“As Gandhi said, `My commitment is to truth, not consistency.' In the Mindset theory, I have found the most crucial component of learning.”-Lorraine Davies

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I have always seen children as innately democratic, empathetic and curious creatures, with these qualities being what drives them to seek answers and motivates them to learn. Therefore, it was pleasing to read literature confirming that the brain is actually hardwired for empathy and learning; in fact, our successful evolution has depended on it! With this in mind, I have questioned why it is that children who start out as eager and excited to begin school are, just a few years later, playing truant, acting out and ultimately are labeled as unmotivated, lazy or ‘not very clever’. What goes so badly wrong?

How did you become interested in the Growth Mindset?

Whether teaching in the UK or Australia, I had always found students to be predominantly disengaged, with low self-efficacy and accompanying attitudinal behaviors related to their own low self-esteem. I have come across teachers in the UK and Australia who spoke of their students as lazy, untrustworthy, lacking in ability and uninterested in school. In questioning why they should waste their time, it struck me that these teachers mirrored the same self-defeating attitudes of their students. In order to compensate, they would assign busy work or ‘dumb down’ the curriculum, which in turn exacerbated problem behavior and caused these teachers to burn out even faster.

When I witnessed a disturbing incident that resulted in a young student undergoing emotional trauma at the hands of her teachers, I made a commitment to leave the field of mainstream education. Unable to work within a broken system, I left in search of an effective way to contribute to a system that supported successful learning environments between students and teachers.

Having experienced so much learned helplessness in the education system, specifically within teaching, I designed a Learned Helplessness / Learned Optimism professional development program with the goal of educating teachers that students’ behavior was the result of a conditioned response and not part of their DNA. It was in researching the work of Martin Seligman that I came across the work of Carol Dweck! While my original view still stands, that emotional intelligence is an important component of one’s wellbeing, a fixed mindset may override one’s emotional intelligence. As Ghandi said, “My commitment is to truth, not consistency.” In the Mindset theory, I had found the most crucial component of learning.

 How did you introduce Mindset to your students? Do you have tips for other educators?

• I interviewed each student prior to the introduction of Mindset and Brainology, to gain an understanding of their experiences, thoughts about themselves, their families, their past educational challenges and their expectations about the future. These interviews proved to be invaluable. I could never have imagined so many of their experiences. In spite of a host of wide-ranging negative experiences within school, when asked if they valued education, their overwhelming response was, “yeah!’ in a tone that suggested ‘everyone knows how important education is!’

• I can’t recommend highly enough the need to create an understanding of each student by listening to their stories told from their own perspectives. By focusing less on the views and interpretations of previous teachers, case-workers, counselors and parents, we were able to create a sense of group cohesion that is vital if group members are going to speak openly and honestly in class. The importance of taking one’s time to establish group trust cannot be overstated. It’s a neuro-fact that in order for a student to learn, they need to feel safe!

• During the program I mentioned that we would each be planting a tree to compensate for the paper we were using. I approached our city council as to an appropriate spot where we might plant some trees, and we were allocated a generous piece of land that was large enough to accommodate further Mindset and Brainology groups. Each student planted three trees, shared a blessing for the gift of learning we’d been given and ate a pizza lunch. Apart from modeling environmental conservation, we had created an ongoing meeting place where students could gather with newly formed friends who had shared their unique learning experiences. Their trees served as an important reminder that growth cannot be rushed, it takes time.

Above all, my goal was to address the student’s belief that they were unintelligent. In order to give them reason to shift their ideas of themselves, my tools had to be as concrete and credible as the walls they had previously believed in. I knew that Mindset would cause them to want to think differently, but perhaps not ultimately convince them that they could substantially alter their own beliefs. Throughout the process, I trusted Brainology to bring it home. And it did!

What have been the results so far? How did it impact your students?

Initially the students looked for grades – even stickers; however, by not giving grades and reward, students developed a greater commitment to learning goals and less on performance goals. Whereby a shrug of the shoulders, code for ‘I don’t know,’ would once let a student off the hook, it now gave way to peer encouragement and claims of, “Think about it and you’ll grow neurons!”

In addition to viewing their brain, intelligence and talent in new ways, students came to learn of the power of praise to both enhance and diminish. They learned to recognize when they were being given person praise and to ask for feedback. They learned to see opportunities to praise their peers, building upon surrounding strategies, behaviors, and creative efforts. For instance, one student arrived at class one morning saying, “This stuff really works! I told my mum she had put a lot of effort into cooking dinner for me and that I appreciated it - she cried and gave me a big hug!” While healing relationships may not have been the initial purpose of the program, the implications for improving difficult and fractured relationships can only be imagined. In this instance, the student’s analysis of the situation was, “I think I’m getting a growth mindset!”

My experience with the Brainology program has had so many highlights. There was the student who, in spite of having been previously expelled from school, refused her father’s many attempts to bribe her to return to school only to later enroll herself in her final year of studies, earning a Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) required to pursue further studies in brain science. There was the student whose horribly twisted teeth had been the cause of much bullying and absenteeism, yet through the influence of Mindset, never missed a day. For me, the greatest highlight was actually the year-end presentations made by students, who each wanted their guests to hear about what they had learned: that nobody is born clever, that cleverness comes as a result of making mistakes, and that putting in effort is not supposed to be easy!

Has the Mindset approach had any other ripple effects?

There was an unexpected outcome from the student who had enrolled herself in her VCE to eventually study brain science. I received a phone call from an interstate campus informing me that my former student was attending their school and she had insisted they contact me. She had told them that Mindset and Brainology were the best things she had ever learned and that all students need to learn about their brain, effort and making mistakes. They also told me she was pregnant. My initial thought was disappointment – another statistic. Alas, that was not so. Although pregnant, she had planned a strategy with her teachers to complete her studies during and after the birth of her baby. She was provided with my email address and we continue to share an email relationship. Both her and her partner email questions about their baby’s needs, particularly about their baby’s brain. She has taught her partner about process praise and they are committed to raising their daughter with growth mindset parenting.

 What are your takeaways from Lorraine's experience? Any reflections or recommendations you'd like to share with her or others? Write a comment below.