In her TED Talk, University of Stanford's Carol Dweck explains the how's and why's ... Click here to watch it: Carol Dweck's TED Talk
Why a post about Growth Mindset? Putting it quite simply, a significant portion of today's teens need to embrace this. I have commented in previous posts that the "Go To" reaction by a significant number of the students I have interacted with over the past few years is to give up, persistence being the key issue. It is my unofficial, albeit experienced, opinion that these students feel they are relegated to deal with life's twists and turns using only what they were born with, and handling many of the challenges set before them is deemed nearly impossible. In a Growth Mindset, students embrace the idea that successfully handling challenges are but a set of learning outcomes away, with the only obstacle being their willingness to take on the challenge.
Dweck offers this thought ... "It is about telling the truth about a student’s current achievement and then, together, doing something about it, helping him or her become smarter." The key element here is that the teacher is honest with feedback about progress and doesn't simply offer false praise or encouragement. The operative concept in a true Growth Mindset is a joint effort between student and teacher to address agreed upon obstacles, cooperatively tackling it straight away. That entire process requires numerous 1 on 1 conferences.
THAT, dear reader, is the issue!
The changes to the educational system that Ford's PCs have imposed significantly compromise teacher's ability to schedule in those critical 1 on 1 conferences by forcing a higher Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR), directly impacting the actual number of minutes that a teacher can spend with individuals. Here's the math ... A high school period is 75 min long but any honest teacher will admit that you really only have 60 min of instruction time due to students arriving in dribs and drabs (that could be a whole other post!), wasting up at least 10 min, because it makes no sense to start the day's instructions, lest 2 or 3 re-starts be the desired outcome. An additional 5 min is always lost at the end of the period because the students insist on preparing to dash out the second the bell sounds. If you have the old PTR of 22:1, the reality is likely an average of 25 students. That means that 60 min / 25 students is nearly 2.5 min if the goal was to interact with each student, each day and conferences would definitely be possible. When the PTR goes to the 25:1 Ford Nation has "relented to", the reality of 35 students results in 1.7 min. All educators know that 25:1 could present reality as 40 students, and it then drops to 1.5 min. That may not seem like a big difference to you, but to an educator that's a BIG difference, and conferencing is virtually impossible. This includes the supposition that no time is spent on a lesson, no time is spent on behaviours, no student requires more than the allotted time because of learning challenges. All of this means that Ford's changes RADICALLY alter the day to day business of education.
THAT, dear reader, is why educators are fighting.
If your child (or children) are self-starters, self-motivated, and self-aware, you have nothing to worry about because your child will excel regardless of the learning conditions. If that's not the case, you may wish to join the educators in the fight ... Or be forced to accept the need to supplement your child's education ... likely out of your own pocket ... which is what the Ford government is shooting for and this is a major component of that privatization push.
Just thought you'd like some advance warning.
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