Superintendent’s Bulletin 10/9/15

October 9, 2015Colleagues,For several years now, we have continued to expand our growth mindset work throughout the district.  I’m often heartened to hear students, teachers, and even parents talk about the importance of recognizing effort in both schools and at home.  Reading a recent Education Week commentary by Carol Dweck (9/23), I was struck by some of the popular misconceptions about growth mindset, which I think are important to note here in Wellesley.  According to Dweck, the most common misperception is equating growth mindset work with effort alone.  She counsels, “Students need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they are stuck.  They need this repertoire of approaches –not just sheer effort—to learn and improve.”  Dweck also cautions against praising student effort when they are not learning to simply make them feel good. Instead, she advises that teachers can appreciate student work, but continue to press with statements such as, “Let’s talk about what you’ve tried, and what you can try next.”Finally, and perhaps most important, Dweck notes with irony that growth mindset work could actually be used as a rationale to mask significant learning deficiencies: “Recently, someone asked what keeps me up at night.  It’s the fear that the mindset concepts, which grew up to counter the failed self-esteem movement, will be used to perpetuate that movement.  In other words, if you want to make students feel good, even if they’re not learning, just praise their effort!  Want to hide learning gaps from them?  Just tell them, ‘Everyone is smart!’ The growth mindset was intended to help close achievement gaps, not hide them.  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.” Wise counsel indeed from Carol Dweck!           Thanks to everyone for the important work you do in our classrooms each day and enjoy the long holiday weekend!    Best regards,David​