Confidence is an important driver of risk, effort, and success. Consider the words of Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Confidence can give us courage to try, try again when we fail and prevail until we succeed. On the other hand, self-doubt can rob us of the desire to even try, lead us to quit when things don’t go right, and prevent us from enjoying the success of which we are capable.
Confidence, obviously, also plays an important role in learning. When students are confident, they are more likely to take on difficult learning challenges, look for better strategies and approaches when they struggle, and prevail in their learning efforts.
Of course, some students come to us with histories of easy, successful learning and have grown to see learning as an easy challenge. Others may feel confident in their learning because they have a history of overcoming the learning challenges they have faced. But many students come to us with learning histories that are not as positive and filled with success. As a result, they are reluctant to take on difficult learning tasks and are quick to quit when they struggle or experience setbacks. These students especially need our guidance, support, and coaching. Still, all students can benefit from practices and strategies that build and reinforce their confidence. Let’s examine eight steps we can take to help our students develop and maintain their confidence.
Be confident and prepared. When we know what we are doing, are confident in our approach, and minimize stumbles, confusion, and uncertainty in our instruction, students feel more confident in the tasks we present. Learning is difficult enough. We do not want to make it harder by having to correct ourselves, unravel unnecessary confusion, or fill in gaps we overlooked.
Give students a head start on their learning. Share multiple strategies, tools, and hints related to the learning students will encounter. Give students opportunities to practice using the strategies for success with familiar and less challenging aspects of upcoming learning tasks before engaging students in more difficult learning challenges.
Calibrate learning challenges to match the leading edge of readiness. Confidence grows when students face and overcome challenges. Tasks that are too easy can lead to lack of focus and boredom, but work that is too hard fosters defeatism and avoidance. The best learning challenges require students to build on past learning and use skills they already have while stretching their thinking and pushing their skills to the next level. Often referred to as the Zone of Proximal Development, or ZPD, learning just beyond where students are generates competence and confidence.
Anticipate and normalize struggle. When possible, avoid having students be surprised by having to struggle. Warn students of areas where they may have to slow down, focus, and grind before they will succeed. Describing the experiences of past students (without identifying those individuals, obviously) and how they succeeded can reduce anxiety and make struggling feel expected and seem normal.
Design tight feedback loops. Monitor initial learning efforts and provide coaching, correction, and reteaching before students become confused, frustrated, and lose the confidence they have. Check in throughout practice and application activities to ensure that students grasp key concepts and are using effective techniques.
Share your confidence and commitment. Students want assurance that we believe they will succeed. When we combine our confidence with our commitment to walk beside students as they learn, and support them until they succeed, students are more likely to feel confident and take learning risks.
Offer ample praise and encouragement. Watch for and reaffirm positive steps, progress, and success as often as possible. Be specific, descriptive, and authentic. Go beyond “good job” and tell students what you notice—and why it’s important. Provide details that add substance and meaning. Be sure to focus on efforts, elements, and aspects over which students have control. Praising innate intelligence, physical characteristics, and external factors does little to build confidence.
Emphasize the “long view” of learning. Remind students that learning will have its ups and downs and that some learning challenges will be easier than others. What is most important is what they are learning about themselves and the experiences they gain that help them to become skilled learners. Not everything they learn will remain important, but what they learn about learning will always be relevant.
Confidence can be fragile. Even the most confident students can become uncertain and anxious whey they hit a rough spot in their learning. We may assume that confident students will be able to weather difficult experiences. However, consistently building and reinforcing confidence is a practice that is good for all.
