At some point in our preparation to become teachers, we all probably came across studies showing the power of teacher beliefs and expectations on student learning. “Pygmalion in the Classroom,” the best known of these studies, demonstrated that steps as simple as telling teachers that a selected set of students had the capacity to succeed at higher levels led to remarkably higher performance.
The fact is that what we believe about students drives our expectations, influences our interactions, and effects how well students learn. Of course, this is great news when we perceive our students as having high potential and the ability to succeed with our help. We expect them to do well, we press and support them to excel, and we refuse to accept less than high quality effort and work.
However, the opposite also is true—often to devastating effect. When we are assigned students whose past performance has not been strong, we work in an environment where student achievement historically has been low, or our students come from families that do not have a history of support and successful experience with formal education, it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing that our students are not capable of performing at high levels. We can begin to negatively adjust our expectations, modify our approach, and accept lower levels of effort and learning. Unfortunately, with lower expectations often comes less depth of content, slower pace of instruction and learning, less engaging learning experiences, and more reliance on remediation.
Meanwhile, when we lower our expectations, students respond predictably by lowering their expectations of themselves, lessening the effort they give, and accepting results that reflect lower levels of learning. Sadly, the process can be subtle and gradual, often spread over time. As a result, we may not even realize how our expectations and approaches have changed. Meanwhile, we may hear reinforcing messages that imply that we should not expect more, that the results we are seeing are predictable, and that efforts to shift outcomes are not likely to be worth the effort.
Yet, the truth is that past performance, family history, and other demographic factors do not have to predict the learning potential or performance of students. The good—and bad—news is that we are the key to changing what has been to what could be. Consequently, to change the situation, we need to start with ourselves and what we believe about our learners and learning. Consider these five places to guide your self-reflection:
Assumptions: What assumptions are you making that may limit your perspective on the potential students possess? What would happen if you reversed limiting assumptions and replaced them with the belief that your students have high potential and that you are the one to change their potential into performance? What if you assumed that you are the one to change what has been true in the past to what could be true in the future?
Expectations: How might your expectations change if you saw your students as having exceptional potential that has been ignored or overlooked? How would your approach change if you refused to believe that your students are not capable of learning at high levels? What if you began to treat your students as though they are yet-to-be-discovered gifted learners?
Relationships: How could you encourage your students to see you as the “guide on their side” rather than the person who tells them what they have to do? How might your relationship with students change if they experience you as their success advocate and coach? What if students understood that you see more potential in them than they see in themselves?
Flexibility: How can you demonstrate your commitment to your students finding a way to succeed no matter what? What if you committed to finding what works for your students, regardless of what you need to learn or how flexible you need to be?
Voice: What might happen if you committed to explore your students’ hopes, uncover their strengths, empower them to make significant learning choices, and begin to own their learning? How might your students’ effort and commitment change when they see learning as something that has value to them and is not just something they do to satisfy adults? What if you started listening deeply to students?
Resilience: How can you commit to seeing your students succeed, regardless of how they have performed in the past, their reluctance to believe in themselves, or the distance they still need to travel to experience success? How can you consistently communicate and demonstrate to your students that you will not give up on them? What if you told them that you know that they can do better, and you are committed to helping them to believe and show the world that you and they are right?
Admittedly, there are factors beyond our beliefs, expectations, and advocacy that have an impact on student success. However, none of them pack more power, are more under our control, or hold more long-term potential than our commitment to seeing our students succeed.
