Teacher Training missing puzzle piece: A Growth Mindset?

“Despite numerous teacher trainings, teachers still resort to rote learning in their classrooms.”

“Students are expected to memorize textbooks and regurgitate on tests.”

“Critical thinking is not being modeled by teachers; how can we then expect our students to develop this life skill?”

“Our schools lack quality teaching and learning.”

These are all statements echoed by educators. While we are quick to blame the education system and discuss at length the issues surrounding it, there is little discourse around solutions to such problems. “Quality” is a term incessantly used by many but understood by a few. What does quality education mean? What does it mean to have good-quality teachers? What does a classroom of a quality teacher look like? These questions are seldom asked, and the word quality is loosely used by educational stakeholders be it parents, teachers or educational leaders- who themselves struggle to define the term. A barometer that can be used to gauge quality is the way the teacher teaches their students. In Pakistan, a problem among teachers is the issue of teaching that encourages rote learning.

For this teacher training programs that focus on pedagogical practices to improve student engagement and learning are a need of the hour. In a country like Pakistan, one issue in teacher education is the lack of teacher development programs (albeit we have seen growth in teacher development programs over the years- has the teacher quality improved?), dearth of research and evaluation of such programs, and B.Ed programs for professional teachers. This dearth could be a possible reason behind teachers learning but failing to implement their learnings in the classroom. What is the difference between teachers who learn and apply new teaching strategies in their classroom versus those who continue to foster a rote learning environment in their classroom, despite being discouraged to do so in the training they go through? The reason behind this is multifaceted- and a lack of growth mindset in teachers may be one of them. Stanford University professor of Psychology, Carol Dweck, coined the concept of a growth mindset which is a way of thinking where the individual believes that their abilities, qualities, and intelligence can be developed. According to Dweck, this mindset can be shaped and influenced in adulthood because of our brains’ ability to form new connections as it receives new knowledge.

Literature on teacher mindsets (albeit scanty) highlights that the teacher has the power to influence her students by modeling a growth mindset and lifelong learning for them. Growth mindsets are an important part of lifelong learning which teachers need to engage in to develop and implement what they learn from teacher training programs in their classrooms. Teachers with a growth mindset are often more willing to unlearn beliefs that no longer serve them and relearn those that are beneficial to helping them be better teachers.?They persist in the face of setbacks and have a mastery-oriented approach toward learning. These teachers use criticism to improve themselves, seek feedback and accept their mistakes.

For teachers to change their mindset from teaching that encourages rote learning to modeling growth mindsets and lifelong learning and embrace the process long term, is a challenge most Pakistani schools are facing. Teachers with a growth mindset will be excited to try out new pedagogical strategies and reflect on their teaching practices in terms of what worked and what did not.

One-off training does not result in sustained mindset shift because research depicts mindset shift as a long-term process, which means follow-up and continuation of trainings. This then begs the question: How does a sustained change towards a growth mindset occur in teachers? Research supports that when a person’s core beliefs are challenged and they are willing to question these dogmas by unlearning and relearning, there is a sustained change in teaching practices even after three months of conducting the trainings. To help teachers sustain change in their practice, it is important for them to experience a process where they are presented with information that is in direct contraction to their core belief. This results in discomfort. For any change to occur (in this case- a mindset shift), one needs to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. This means being okay with marinating in chaos. This contradiction results in the pursuit of a solution to resolve the inner conflict being experienced which will cause a change in attitude, by either confirming the old belief or embracing the new one. Thus leading to sustained change in ingrained beliefs.

How can teacher trainings help teachers to adopt a growth mindset?

Firstly, the training may have reflective prompts that challenge teachers’ inner voice. For example, the inner voice that tells them “I am not good at this. My colleagues are more adept at technology and I’m just a failure” by thinking “I am not there yet” or “There will be challenges along the way and this is hard, but it’s okay to not be the best or perfect all the time”.

Secondly, through activities, teachers should recognize that they have a plethora of choices to make, they are not perfect. Teacher development programs should encourage teachers to welcome the opportunity to take risks and fail, and try again if it does not work out the first time.

Thirdly, teacher trainers should model a growth mindset and incorporate activities that have an element of teachers giving feedback to each other. This will encourage teachers to be open to feedback and learn to learn from criticism. They will think about their students’ feedback, what’s the truth behind what the students are saying? How can they further improve themselves?

Lastly, training should have reflections from teachers embedded throughout the teacher development programs. Reflection on one’s own teaching practices is essential for awareness of mindset and change in attitude. Changing pedagogical strategies based on mindset shift comes from consistent reflection that helps to grow and improve.

All the stakeholders (teachers, admin, students) in the Pakistani education sector need to adopt more open, growth mindsets which enable them to embrace change. This will make the whole system really look at what counts as quality and then take action based on that.

While there is no silver bullet to fixing the quality of education in Pakistan, teacher training fostering a growth mindset in teachers will enable sustained change in their practices. This desire for continuous improvement is key to becoming a good quality teacher and unlocking the growth mindset- a missing puzzle piece to teacher training.???

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The writer is an Educational Developer managing Faculty Development vertical at the LUMS Learning Institute and has an MPhil in Education Leadership and Management.

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