The Importance of Trying

Through the VSB I’m invovled in a series of workshops on Assessment For Learning, hosted by Linda and Judy.  We’ve had two sessions so far, and both times the importance of having a Growth Mindset has been highlighted.  The ideas and thoughts behind a growth mindset are compelling, and have motivated me to sharing this concept with my students.  Joined with the concept of mindset is the idea that we need to foster grit and perseverance within our students.  This idea was brought forward in our workshop through the work of Paul Tough.

As luck would have it, I just read a blog post by Grant Wiggins which touches on this topic.  It’s a bit of a long read, but I like his overall point which I took as being that grit and character may not be enough in the face of bad curricula, thoughtlessness and bad pedagogy.  With this, we see a circle of learning: what we teach is also a part of what we learn.  Not only is it important for educators to instill a growth mindset and grit within our students, we also need to do the same for ourselves.  In order for us grow as professionals, we should endeavour to have our own grit and character and to carefully and thoughtfully change and improve our educational communities.   Accordingly, it’s important that this discussion continues and expands out from workshops and pro-d sessions.