summative assessments that are created and implemented, I do a lot of self-reflection to determine how effective they are and whether tweaks need to be made for upcoming classes. I prefer to have casual discussions with colleagues and administrators and believe it motivates me to work harder in a non-judgmental environment. I enjoy doing daily self-reflections to inform what’s going to happen next class period and upcoming class activities.
3. In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
One way that schools send a message of competition for achievement is by ranking students based on report cards. My school recognizes students who receive straight A’s and are on the honor roll (3.5 and higher) during an assembly and by awarding them with certificates. I never thought about it before but I learned that these types of merit awards encourage competition and makes students think that “achievement is only meaningful when it’s higher than someone else’s achievement.” I will change my practice by not posting flyers in my classroom that the counselors create to honor our honor roll students. In my advisory class and academic classes, I will implement ongoing discussions around the importance of learning rather than grades.
Aloha Zachary- I noticed that your school holds an assembly to recognize students who receive straight Aʻs and who are on the Honor Roll. I wonder, in your school, are there teachers, or yourself, who do any variation of this in the classroom to recognize for students who do well? At my school, we do not hold assemblies to recognize student academic achievement but they do post congratulations on the weekly video broadcast. I observe students being proud when their name is displayed and I have seen and heard cheering for each other when classmateʻs names are included on the list but I havenʻt really looked out to see reactions of lower performing students. Iʻm curious if it affects those lower level students whose names donʻt appear on the list and if so, how it affects them.
DeleteHi Zachary! I noticed that you are making the change in your class to not post the honor roll flyers. I commend you for taking the initiative to lessen the competition of getting the best grades just for recognition. I know it is such a part of our culture to always make everything a competition, but learning should never be a competition. I wonder if there will every be a time in school that learning will just be for our pure enjoyment and love of learning. There is a long road ahead to changing our thoughts and grading techniques to make them equitable and non-bias.
DeleteI noticed that you perceive yourself as a mixture of performance and mastery goals. I also perceive myself as a mixture of both, as I believe goal setting should require an awareness of both perspectives. I appreciate you sharing the consistent reflections you have throughout the day. I always wondered what it would be like to teach high school, where I have that opportunity to revamp and modify my instruction with the next period of students. Thank you for your insights!
DeleteHi Zach, you say 25% of your students are there for just passing. I know you teach middle school aged kids, and I think it would be very interesting to interview your same group of kids by the time they're in the middle of 10th or 11th grades. I notice the disconnect with school increases as students suffer the effects of grading practices that don't support growth, reflection, feedback, and joy. "Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
DeleteMost of the students I interviewed were interested in being successful. I would say about 25% were in school just to pass. Varying grading policies, teacher judgment especially when negative, extrinsic rewards, and lack of encouragement lead to students who are unmotivated learners. I learned that when school focuses on rewards, students will seek out easy tasks to achieve high grades. I will continue to think about how I will implement a rigorous learning environment that also supports a growth mindset."
Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteMy students are motivated to achieve success when they are having fun. I teach preschool and I know that they learn best through play and interactions. This is a very different approach than any other grade level, even though we know that students learn best when they are interested in the subject. I consulted with a few third grade students to ask them what motivated them, and they responded that they are motivated by learning new things and not just the prizes their teacher gives them. One student shared that he felt like classmates that were not motivated to learn needed prizes to complete their work.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
The tasks I have for my students are more performance goals than mastery goals. My students primarily need support with their social emotional skills and communication goals. These types of goals tend to be performance goals and always continuing towards the next step in development. When defining the goal, I know that my students are moving quickly in their development and I need to always update their progress and developmental stage. My goals are made for growth and development.
In what ways do schools and classrooms end a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
Our school as a whole does not use competition to address achievement. We are a Leader in Me school and use the 7 habits of happy kids. These concepts promote a growth mindset of being proactive and other measures to support learning without using incentives. Each individual grade level does use some types of competition to support achievement, but as a whole school we only give awards for using one of the 7 habits or citizenship (Bullpup awards).
Aloha Beth,
DeleteI love reading about your school's Leader in Me program. This is something that I don't see often in the high school arena. Our school uses what they feel are relevant and age-appropriate but I will say that perhaps our school could benefit from it.
I notice that at our school, the freshmen students are still very impressionable and they come directly from a middle school environment where they celebrate all things; keeping them young at heart!
I wonder if our 9th grade team of teachers would consider implementing citizenship-type awards program to enhance our "whole-child" approach and assist with growing students towards achievement and success. Your post definitely sparked my desire to wanna do more in my position. Thank you!
Hi Beth... I noticed that one of the students you interviewed said they are motivated by learning new things. I think that this is so great because sometimes I feel like we try to make school fun when really it just needs to be engaging, relevant, and purposeful. Fun can be part of learning but it doesn't have to be the focus. I wonder how we can instill this frame of mind within our learners.
DeleteI notice that your school uses the Leader in Me program. I wonder what are the specific components of the program that you find effective and what parts might need tweaking. Do you feel like the program would be effective for middle school students?
Hi Beth, I noticed that you teach preschool. This is a wonderful age of discovery and growth. And yes, they are probably motivated by just new things and hands on projects. They do not need external prizes to motivate them. I wonder, as students get older, what makes them less adapt to learning or being more curious. Is it the school culture or just their mental state that student 'awaken' to a reality that school is just work?
DeleteI notice that the third grader you interviewed seemed to have echoed what the book is saying that many teachers believe about how to motivate those students who may be low achieving - with external rewards like prizes. I find this very interesting and I wonder if that is something that the student came up with on their own or if it has been reinforced by seeing teachers react to those students in that way.
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ReplyDelete1. I learned after asking two of my classes, they thrive on achieving success to avoid failure. They know the consequences of failure, but they strive to do the best they can in each of the classes because they enjoy teachers that invest in their students’ future. They’ve mentioned that teachers who are task completion oriented, they’ll complete what they need to complete to get the grade that they achieve - but they prefer teachers that encourage them to succeed, even when they struggle, it makes the learning process worth it.
Changes to my practices will be few, due to the fact that students that fail my class are the ones that have chronic absences and make no effort to communicate with me for make-up work. Other than that, I’ll continue to encourage my students who struggle to understand the concepts by having them work in small groups, check for understanding, create tutoring sessions as needed and continue to follow through with my students’ progress.
I will implement more open conversations with my students. After talking with my students, their voices of concern for their grades and sharing how other teachers grade shows that they’re keeping tabs on teachers and upperclassmen gave warnings about teachers that grade harshly - which made me think of Chapter 4. Sometimes to avoid failing class is avoiding the teachers that may fail you - academically and emotionally.
2. I learned that over time from when I first started as a teacher to now, I’ve progressed in how I graded and assigned work to my students to accomplish. At first it felt like a task to completion, but now it’s moved towards a mastery of a skill or standard. When I define the goals, especially in a rubric, it allows the students to check their progress and understanding of the skill/standard that they need to master. By creating grades as mastery goals, it centers the activities, teaching strategies, formative and summative assessments towards performance (individual or group work).
Changes to my practices have been a development of talking to my mentors and department colleagues on figuring out what’s best for our students and how we can better demonstrate the concepts that the students need to achieve for each unit. It hasn’t been easy to learn, but the students have been flexible in my learning process. This is something that you don’t learn as you take courses on becoming a teacher - it has to be seen and dealt with experience inside of the classroom.
I will implement TechEd apps into my classroom in use of electronic devices and laptops to build various student engagement activities to check for understanding and build depth of knowledge with concepts at the start of each unit. With music it’s difficult to implement these things because you’re constantly working with the students on the instruments they need to learn versus the theory behind the music. I hope with this implementation of Technology that the students will be able to master the concepts in each unit at a quicker pace or stronger understanding to apply their knowledge towards their future goals.
Shantell - I noticed that your classes seemed to link success and failure as did my students. It seems that for some, success means not failing, while others feel failure is not achieving the ultimate success. I wonder how we can help students to grasp on to a new concept of letting go of failure and just embracing the "not yet."
DeleteHi Shantell. I notice you made the same progression I have and find the teaching to be more purposeful when assessments/grades are focused on the mastery of a skill or standard. "I learned that over time from when I first started as a teacher to now, I’ve progressed in how I graded and assigned work to my students to accomplish. At first it felt like a task to completion, but now it’s moved towards a mastery of a skill or standard. When I define the goals, especially in a rubric, it allows the students to check their progress and understanding of the skill/standard that they need to master. By creating grades as mastery goals, it centers the activities, teaching strategies, formative and summative assessments towards performance (individual or group work)." I wonder how many teachers go through this evolution in their careers. I see some experienced teachers love their points and punishing responses to 'late' or 'incomplete' work.
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ReplyDelete3. I learned that more students enjoy friendly competition, they like to play Kahoot or any type of competition that allows them to check their status. I like what my school gives for end of quarter achievements - they give for academic achievement and also, Wai’anae Strong. If a student exemplifies characteristics of being Wai’anae Strong, then we can nominate those students for each grade level in a class.
Changes to my practices that I’ve done were to give students our school’s reward card - even to the students who didn’t do anything academically, but just showed up to school. When I give students those reward cards to redeem to the front office, it gives the students a sense of pride and boosts their confidence. Not everything in life is about academics, in cases like this with teaching during a pandemic - I’m grateful for all my students who show up and try to be present in class. I also like giving the rewards to good and bad students in class, my rowdy students have genuine hearts and respect teachers that take the time to build relationships - plus, it’s funny to hear their reactions when they redeem the reward card.
I will implement my own different levels of equity to build my students up academically, socially, emotionally and mentally - to prepare them for the various challenges that they may face. I’ll continue to adjust my teaching style to offer support and services to my students’ needs.
Hi Hoku,
DeleteI like your post about changes you've made to your practices. It makes me think about a co-teacher of mine. She rewards students for being 'class contributors' in her room. For this she uses tangibles as well such as goodies to eat. If I were a student of hers, I'd work towards a bag of chips =).
I do notice, however, that when she is not consistent with rewarding all students for the same reason and when others don't receive their treat for accomplishing the same tasks (for one reason or another) as their peers, it is noticeable by many.
On one occasion, students were tasked with the same agenda of classwork. The stronger learners finished quickly and were rewarded with their treats while another student took all period long to finish and the reward came as this child was exiting the classroom. He turned down the treat and left. Well, unfortunately that bag of chips went to a student just passing by the doorway during recess.
I wonder if my co-teacher and I will find the right balance to using rewards appropriately. I always think about fair and equitable ways to help student achieve success and be awarded for their efforts in our classroom.
On another note, I'm hoping to find a less expensive rewards program that is easier on my wallet =)!
Aloha Hoku.
DeleteI notice your students are also motivated with kahoot and other competitive games. My students enjoy and learn while playing kahoot. I typically use it as a review tool prior to an exam. I like your idea of a 'reward card' and may adapt something similar. I wonder how their interactions affect the office staff when they claim their awards.
Hi Hoku,
DeleteI noticed that you mentioned Kahoot, and other friendly competitive games. My 6th graders also find it very engaging and are super competitive while playing as a review right before a test. I also noticed that you mentioned not only academic growth but also social, emotional and mental growth as well. Since the pandemic, students have been hit very hard in all of those ways and out teaching styles do need to be adjusted to help students become better people as a whole child at the end of the year. I'm wondering, what types of rewards do you use for your reward card? I am finding that some of my rewards are mostly food related so maybe if I could expand my reward system it could help students in a positive way too. Mahalo for sharing!
1. Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteTylie, a Junior, said that she is motivated to achieve success. Then she changed her answer to say that she definitely avoids failure; failing herself and her teachers. Tylie works very hard to excel but in the back of her mind she is worried about letting herself down. As much as she does not want to disappoint herself, Tylie does not want to disappoint her teachers. Tylie cried once when she was unable to deliver her speech without error, lacking perfection. No matter how prepared she was, one mistake threw her. She was so upset, she teared up. Not meeting the Rubric expectations troubled her.
2. Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I strive for mastery, in all things. I may not reach mastery each day but that is my goal. Along the way to mastery, I use performance goals to get me there.
3. In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
When we pass out report cards during homeroom, we spark competition. We play Kahoot!, students compete. We may think that healthy competition is good for the soul but never do we take a glance at our systems in our classrooms and its effect on students.
At our high school, I believe that our intentions are good when we honor students and award them for their academic excellence. I have seen positive results, when using a growth mindset approach to celebrating student achievement at any level.
What I don’t agree with, however, is when not all student populations are considered for particular areas of these academic endeavors. For example, Early College at our high school does not include a large number of students from the noted disadvantaged subgroups such as special education. That in itself is the complete opposite of a growth mindset and I am a strong advocate for the less-considered population; I mean as a special education teacher…it is my job after all!
Aloha Ceslee, I noticed in your comment that you mentioned playing Kahoot! I have used this game and others like it to review and formatively assess students. I have always thought of these games as a fun activity, something to break up the learning in a fun way. I wonder if you will still do these types of games where students compete and scores are ranked and visible to all in the class. Iʻm reconsidering if I will continue to use these types of games. I have mixed feelings about it.
DeleteHi Ceslee! I noticed that you are special education teacher. I am also a special education teacher and feel the same way you do about students being left out of important growth mindset opportunities. I feel like we always think that because our students are so behind in their peers in academics that we need push the academics harder. That can actually put that them in the disadvantaged because they are missing out on all the social emotional growth that they really need in the long run. I wonder if we offered more of the important social emotional aspects of school on our special needs population, that it would actually improved their self-esteem and boost their academics. I am a preschool sped teacher and my focus is almost completely on their social emotional needs while academics is more of my elective.
DeleteAloha Ceslee. I noticed that you addressed perfectionism in your response. I have been thinking about this lately. We do tend to expect the best from our students without realizing the amount of pressure that puts them under. I relate to feeling great disappointment if I mess up. I wonder how schools would change if we celebrated mistakes as part of the learning process rather than view them as failures. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
DeleteCeslee - I noticed that you mentioned that report cards spark competition. I agree - as students seem to compare with each other their performance, especially when GPAs become calculated. The need to achieve levels of success marked by award such as Valedictorian and Cum Laude are very anxiety filled in my school community and I wonder how we can help to combat that fixation and help students focus on learning instead.
DeleteI was able to interview 3 students in one of my 10th grade World History classes. All three of them said that they are motivated to avoid failure (meaning a failing or unsatisfactory grade) rather than to achieve success (they took that to mean learning for the love of learning and sense of achievement). The students commented that, in almost every class and in every assignment, classwork and homework is done by them only because it is required and will be graded, not because they are particularly interested in the topic or content of the work. Actions, policies, and words by teachers that could cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other could include verbal praise and external rewards for completion of work such as gold star type of achievement charts, In my practice, I would like to change how students feel about work so that they are intrinsically motivated to learn and complete tasks and enjoy the work. It saddens me to hear that most, if not all work, is done because they donʻt want to fail and not to achieve success. I would like to implement a curriculum, grading system, and policies in which students can evaluate themselves to see if they have learned new things and improved on their skills.
ReplyDeleteFrom the reading in chapter 5, I learned that performance goals are when a studentʻs achievement of a goal is based on demonstrating competence in otherʻs eyes, or dependent on outperforming others. In line with this definition, I feel that my tasks at work are performance goals. This is because my achievement of teaching goals is judged and analyzed for competence by administrators and state standards such as the EES system. Because my goals and competence are judged by others, I make sure to complete all necessary tasks, but as with the students in my class that I interviewed, I am doing those tasks to avoid failure (a low rating) rather than to achieve success. I am not intrinsically motivated to complete the required tasks for EES and I do not enjoy these tasks.
Ways that schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement include reward programs for students based on grades. This could be things like assemblies to recognize academic achievement, the “Renaissance” program in Intermediate School, and when schools send student names and GPAs to be published in the local newspaper. My school has a weekly video broadcast that recognizes student academic achievement. I think that students are happy to see their friends recognized, however, I believe that students with lower or average grades may feel that they will never be recognized for their academic achievements so they will just do what they need to to get by and not strive for greatness in their work. This may contribute to them having a fixed mindset and may stunt their interest and desire to have a growth mindset.
Hi Charme.... I notice that you want to implement a curriculum, grading system, and policies where students can evaluate themselves. Are there any specific ideas that you have in mind? I wonder if there are any strategies from the book that you are considering. I am working towards finding different strategies, protocols, and resources that intrinsically motivate my students to self-reflection as a regular practice. We use a digital platform called Unrulr that has potential for ongoing reflection but it still feels like a compliance issue for many students.
DeleteHi Charme... I teach older kids also in middle school. I notice as students get older, the joy of learning is dampened or snuffed out. When I interviewed student in 8th grade, at Niu Valley, there is already a notion that they avoid failure and do as little as work as possible to get the grade. Students are motivated for the grade, perhaps to satisfy parent or just to avoid failure. But rarely is it just to learn. I wonder, in what ways can we draw out the intrinsic motivation in student so that school can be more engaging and meaningful?
DeleteAloha Charme, I noticed that you spoke to 10th graders and I could see ow they would feel that way due to the academic environment they have grown under. Many students can't even fathom of doing an assignment for no grade whatsoever. I wonder how your students would respond if they had to complete an ungraded task and then reflect on their own effort and growth. My students had a hard time understanding that most things in my class do not receive a traditional grade, but once they noticed their own growth they became more engaged. Thank you for sharing!
DeleteHi Charme,
DeleteI notice that you said that your students are motivated to do the work because they have to and it will be graded, not because they want to learn content or interested in content. That does not surprise me because I teach 8th graders and I would have to agree that at the beginning of the year, many of my students do the work for the grade and most of them settle for a passing grade. I also noticed that you talked about how students are excited to see their friends win awards and yet they believe that they will never be able to get an award because of their low academic performance. I wonder if we did more awards for students who are showing signs of improvement would that help motivate students to want to do better?
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ReplyDeleteInterview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteWhen I talked to a few students today, they voiced concerns over both wanting success and to avoid failure. They said it was a close 50-50, on how much they strived for each. Some specific actions that motivated them were words by teachers. They said, when teachers say, “this is going to be worth a lot of your grade” it gives them both a sense of stress and motivation to do well, not only to learn, but more to pass.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
In my art class, I would say most of my work assignments are performance tasks. I would say this because if I assigned a drawing to do, they would need to perform a skill that I would have to judge. For example, we are currently creating a perspective drawing. If the artist lines do not line up with the vanishing point, they have not succeeded. So I am judging if it is drawn correctly. However, I do assign reflections once in a while. Students have to write what they think they did well and how they can apply what they learned to real life. In this sense, I think that task would be mastery.
In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
With the emphasis on test scores, labels like: blue ribbon school, failing schools, there is a sense that schools must prove learning is happening. So to provide evidence, they use test scores almost to brag or justify their practices. At my school, we give out awards to promote student achievements. One award we give out is the Honor Roll if you have a high GPA score. I think this award might promote a fixed mindset because it is grade based. Thus, many students will not win this award and can carry negative feelings towards academics. Another quarterly award is the IB Traits award. This is given if students exhibit certain behaviors like: compassion, risk taking, or being an inquisitive learner. I think by doing this, the school is trying to promote what we want our students to be, global citizens. To me, I think this is fairly progressive because it rewards soft skills. You don’t have to have an A to win an IB award, but just develop traits to help you become a better student.
Aloha Jeff. I notice your art students are completing performance based tasks which makes perfect sense for that particular subject matter. My high school spanish class is primarily performance based tasks as well. I recognize they will not master fluency after one year in a classroom, but hope that they will learn enough of the target language to engage with the public. I wonder what subjects in high school are more centered around mastering material.
ReplyDeleteInterview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteI interviewed several students in my classes. I asked students if they were motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure. The majority of students are motivated to learn and eventually use their spanish in a real world scenario. I was thrilled to discover students are motivated to learn and most importantly, use their learned language outside of the classroom. Students are motivated during competition-style classroom activities and games. They enjoy competing during kahoot and quizlet live games. Competition drives motivation to learn and achieve success.
On the other hand, students lose interest and motivation when teachers input zeros or ‘missing’ in Infinite Campus because it lowers their score, sometimes significantly. When a student is absent for multiple days in a row, and the teacher enters missing for each assignment, their grade may drop to an F. When you consider high school students have 8 classes and teachers, they lose motivation when they get that far behind.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I think my tasks are performance-based since it is a second language course. Students will not master the spanish language after one year in a classroom. Instead, they will be able to meet goals and objectives I have for each state standard. When the goal and objectives are clear, students are able to pursue and accomplish the task.
3.In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
Schools clearly send a message of competition for achievement by providing rewards for Honor Roll, ranking students based on their G.P.A., and during class activities such as games. Typically incentives and or rewards are provided for students who achieve a higher GPA and or win during games. Kauai High gives a free slice of pizza and a soda to all students that earn a 3.5 or higher every quarter. Rewarding students with incentives such as prizes or food, can have a very negative impact on the growth mindset of those who do not earn any award. Our school thrives on mentioning awards and achievements during our morning announcements. I wonder how this impacts the students who struggle? The only incentive I offer when a student or group wins during a classroom game is extra credit points. I learned this is pointless because those who already meet proficiency do not need bonus points. This entire discussion topic and book reading has really opened my mind to all the little things we are doing improperly as educators. I plan to discuss this topic further with my coworkers in order to create some change around campus.
Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteI interviewed about ten students and the majority of them said they wanted to make sure that they did not fail. I also asked the students what motivated them to try to be successful and not fail. The majority of them said their friends and a few said their parents and only 1 said their teacher. Not surprising being that I teach middle school and it is all about the peers at this age. I believe the majority of my students are striving not to fail because their lives overall have been challenging. Many of them watch as their families struggle just trying to make it, so not failing is huge for them. Regardless of my grading system, my students’ motivations are going to vary. It is my job to figure out what motivates them and tap into this to help each student be as successful as possible. Some students will need to have small successes and then work towards bigger goals. Others are competitive by nature, so I will need to tap into this for them. Bottom line is that my relationship with my students and understanding what they need is going to have an impact on their motivation in my class.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I believe that in life and work there will be both performance and mastery goals. Both serve different purposes, but are necessary to be as productive and successful as possible. When I work with master teachers, I am inspired to try new things and continue to work towards being a master teacher myself. So my goal is mastering the teaching strategies, but I still am at the same time still working to do it as well as my colleagues. My intrinsic motivation is what pushes me, not really the goal itself. I want to be a respected teacher who has a positive impact on my students, so I face my tasks with this in mind. (Honestly, this questions is confusing to me and not sure what the author is really trying to get at)
In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
We live in a capitalist society that is based on competition and it is human nature to want to be acknowledged. Schools are working to prepare our students for the society we live in, so competition has to be incorporated as well as student recognition. I am really struggling with the idea that competition leads to a fixed mindset. Schools should give awards based on merit and growth. Life is tough out there and students need to know that they will need to work hard to make it.
I notice that you said you were confused about the second question. I think that the way you answered it makes it clear you think of work as a mastery goal. You are focused on improving yourself and being the best you can be as a teacher and working with others to get there. In my interpretation, if you thought of it as a performance goal you may be comparing yourself to others and competing with others for success.
DeleteI agree with your answer to the last question, what it makes me think of though is how there are numerous cultures of students in our schools for whom competition is not a forefront attribute which is valued within that culture. Some of the cultures which we teach do not value competition as much as the U.S. does (I am thinking of my Micronesian students), but rather value collaboration and not necessarily taking the credit. I think this additionally makes our jobs trickier when we have such diverse cultural values in our classroom yet we need to reach them all.
I noticed your perspective of your students’ explanation to avoid failure, rather than striving for success, very intriguing. The past few years have been very challenging and the idea of failure during this period of time could emotionally affect the students’ families. I wonder if the gap between both perspectives can be closed by instilling an awareness of mindset in our students? Thank you for sharing!
DeleteHi Christine,
DeleteI noticed your answer to question #3 and I agree with your view of the world we live in and how competition is a part of that world. I wonder how the author reconciles this reality, and I think that competition is an integral part of growth mindset.
Val Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Christine,
Like you, most of my students said that they were motivated by avoiding failure rather than by achieving success. Although, my students did not mention friends, the majority of them indicated teacher behaviors (scolding, yelling, encouraging, respectful language) as a major influence as to whether they successfully completed assignments or not. I totally agree with you that as teachers it is our responsibility to know what motivates our students and then be able to tap into this to help them succeed.
1. Some of my students are motivated to achieve success and others are motivated to avoid failure. It seems that those that are closer to the possibility of failure are working towards avoiding it and some of the high achievers said that too. Many though are motivated to achieve success. The actions, policies or words from teachers that cause these differences are diverse. Some are because of encouraging words can help students feel as though they can be successful, while others mentioned low grades being why they are just trying to avoid failure.
ReplyDelete2. When I actually stop to think about it, when I think of teaching as a mastery goal I have a healthier head space to reflect on my teaching and think about how to improve it. When I think of it as a performance goal, aka I compare myself to others, it always makes me feel bad, and as though I could be doing more, yet, I have little energy to do more, so then I feel bad again. I think students probably feel the same way, thinking of it as a mastery goal can be inspiring, but looking at it through a performance goal lens can be defeating.
3. I think the simple act of passing back quizzes and assessments in class can make kids compare themselves to others, even when that is not the teacher's intention. This is I believe the most obvious way this happens in my class. Obviously practices like grading on a curve would do the same, but I would never do that in my class. My school highlight awards and honors in many different areas, not just purely academic, they highlight honors and success in athletics, clubs, and CTE program work, which I think can help students see other avenues for success that can be well rounded for students.
Jessica,
DeleteI noticed that you stated that when you think about a performance goal or comparing yourself to others it makes you feel bad. I am wondering if it has to do with mindset as well. For example, when we compare ourselves to others, we could say "I will never be able to do that" or "how do I get to that level." This made me think about all those mindset posts I have seen. Comparing & judging is part of human nature, so how can we do it in a health way that empowers us?
Aloha Jessica. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteI noticed that mastery goals for your class work well with you and allow you to feel more in control with how you want your students to respond to mastering goals/standards. Continue with your practice, you can always adjust as new circumstances arise.
I wonder if you added a reflection to the students grade or questions on the assessment, would that allow the students not to feel competitive but think of how they can improve on a retake or next assessment?
Aloha Jessica,
DeleteI noticed that you stated that some of your kids showed motivation one way and the others showed other ways. I believe this may be because of what is being taught and their own interest in the subject that is being taught. I also noticed that you mentioned about encouraging words. I believe that this practice can go a long way when motivating students. I believe that this is one of our responsibilities to help students be interested in what is being taught or find ways for them to learn or show what they have learned. It is hard as we receive new students year to year.
Val Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Jessica,
I never really thought about the impact of returning graded assignments would have on the students. After reading your response, it really had me thinking about how I could give feedback and scores without students comparing their work to their classmate's work. Maybe having students do a reflection upon turning in their graded assignment and another when getting the assignment returned. This might shift the focus from comparing scores to other students to reflecting on the quality of their own work. Would love to hear your thoughts.
My expectation as a teacher is that all students should be motivated to achieve success rather than to avoid failure. Students who are naturally skilled and strive for success are more prone to be motivated for success and students who seem to be teetering on the edge of success tend to progress by avoiding failure. As a teacher, I stand on a platform that is obligated to promote success rather than failure, and it is my responsibility to speak positively in ways that encourage effort, grit and hard work as ways to achieve success. It is also important to create an awareness of what both sides of the spectrum look like; being successful by avoiding failure, or striving for success by achieving it. This way students are aware of the choices they make and what the consequences of their actions look like.
ReplyDeleteIn my experiences in the workplace, my achievement is based on both my personal growth and failures, as well as external incentives such as performance ratings in comparison to coworkers. Essentially, I feel that having an awareness of both mastery and performance goals are required in building a good person. I naturally favor performance goals, as I am a very competitive person, who has always looked at opponents as challenges and end products. What do I do to measure up to them?
In my classroom, I am grateful to be aware of performance goals and its effects on my students. I do have external incentives for character skills; ie. points that are accumulated based on their character choices, not academics. I think it’s ok to have external motivators, but always remember to have conversations about what it means in relation to their academic success. I always remind the students that the points are a reflection of their choices, not their achievement in academics.
All schools have awards that include success, growth, and high achievement that is highlighted via assemblies, in class awards, etc. At my school, the same award is presented year after year to students at each grade level; GLO awards that highlight student character, which also seems to have a direct connection with academics. The issue is, year after year, the same students receive the external rewards; recognition, certificates, aired on school broadcasts, etc. The students who observe their peers being recognized for their success, who never achieve the success themselves, are naturally adopting a fixed mindset, sending the message that no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to compete with others. The question is, how do you present a fair celebration of achievement to all students?
Hi Matthew,
DeleteI noticed that you shared that you are a naturally competitive person, so performance goals have helped you be successful. Chapter 5 seemed to be saying that competition is a negative thing and I do not agree. I know that it is not what motivates all people, but it works very well for some. Differentiating to meet all students needs is what needs to happen. My 4th grader, struggled so much during distance learning because he also is very competitive. Distance learning did not lend itself to performance goals. When looking at which students were successful during distance learning and which were not, what motivates them was a big part of it. Interesting to think about.
Hi Matthew,
DeleteI noticed that you said that you said having external motivators are okay for students. I agree as well. I like that you mentioned that it is important to have conversations with each student about what their academic success is. You also mentioned grit, and for students to push through the fear of failing and aiming for success. Both sides can motivate students differently, and I agree with what you said about conferencing with students and having meaningful conversations regarding both mastery and performance goals. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteAfter interviewing my students and asking them what motivates them, I found that most of my students want to be successful in school. Most of them want to increase their grades in class. There are a few students who really worry about failing, and thus their goal is to “just pass. "According to our reading, there are two types of motivation students can experience. A student can experience intrinsic motivation to pursue a mastery goal, in which the student bases he success on her own evaluation of learning. Master goals seem to increase students' drive to succeed. When students base their own success on how they view success, rather than how others view success, they are more likely to have a greater sense of well-being. When students base their success on how others view them, “performance goals,” students will demonstrate success in situations they are confident and comfortable with, but will retreat if faced with unfamiliar tasks. Traditional grading favors performance based tasks and thus creates inequitable grading. As stated, the problem here is that students will be motivated to succeed if they see the task as easy, if they see it as a challenge they will act in a way that will increase the likelihood of failure.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
At work, I feel that I mostly view my tasks as mastery goals. I say this because I like to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses throughout the day and think about how I can improve my performance. I label the tasks as mastery goals because I am always changing and growing from previous tasks. I think I used to view work tasks as performative because I would rely on what other colleagues and students would say of my teaching practice. For the most part, this view caused a lot of anxiety about failing. Now that I view my tasks as opportunities for growth, I am not as intimidated by the tasks and I am much more open to do my best.
In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
Our schools still favor traditional grading, so I believe that for the most part, we do encourage a message of competition for achievement rather than that of collaboration. For example, when teachers display test scores of the highest scores, students cannot view this as anything but competition. The problem is that rather than competing against themselves, they compare their learning journey to others. This forces students into a mindset in which they they there are the “smart” kids and the “dumb” kids. This completely undermines a growth mindset.
I have experienced many students demonstrate apathy towards school and grading because they are wary of failure. If they have labeled themselves a “D” student, they tend to behave in such a way. We give students who have all A’s a small pizza party at the end of the year. When these students get pulled out of class to receive a celebration for their success the other students feel like failures, even though they put their best effort in class. Students who do not see themselves as successful will behave in ways that lead them towards failure.
Aloha,
DeleteI noticed that you mentioned that those students who were just "worried" about their grades did pretty much the bare minimum. How true this is, I believe these students are surely not learning anything. But what is the reason for just doing the bare minimum? How can we motivate them to do more? When they see no value in what they are being taught many a times they will not be motivated. I think of my own self. When I attend a PD that I am not really interested in I am NOT motivated to do anything and my mind starts to wonder!
Aloha J. thank you for sharing.
DeleteI noticed how students who are straight A's have small celebrations, which is a great incentive to those who achieve excellence. Reminds me of my teacher, if you got a 100% on a quiz - you would stand up and the other classmates would clap for you.
I wonder about those students who think of themselves are "D students" know no other way? I had a student that thought that way when he was in my summer school class, he told me the highest grade he got was C. So I worked with him, found teaching strategies and student engagement lessons that would get him to make connections and apply what he learned to pass his assessments. He ended up finishing my class with an "A" and went into his Senior year with more motivation to do better, because he had to learn what worked for him and take charge of his learning.
When I interviewed my students, I found that a lot of the students were motivated to achieve success, but it mattered on the subject that was being taught. In the elementary school setting all subjects are taught. I teach most of the subjects that are offered at our school or integrate into my lessons. One student mentioned that he enjoyed learning new skills in Physical education so he was very motivated to learn new things comparative to music. He did not like that subject so just did what was required of him. Another student used the same subjects but had the opposite outcomes. I’ve always tried to help my students have a love for learning new things. It is also reflected in my own attitude when something new is to be learned.
ReplyDeleteI believe that my tasks that I have for my students have always been mastery goal oriented. I’ve always felt that when students compare themselves to each other they don’t really see their accomplishments but focus more on their failures, “what’s missing.” Being in the elementary grades I think our grading system of being “proficient, developing or well below” helps me to grade students’ individual abilities rather than comparing them to their peers. This helps students to know what they are able to do and where they need to improve.
I feel that at my school there is a mix of messages as we do celebrate academic achievement and also are encouraged to post students’ growth. Students can easily compare themselves to others which seems to create a more competitive environment than a true learning environment. I think that there should be a balance and recognition of any achievement should be encouraged. The question that I still have is where is that middle point that may become competitive and then degrading to disadvantaged students.
Aloha Dayton,
DeleteI noticed you mentioned that you're encouraged to post student growth--by that do you mean their improvement, or their achievement (how much they improved vs the score they earned). Are the scores posted with their names, or with their ID numbers? I agree, I wonder where that middle point is in celebrating achievement and really growth would be great. But even with growth, if a student consistently achieves at the same level (A's, for instance), then they would not be recognized, which is not quite fair either.
1. I had my students complete a motivation survey where I asked them a few questions regarding their motivation. In the first question I asked my students “On a scale from 1 to 5, how would you rate your current motivation to do well in school?” Majority of my class rated their motivation a 3 or higher. I had 1 student who rated themselves below a 3. A third of my class said that they were equally motivated to do well in all subject areas, whereas the other 3rd of the class were motivated to do well in math. The final 3rd of the class split their focus on ELA and other subject areas. After interviewing students, I found that half of my students are motivated to achieve success while the other half of my students are motivated to avoid failure. About 30% of my students also felt that if they saw their peers doing well it also motivates them to do the same. Students also mentioned that they enjoyed having rewards when they reached milestones or personal goals to help motivate them.
ReplyDelete2. I would say that most of my tasks in my classroom are performance based tasks rather than mastery goals. Students are given performance based learning targets at the beginning of every lesson. They are also assessed to see if by the end of the lesson they are able to reach that learning target. Students then reflect on their mastery throughout the days that the lesson is being taught. I stress to my students that the most important thing about achieving their mastery is to shoot for improvement throughout the lesson. Having clear learning targets while goal setting, I feel that students are able to stay motivated to improve their learning throughout their learning process.
3. School districts are rated by their test scores, creating an underlying message that some schools are more outstanding than others based on their student achievement. Each year, principals pressure their teachers because they in turn are being pressured by their complex superintendent and the pressure also builds above those positions. This creates a competition for student achievement. At my school, there are rewards for perfect attendance and rewards for being in leadership groups. The only academic achievement rewards that we have are for our graduating 6th grade students who can earn a presidential award, academic reward and a citizenship award. As a 6th grade teacher, we don’t advertise the rewards but we kind of surprise well deserving students at the end of their career at Webling. Our school also puts a lot of pressure and emphasis on iready and SBA test scores. Teachers have meetings with the principal to set goals for their students' achievement on iready reading and math scores. Those pressures slowly trickle down the the students, creating pressure for students to do better. I have talked to many students who freely share their opinions about their iReady scores. Most students are disappointed with the program and oftentimes get upset because they don’t understand the scales and how they measure student growth. This type of frustration and emphasis to improve their iready scores often takes a toll on students, which can go two ways. Some students get motivated to do better, while other students lose interest and lack motivation to do better because they feel defeated. With our state SBA scores, teachers also feel a similar pressure to have their students perform well on standardized tests. If students and teachers had the freedom to focus more on student growth, I believe that they would have more of a growth mindset. In my future teaching practice, I hope to put more emphasis on personal growth. There needs to be more of a balance between completion for achievement and student growth.
Aloha Krystin,
DeleteI noticed that you gave a great survey to the students, and I think it provided a lot of insight and would be so beneficial for all teachers to do something like that so we can learn how to better support students! While I'm not at all surprised by the fact that students like extrinsic rewards for achieving goals (although the book would likely say it's due to conditioning--that we have been motivating the extrinsically all along), it makes me wonder if there is a certain age at which students can better grasp intrinsic rewards. For instance, our students' brains cannot process delayed gratification and long term consequences yet simply because of their developmental process, so I wonder if there's a coming of age in which students can also better understand what it means to be motivated on their own.
Does your school have students set goals often? I think that would be a great thing to implement, and I'd love to learn how to do it in an authentic way. Maybe it feels less authentic until it becomes a culture?
I also loved how you mentioned test scores and pressure from on high--that is totally true and it definitely trickles down to the students as well, and is something I hadn't considered when answering that question.
1. Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteOf the students that I interviewed, two thirds were motivated to avoid failure, and one third was motivated to achieve success. They mentioned that when students don’t get enough time in class to work on their assignments, or when teachers don’t explain summatives well enough, it encourages an attitude of being motivated to avoid failure because they don’t have enough time to demonstrate their best work or they don’t understand what the success criteria is. Ironically, those students that are motivated by avoiding failure are the those with higher grades (though failure for them may mean a C).
2. Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I consider certain tasks at work performance based (compliance for competency’s sake) and other tasks mastery (preparing lessons, assessing students, etc.). If I see the direct link towards bettering my teaching practice for students, I define that task as leading towards mastery, whereas, if I don’t understand why I’m doing a certain task, or if I know it’s simply to comply with WASC or for a report, or even if it detracts from the time that I would otherwise spend grading and lesson planning, it will end up being performance based. Even tasks that do not feel genuine or authentic will also lead to being performance based, such as lesson planning for EES. While lesson planning generally falls into the category of mastery, when it’s for the purpose of evaluation, and when it’s less authentic (meet every single category on the Danielson rubric), it becomes more compulsory. I would rather be evaluated and reflect on my practices more frequently with smaller checks for understanding along the way, as opposed to a one time observation with no opportunities to redo or justify things that naturally happen in the classroom, such as a student having a bad day or not getting much sleep. It affects my own attitude when completing the task, and the amount of value that I receive after the task is completed is lower–it is less likely to affect my teaching practice in the long term because we ourselves do not have enough time to work on it to our satisfaction, similar to the students. Through this exercise, I am learning that I'm still very similar to the students in what motivates me as well, and can empathize better with them, which is slowly shifting my mindset on certain practices that I've long held, such as wanting to explain why the summatives are important and get their buy in early on.
3. In what ways do schools and classrooms end a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
Our school sends a message of competition for achievement through awarding students for both character and academic achievement, with quarterly awards for things like being an inquirer, or a risk taker (similar to the GLOs) as well as honor roll and Principal’s List. Our awards for character may encourage a growth mindset, as a student does not need to have a high academic standing to be considered an inquirer, whereas an academic award teaches students that getting one B will ruin their Principal’s List streak, or a few B’s or one C on their report card will ruin their chances of getting on Honor Roll. That said, I do think it’s important to recognize student achievement, especially as those students who consistently perform well may not receive as much attention in the classroom as those who participate more, or those who need more help, but we should also somehow recognize growth and improvement. One year we did recognize students who were “most improved” or some version of that as well.
Hi Jennifer,
DeleteI noticed how you said that you feel it's important to recognize student achievement and I have to say that I could not agree more. I am skeptical of how the author feels that honors and awards lead to a fixed mindset when student experience has shown me that competition is one of the few ways to motivate some learners. I wonder how the author came to their conclusion that competition is bad for growth mindset.
Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteThe way questions are worded impact the way that students respond. I think the safest way to get student response that isn’t tied to the askers preconceived notions or coaching is to allow for anonymity - but there’s also the component that you want students who are capable of understanding what the questions are asking, who can process the questions, and provide thoughtful answers / feedback. Without those controls, I don’t think that responses would be valid enough to change any individual's practices. Generally speaking when I watch how students participate and engage in class, I’d say that there's a 25/75 split between students who want to achieve success and those who are avoiding failure, but I also think that it’s a lot more complex than that. People are not totally one way or another and it really depends on the task in front of them. I don’t like to make sweeping generalizations, though I can see how such generalizations can be helpful. All of that is to also say that specific actions, policies, or words by teachers can be interpreted differently by different students and I feel it would be a disservice to speculate on how teachers' specific actions, policies, or words affects students as a whole. The easy answer is that yes, negativity breeds a negative attitude and positivity can support positive attitudes.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
The idea that one can live in the area of mastery in a classroom is a poor way of viewing the teaching profession and is in itself a fixed mindset. Classrooms are dynamic spaces where success is determined not only by the make-up of the students in the class but also the teachers ability to be dynamic and respond to diverse student needs. So I would have to day that I think of my tasks at work as performance goals. I pursue each task to best support my students' needs, and that changes depending on what the makeup of the class is and what they need.
In what ways do schools and classrooms end a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
This is one of the parts of this chapter that I take seriously issue with. Competition is a part of real life. You compete for scholarships, for jobs, for promotions, for mentorships/relationships, for a multitude of opportunities - but more than that, for many students competition is a driving factor to success. I’d actually argue that competition is a fundamental part of growth mindset, which seems to be in opposition to the author’s arguments. For many students, the desire to be the best, to be chosen, to win is a driving force in the desire to work hard to be better - and honors and awards further promote that desire.
Hi Nicholette! I noticed that you stated that this part, touching about competition is something you don’t agree much about and you have stated that competition is a driving force of success. I’m glad I am not the only one thinking about the value of healthy competition because I too can say that I am where I am right now because I tried to compete not just with others, but with myself. We are in a competitive world and I can’t imagine what the world would be like without competition-a utopia, perhaps? I just wonder how we could better integrate more healthy competitions in our educational system so that we are helping all students to achieve their own definition of success.
DeleteInterview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteI had the chance to speak with a handful of students from my own class as well as from other classes on the grade level, and a couple of my previous students. Interestingly, across the board, they all felt like it was more important to be successful than to avoid failing. However, with my students currently in my class, they seem to work to avoid failure. For example, I had a couple students who tried to cheat on their spelling test by having the answers on a small sheet of paper. Or students who just try to copy what their classmate has. Maybe, in their mind they see that as helping them to achieve success? I find it interesting though that even though I didn’t feel like I was putting a huge emphasis on assessments or scores, students still had this almost obsession to get an answer “right.” I don’t think that my students’ motivation necessarily just comes from me- I think their ideas of success and failure can also come from previous teachers, their classmates, and most of all, their parents. I think ultimatums/rewards/punishments from teachers or parents can create motivation to succeed/avoid failure, but I think that motivation is more to get them to perform, rather than master the standards.
Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
When I figure out their quarterly math grades- since it’s elementary- I look at their math test, but also take into account their work towards the standard throughout the math chapter, so I think in the math area, it’s more mastery-based. However, when I think about how I assess something like spelling with a weekly spelling test- that would be more performance-based because they just have 1 shot to show me if they can spell these 5 words, not necessarily if they have been able to continue working toward mastering it.
In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
As a school, we promote growth mindset and work it in with our SEL and core values. Our schoolwide award that students can win is not academic-based but looks at if students stand out in the GLOs and model our core values (taking care of yourself, each other, our place, and learning). As a result, I don’t really think there’s a message of competition for achievement. I think, maybe I don’t notice any other undertones of competition, because I, myself, am super uncompetitive? I tried to get rid of places where students could compare themselves to other students in my class because as a student, I hated competing in anything (obviously I’m not a sports person either lol). I can see that sometimes competition can be a great motivator, and maybe after writing this, I need to think about ways that I can use it a little more in a healthy way to help promote a growth mindset.
Aloha Kaci! I noticed that you mentioned the fact that your students’ motivation and their ideas of success and failure is a combination of your influence, their previous teachers, classmates, and parents, which is again proof of how influential the environment a student is exposed to, in the way they think and act. I also noticed that you stated that you are uncompetitive, however you still see how competition can be a great motivator. I am also not fully convinced that competition has more negative effects, and thus I wonder if there are scholarly researches out there undertaken to see the effects of competition on academic performance to prove the claim. Thanks for your ideas.
DeletePART1 1. Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
ReplyDeleteWhen I initially asked the question to my entering and emerging levels of ELs, most of them answered that they are motivated to avoid failure. But when I tried to frame their thinking about how our class defines success in a more positive sense—”Success is considering every mistake and failure as a great learning opportunity and every single achievement as success”, most of them suddenly changed their answers.
This shifting of mindset or belief about a certain thing could be connected to the theory of tabularasa wherein John Locke emphasized that everyone is born as a blank slate (without any preexisting innate ideas) and is easily and strongly influenced by the environment. I am not surprised that most students initially answered that they are motivated to avoid failure because with their current state, that they do not have enough language to access the content, they feel like they are not good enough and that they just do every means (compliance, punctuality, good behavior) just to pass and not to fail. And going back to their culture, which reflects that education is not a priority, but survival (making both ends meet), success may not even be something that they are aware of. However, when I referred back to our class mantra, “Trust!Try!Thrive! And our definition of success, they suddenly changed their thinking.
Digging deeper into this, it clearly shows how influential adults like teachers are and how powerful words are in students’ lives. In my class, I share my personal narratives like how I, being a bilingual/multilingual, was able to be a teacher in a foreign land where most people measure intelligence through native-like English accent. I always tell them that life is not about perfection but about making use of the right tools (wisdom +right attitude) to survive and that no person has ever become successful without committing mistakes or experiencing failures. Words can also make or break a person and so using the appropriate words with the appropriate gestures could make a difference. If we focus on encouraging and challenging language, instead of demeaning and destructive, then we are cultivating a growth mindset, and thus a goal for success.
2. Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
I perceive the tasks at my workplace as both performance and mastery goals because personally, I have that challenge-self motive wherein I would like to get better at my craft and be a better version of myself. I also need to be mindful about my performance in a task especially that I am still within my three years and that I am still being evaluated. It entails more competition and a need to establish myself-that I am right for my job position so that they won’t be thinking about replacing me with someone who is also qualified and more senior than I am. When I set a goal for a certain task in my workplace, I needed to be more critical and conscientious about everything. It is about creating a quality work, both to show that this is how good I can make within my means and how good I am at creating this task that nobody else can. If I pursue the task thinking about what I will be learning and how I have improved, I am more at ease and happier compared to when I think about my performance against others' performance that makes me more stressed and exhausted.
PART2 3. In what ways do schools and classrooms end a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
DeleteSystems in our school undoubtedly convey competition through giving certificates and awards (in any form) to those who have earned 90% and above attendance, and those with straight A’s, and being eligible at something if you have earned something specific as defined by the eligibility requirements (for sports, for student leadership, AP classes, fun room during WIN, etc.). In classrooms, we also implicitly convey competition through comparing students to certain ones and statements like, “He earned this, why did you only have this?”, “He was able to do it, why can’t you?”. Competition is also prominent in comparison of data in statewide assessments, grading progress in intervention programs, choosing the right representative in a certain out-of-school event, based on academic achievement, not the ability or capability of the representative and many more.
I believe that awards and honors could both promote a growth and fixed mindset, depending on the state of mind of a certain individual as well as his cultural background. I came from a mixture of individualistic and collectivist cultures and that I was raised to capitalize on both in unique situations in life. Awards and honors existed in the duration of my schooling and I started without earning any, which then served as my motivation to grow and be better. When I started reaping awards, I even became more persistent at being a better version of myself.
My stance is, awards and honors should also be taken positively since part of boosting somebody’s confidence is celebrating every single achievement. I also firmly believe that everything can be valuable if it is used in the right way, for the right reason and its connection to either promoting a growth or a fixed mindset would depend greatly on communicating about the WHY(Why do we have these? And Why do we do these?) of things. We should still encourage healthy competition so students would learn how to, at least be, at par with others, in order to survive in this competitive world.
Hi Pinky!
DeleteI notice that you put heavy emphasis on the role that teachers play in growth mindset. I will definitely agree this is true at all age level. In high school my close friend was from the Philippines and she had a fairly heavy accent. She was a very smart student but our social studies teacher was constantly asking her to speak clearer and repeat what she was saying. This heavily discouraged her from speaking in class and to this day this is still something she remembers about that teacher.
I wonder if more students were given awards, that it would allow them to be better versions of themselves like how you mentioned. These awards could be showing growth or making progress toward their learning goals throughout the school year.
Val Shindo-Uehira
ReplyDelete1-Interview students. Are they motivated to achieve success or to avoid failure? What specific actions, policies, or words by teachers cause students to experience one type of motivation instead of the other?
When asked about motivation, the majority of students indicated that they were motivated to avoid failure while very few were motivated to achieve success. Students reported that they were more motivated to do well and persevere through challenging assignments when teachers gave them words of encouragement and provided adequate support to ensure success. Students were less likely to do well when scolded or made to feel bad about themselves. These responses were not surprising. My belief was that students were motivated more so by the avoidance of failure than achievement or learning. Going forward I am thinking about strategies that I can incorporate in all of my classes that will shift their mindset and their sources of motivation. Possible more reflections and peer reviews - not entirely sure at this point. I hope to gain more strategies by the end of this course.
2-Do you think of your tasks at work as performance or mastery goals? What affects how you define the goal? How does this affect how you pursue the task?
Depending on what I am required to do at work, my tasks could be categorized as either performance or mastery goals. For example, each department is tasked with reporting quarterly summative (score) data for each common assessment that is administered during that time period. Scores for each summative assessment are then compared by grade level. I would categorize this task as performance mastery because of its comparative nature. On the other hand, tasks such as lesson development and providing student support, I believe are mastery goals because these types of tasks are focused on my own development as a teacher. My perception of whether a task is performance or mastery affects how I pursue a task. In the case of performance goals in which I am compared to other peers I feel apprehensive. In this case, it could affect how I deliver my instruction/lessons because I want to ensure that students score in the meets to exceed categories especially if my students’ scores are compared to other students.
3-In what ways do schools and classrooms send a message of competition for achievement? How does your school’s treatment of awards and honors promote or undermine a growth or fixed mindset?
What schools may determine as motivating factors of achievement for students may in fact demotivate them because of its competitive nature. Some of the ways schools send a message of competition for achievement is through class rankings, merit awards such as Honor Roll, Principal's List and the use of state testing results to determine class groupings. At the school I teach at, students are awarded Honor Roll and Principal's List for achievement. State test scores are also used to determine RTI grouping of students. However, my school also recognizes individual growth of students. Students are awarded for any growth (achievement) made from one diagnostic test to the next no matter how small or large the gain is. I believe that the traditional forms of recognition may not always promote a growth mindset and may actually be detrimental to those students who consistently do poorly. Being compared to other students who do well or who are recognized as being the “smart” kid, may support their feeling of inadequacy and may prompt them to stop trying. It creates a “why bother, I’m never going to be as smart as them'' attitude. I feel that my school does try to promote a growth mindset through advisory lessons and Principal messages however, achievement recognition remains comparative. Although, as a school, we reward student growth, I wish we would do more to emphasize and celebrate the growth aspect rather than focus on an end result score to determine achievement.
Hi Val!
DeleteI notice that my students were also less likely to do work when they feel bad about themselves. I think motivation is derived from a positive growth mindset which stems from receiving messages of encouragement from your teachers. Like you said, feelings of inadequacy can come from students being categorized as someone whose "not a smart kid" so it can hinder their overall self view.
I wonder if your quarter summative reports could be turned into a competition with teams? This could foster a mentality of group growth which will motivate the lower achieving students to strive higher.
For this question I interviewed a group of sophomores from my Human Anatomy and Physiology class. Many of my honor roll students are very motivated to achieve success and attain the highest grade that they possibly can. Although, many of my lower achieving students are always trying to exactly calculate what is the absolute minimum they need to NOT fail my class (which means avoiding failure). After COVID and being out of school, I’ve felt like many people were unmotivated because they feel like they have dug themselves in such a deep hole of being academically behind that they cannot get out (no matter what they do). I think that when teachers push students and tell them what they need to do to achieve success, they become more focused on the tasks they need to complete. Also, many times words of encouragement are the one thing that pushes the students in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteMy currently implemented standards are more performance-based goals for my Science class but more mastery-based goals for my advisory students. With the students in my advisory, I have them set SMART goals at the beginning of the quarter. If the students meet their goals they are given an S grade. If the students fall short of their goal but come up with a revised plan to meet it the next quarter, they will also receive an S grade. The only students who receive a U are students who set an easily attainable goal - or didn’t meet their goal and are making no effort to meet it the following quarter. I think that I would like to strive toward being more mastery goal-oriented as compared to performance goals oriented because this will make a student more learning-oriented as compared to grade oriented.
Our schools give rewards for the advisory class that has the highest attendance percentage. This incentives students to come to school-based group accountability. Another type of reward is an Ice Cream Sundae party once a quarter for those who are on the Principals List and Honor Roll. This could cause a fixed mindset for the students who don’t get on the honor roll. I’ve heard students say that they can’t get good grades because they “aren’t smart” because only the people who are high achieving get ice cream every month.