Excerpts from 'The Perils and Promises of Praise' by Carol S. Dweck
Educational Leadership
October 2007 | Volume 65 | Number 2 Pages 34-39
“Alfred Binet (1909/1973), the inventor of the IQ test, had a strong ‘growth mind-set’. He believed that education could transform the basic capacity to learn. Far from intending to measure fixed intelligence, he meant his test to be a tool for identifying students who were not profiting from the public school curriculum so that other courses of study could be devised to foster their intellectual growth.”
“I think educators commonly hold two beliefs that . . . (1) praising students' intelligence builds their confidence and motivation to learn, and (2) students' inherent intelligence is the major cause of their achievement in school. Our research has shown that the first belief is false and that the second can be harmful—even for the most competent students.”
“More and more research in psychology and neuroscience supports the ‘growth mind-set’. We are discovering that the brain has more plasticity over time than we ever imagined (Doidge, 2007); that fundamental aspects of intelligence can be enhanced through learning (Sternberg, 2005); and that dedication and persistence in the face of obstacles are key ingredients in outstanding achievement (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, & Hoffman, 2006).”
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ReplyDeleteTo coin a phrase . . .
DeleteDiaskagogy
di•as•ka•go•gy [dee es•kuh goh-jee, -goj-ee]
The child’s quest to satisfy the needs of success/worth, fun/enjoyment, freedom/choice, and belonging/respect/love forms the basis for healthy development and life-long learning. Preschoolers are dependent upon an instructor for acquisition of knowledge. This early learning requires development of factual knowledge, skills, and training. The child must build initial schema by adopting knowledge from the instructor through use of the child’s own senses. This acquisition of knowledge through Visual/Spatial, Musical/Rhythmic, and Bodily Kinesthetic intelligences requires an instructor to demonstrates, manipulate, observe, measure, and modify behavioral change in a specified direction, and to encourage the preschool child to discover that there is no distinction between learning and having fun. Typically, such conditioned responses, memorization of facts, rules, and terminology, is done through stimulation of the senses which is consistent with the Behaviorism of Condillac, 1754/1982, 1756; Itard 1801/1962; and Skinner, 1954. The use of natural consequences, rather than punishment, develops a sense of belonging, freedom, power, and fun that enables the child to make good personal choices, take responsibility for their own actions, and instigate needed personal growth. Young children are vulnerable to self-blame that can results in a sense of helplessness, which diminishes achievement. When adverse events (such as the parent’s displeasure, ridicule of other children, low scores, poor showing in competition, shouting from the caregiver, or the ‘birch rod’) are used rather than positive reinforcement, the results are anxieties, boredom, and aggression rather than reinforced learning. Adults asking questions, (helping children think through problem solving with hands on experiences) develops critical, logical thinking and positive social bonds. Allowing children to solve problems anyway they want, (as long as it does not hurt anyone else), enhances their self-esteem, avoids intimidation, allows for natural consequences, and requires the child to consider multiple possibilities and outcomes. Thereby, developing the child’s own ability to solve problems, to talk to others, to share, to have empathy, and generally to like others. The “teacher” in this scenario is an entertainer. The word for entertainer in Greek is διασκεδάζων (the Latin translation is genius). When combined with the Greek άγω (ago) to "lead," the construed meaning is "to lead the entertainer” and the transliteration from the Greek leads to the word di•as•ka•a•go•gy [dee es•kuh goh-jee, -goj-ee] which could be used to describe Preschool education.
Andragogy
ReplyDeletean•dra•go•gy [an-druh-goh-jee, -goj-ee]
Originally used by Alexander Kapp (a German educator) in 1833, andragogy was developed into a theory of adult education by the American educator Malcolm Knowles. The word comes from the Greek in which andr (ændrə, male genitive would end in -os) means "man" and ago (άγω) means to "lead"; so it literally means "to lead the man". Learning strategies focus on mature learning with a mentor that encourages and enables the mature learner by providing access to appropriate resources and refrains from obtrusive interference.
Heutagogy
heu•ta•go•gy [hyoo-tah-goh-jee, -goj-ee]
The term, attributed to Stewart Hase [Southern Cross University] and Chris Kenyon of Australia, is the study of self-determined learning. The word appears to come from an irregular formation of the Greek words ευρετικός (heurista) meaning to “discover,” εφευρετικός (heuretikos) meaning "inventive," εύρημα (~heuriskein) meaning to "find," and άγω (ago) to "lead"; so it is construed to mean "to lead to invention, discoveries, findings" and consists of learning strategies focused on mature learners where a mentor enables quested learning to allow for modification of existing knowledge and creation of new knowledge.
Pedagogy
ped•a•go•gy [ped-ah-goh-jee, -goj-ee]
The word comes from the Greek παιδαγωγέω (pedagogue); in which παιδί (ped) means "child” and άγω (ago) means "lead"; so it literally means "to lead the child" where an instructor develops conceptual knowledge and manages the content of learning activities. Other relevant roots from Greek include μικρό παιδί or toddler; αγόρι or boy child; κοριτσιών or girl child; μικρό παιδί or young child.
Teleiagogy
tel•e•go•gy [tuh-leuh-goh-jee, -goj-ee]
As an attempt at a politically correctness, avoiding the term "man," the term "teleiagogy" was derived from the Greek "teleios" (which includes the male genitive -os)and translates to English as “mature or full grown, having arrived at an end or objective.” The word comes from the Greek (τέλειος); which is synonymous with "culmination” and (άγω) which means to "lead"; so the literal meaning could be construed as "to lead to culmination" which is an interesting etymology but not consistent with either Kapp or Knowles description of adult education which intends for the adult to move forward, not to end knowledge development.