The Stanford Challenge: Growth vs. Fixed Minds

The Stanford Challenge videocast was an 'experiment' about the capacity to learn. Two different groups of Stanford students were formed. One group was told that they had 'fixed minds,' meaning, they were not able to increase their capacity to learn. The second group was told that the brain is like a muscle and that the capacity to learn can be increased. The experiment took place over eight workshops (the groups were separated.) Information about study skills was reinforced to the two groups in the eight workshops.

The "fixed minds" group thought before a presentation were concerned about whether or not they would come off as smart or stupid. Their example was that intelligence is fixed, and therefore cannot be adjusted. The "growth" group came to understand that learning must take place to increase learning capacities. Their example was how no one laughs at a baby that is learning. Most interesting of all the information in the videocast, was that at the end of the workshops, the teachers could tell a difference in the students' performance who were in the "growth" group, even though they were never told about the 'experiment.'

From a teacher's viewpoint, I have practiced this every day I have been in a classroom. Thanks to Montessori training, I learned early on that if a teacher/parent/guardian/role model tells a child they are a bad student or incapable of learning anything than that child will do their best to achieve and earn that title. Children do not want to disappoint, remember. On the same hand, if a teacher/parent/guardian/role model tells a child they are wonderful and intelligent than that child will also try to achieve that title. It works in the best interest of everyone around if we have HIGH expectations for children and explain to them that the expectations are high because I/you/we know they are SMART! They can ACHIEVE!

Some teachers understand the repercussions of such damaging words, perhaps because they either overcame similar damaging words themselves as young children or because they were always told that they can do it, that they have great value. Those children, who were told that they CAN achieve, probably never learned the habit of telling children they CAN'T in the first place.

At the Montessori school I worked at August 2007 - May 2008, I corrected a toddler teacher when she called a small child, aged two years old, "Horrible Hannah." I stopped her and explained to her how children desperately want to seek approval from an established leader. She tried to argue with me, saying that she turned out just fine and her parents called her "bad" when she was behaving badly. (I will not get into her personal attributes that would clearly disprove her last ridiculous point.) I then looked blankly at her after hearing this and said, "Maybe I'm wasting my time on you. Maybe you're not worth my breath. Maybe you're just " 'Krappy Kristen.' " I believe I proved my point.