Nurturing
Confidence
"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship."
-Amy in Little Women (Alcott, 1868, p.274)
Eskelä-Haapanen, Vasalampi, and Lerkkanen conducted a study in Finland that “examines primary school students’ expectations and concerns prior to their transition” and “how concerns before the school transition are associated with the students’ levels of school burnout and self-esteem” post transition (2020, p. 1252-1253). Many students seemed excited about meeting new teachers, finding a new home in high school, and having a fresh start. Just as many (and maybe even the same students) expressed trepidation about a new environment, new faces, and new social expectations.
However, the authors’ research also shows students of all genders and academic backgrounds experience a “reduction in both intrinsic motivation and student engagement” as the transition causes a sort of cognitive dissonance for students (2020, p. 1253). Students entering grade 8 are shifting from being the eldest and the leaders in the school to being the youngest and most inexperienced members of the school community.
One’s self-perception greatly impacts one’s ability to adapt to new environments; if we see ourselves as changeable or as needing change when we move to a new social space, we risk abandoning our true essence and, in turn, creating an identity predicated more on social acceptance rather than personal fulfillment.
Key insights to be extracted from this study are that “primary school students who reported concerns about peer relations also reported significantly more exhaustion than students who did not report concerns about peer relations” and “girls reported significantly more exhaustion than boys” did post-transition to high school (2020, p.1260).
Pathway 1: A Growth Mindset
Michaelides and Durkee’s study, “Self-Regulation versus Self-Discipline in Predicting Achievement: a Replication Study with Secondary Data,” affirms that self-regulation plays a more predictive role in one’s achievement than self-discipline does (2021). A self-disciplined learner tends to be focused on successful performance outcomes, while a self-regulated learner is better equipped to deal with a setback, maximize learning opportunities, and, ultimately, develop a growth mindset. The below strategy ideas aim to help students gain confidence in themselves and their abilities by developing a growth mindset towards their learning.
Strategy: Creating “Low Stakes Islands”
Rationale:
In his compelling Ted Talk, Eduardo Briceno promotes spending more time goal setting in the Learning Zone to maximize growth and future performance; if we create “low stakes islands” in this zone, we can aspire towards a goal with the security in knowing that if a mistake were to happen, the cost would not be disastrous.
Watch Briceno's Ted Talk here:
Classroom Application:
1) Find out what students are currently able to do before determining the stakes.
For example, a common goal in grade 8 is to have students become able to compose an essay. Start the year with a free write topic to allow students to show you their current writing skills; ask them to include their 'planning' page! In some classrooms, the starting point for essay writing may very well be 'how to brainstorm ideas' while in others it could be writing effective thesis statements. Find out what skill to start with and let students practice that skill without pressure (i.e. 'low stake' of a completion mark and teacher feedback) so they can build their confidence before entering a higher stakes situation.
2) Allow for students to choose what is worthy of a 'higher stakes' submission.
For example, students could engage in weekly creative writing tasks that are low stakes in that they receive feedback from the teacher or peers, but no actual grade. Then, at the end of the unit, have students self select their favourite pieces for refinement. In this way, students must act as their own judge, reflect on their own work, and engage in an editing process to submit something they are proud of.
Example Creative Writing Portfolio: English 8 Portfolio and Summative Good Copy Assignment
3) Create informal opportunities to practice key skills.
Oral presentations about projects can be a daunting hurdle for some students to overcome; they may worry about making a mistake or embarrassing themselves in front of peers. Creating opportunities for students to practice their oral speaking skills in a less stressful way can help ease this anxiety.
For example, playing class games such as "Sell Me This" in which students can practice their persuasion skills (critical to many written and oral tasks in English and Social Studies classes!) or role-playing scenes from a class novel or situations from a historical period. These types of informal and creative presentation opportunities can enhance student comfort and alleviate their trepidation about presenting their own work in front of their peers.
"For positive development to occur, adolescents need safe and supportive environments in which to practice their independence from adults” and “to imagine who they could become” (Schunk, 2014, p. 3).
Pathway 2: Goal Setting
The goal setting process—which can co-occur with PBL or exist independently—can foster a growth mindset when larger goals are chunked into smaller more manageable ones, self-reflection is explicitly taught, and self-autonomy is nurtured. Although “dissatisfaction [with a goal] can lead to quitting,” this is less likely to occur if students learn through self-reflection that we are allowed to adapt our strategies or seek help—in fact, this is an instrumental part of the journey! (Schunk, 2001, p. 2). The goal-setting process helps students build resilience and learn to embrace responsibility, in turn bolstering their self-confidence.
Strategy: Subdividing Goals
Rationale:
Since short-term goals are more readily achieved, they can “result in higher motivation and better self-regulation” (Schunk, 2001, p.3). Increased motivation helps spur a growth mindset and a student's sense of confidence in themselves and their capacity. However, it is always important to keep the 'bigger picture' in mind and that's where maintaining a distal goal is still important.
Classroom Application
1) Goal-Setting Ladder.: A goal-setting ladder provides a simple but effective visual for students to better envision the smaller goals they need to meet in order to achieve their eventual distal goal. This type of activity could serve as a cover page for a specific subject in their binders or, depending on the comfort level of the class, as part of a Ladder Wall--everyone's goal ladders would be displayed and the teacher can visually track everyone's progress by colouring in a large thermometer as small proximal goals are achieved (thereby raising the level of mercury in the thermometer). Teacher tracking could also be done privately as well, but the thermometer could still serve as a positive reinforcement of students' resilience and dedication; it would be at the teacher's discretion to affix a 'class reward' if a certain height is reached.
2) Goal Setting Ladder Revised. This type of goal-setting ladder is a model introduce by Dr. Ben Tyler and it perceives of goal setting as a 3 step ladder where you first identify your goal, specify the behaviours you must begin to achieve that goal, and then consider the supports you require to enable the behavioural change. More information can be found at the link to his book or this short summary video about this type of ladder.
3) Vision Board Activities: This activity can be done at the beginning or the end of a school year as it can serve as both a planning tool and a reflective task. If completed at the end of a school year (or a semester), an "End of Year One Pager" assignment can work well as a summative task in June that enables both self-reflection and forward thinking.
4) My Future Resume: Creating a future resume for themselves allows students to envision their own futures without limitations which can be inspiring and fun. Completing the resume allows them to consider the steps required to get to their ideal distal goal, a process that--with teacher guidance--can serve as a learning opportunity and a motivational moment.
Strategy: Self-Evaluation
Rationale:
Teachers and families can help students cultivate an awareness that some goals “together cause conflict” by practicing self-reflection, building "self-evaluative capabilities," and teaching “strategies for coping with difficulties” (Schunk, 2001, p. 4). If time is spent on explicitly teaching the goal-setting process
Classroom Application
1) Guided Release: Creating a classroom goal as a class for the first term could be a great way for the teacher to model the goal-setting process, how to use the SMART planning template, and how to create a monitoring tool to track progress. During the first term, students could engage in self-reflection, revision, questioning, and self-evaluation as a team with teacher guidance before embarking on the process themselves independently the following term.
2) Thought Clouds: Being able to self-evaluate one's progress towards a goal is a critical piece of the self-regulated learning process. Having students complete a thought cloud is a quick and simple way for them (and their teachers) to check in with them about how they feel they're doing. Given the simplicity of the task, it can serve even as an exit slip every few classes and allow teachers to gain insights that may otherwise not be gathered until the end of a unit.
3) Positive Self-Talk: As Pintrich notes, “one of the ways in which people can regulate self-efficacy is to make comparisons not to other students, but to their own performance, and to focus on mastery of the material rather than on competing with others” (1995, p.6). Positive self-talk can help sustain motivation and encourage students to create their own personal standards for success. Rather than an activity, positive self-talk is a behaviour that should be modelled to students and encouraged through the goal-setting process.
“When people believe their basic qualities can be developed, failures may still hurt, but failures don’t define them. And if abilities can be expanded—if change and growth are possible—then there are still many paths to success”
(Dweck, 2007, p.39)