This week I’m sharing an article that encourages us to examine how our biases directly effect how we teach, grade, discipline, etc.. (Yep. You, me - we all have biases.) You’ll see this article is jam-packed with great ideas to reflect upon by both Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Chris Emdin. This article (link below) mentions briefly ‘deficit-thinking’. Next week we will have some learning together around deficit-thinking versus asset-based/strength-based thinking, so this article will give you a little food for thought before then. www.educationdive.com/news/promoting-growth-mindset-means-checking-biases-at-the-door-experts-say/416134/ “Every single person comes into social spaces with biases, and they're birthed out of stories that you've heard, experiences you may have had and, especially in a media-saturated society, perceptions of other are sort of imbibed and ascribed to us by stories in the media,” said Dr. Chris Emdin. He goes on to say, “Most teachers are trained to say that they don't see race. They wear that on their sleeve as something that they're proud of. When you're trained to give that response, you start to believe that, and when you're enacting these biases, you don't see that as the problem.” Something to think about after you've read the article: "Is the overall culture of the school one that encourages learning and puts the children as authors of that learning, or is it one in which the students are already presented with a deficit narrative that says they are less capable, less intelligent, less valuable to society?" I think it's important that we, as educators, are constantly examining our culture of our school and making sure we are putting our students first and letting them be the "authors of the learning" socially, emotionally, and academically. This is something that is not easily changed overnight; however, as we continue to work and keep this at the front of our minds we will be able to see shifts in our school's (and classroom) culture. “If you do not view a student as having the ability to be academically successful, they will not be able to realize their potential. If you view a student through a deficit lens, they will never fully be actualized,” Emdin continues, “You put a cap on what they can do before they even get the opportunity to show you” what they can do, he said. “I think that's the most dangerous thing, when you see somebody as less than they are, when you put a cap on their potential. … Once you do that enough, you put a cap on their psyche. They start believing that they're not valuable, they believe that they’re deficient, and that's the most detrimental thing to their ability to learn." Will you see your students' abilities in order for them to be successful? Will you realize your students' potential? We have so many opportunities to make each day brighter for our students by acknowledging their strengths, abilities, and potential!
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