it is called “anxiety reappraisal” (Khazan,
2016). For example, Alison Wood Brooks,
at Harvard Business School, asked college
students to either say “I’m anxious” or “I’m
excited” prior to signing, giving a speech and
taking a math test. Those students that said
“I’m excited” were seen as more persuasive,
confident, persistent and performed bet-
ter on the math test. According to Brooks,
while the underlying anxiety was the same
for each group, the improved performance
came about by “putting people in an ‘oppor-
tunity mindset,’ with a focus on all the good
things that can happen if you do well, as op-
posed to a ‘threat mindset,’ which dwells on
all the consequences of performing poorly.”
Close
When reflecting on your class, if you are
experiencing high rates of problem behavior
whether as a class, groups of kids or individ-
uals, you may have an engagement problem.
Consider taking a moment to ask yourself
how your students would answer these four
questions.
• Do I belong?
• Does this matter to me?
• Do I have control?
• Is this a threat or an opportunity?
If they don’t feel a sense of belonging to
your class, you should expect a lot of anx-
ious, problematic behavior and little interest
in learning, as they are focused on manag-
ing the impressions of those around him/
her. Additionally, until they understand why
the material is relevant to their lives and that
their actions will determine success or fail-
ure ,there is little hope they will be inclined
to put in the effort necessary to change the
path they are on. Finally, whether they per-
ceive the task at hand as a threat or as an op-
portunity is going to guide their focus, either
to giving their best effort or not making a
mistake.
Motivating a diverse population of stu-
dents is no easy task. Yet, it is something we
do every day as educators. The exciting thing
about mindset research and the engagement
equation is it provides a research base and
pathway to be deliberate about our efforts. The
goal of the engagement equation is to provide
a framework of the critical mental pathways
students resolve before they can consistently
access the executive functioning skills that
lead to the curious, engaged, disciplined, risk-
taking and resilient students of our dreams.
What is exciting about the growing body of
mindset research is there are a number of brief
and simple (but not easy) interventions that
can be incorporated into current instructional
practices to have a long-lasting and meaning-
ful impact on our students.
References:
Cialdini, R. B. (2016). Pre-suasion: A
revolutionary way to influence and persuade.
New York: Simon & Schuster
Dweck, Carol S.. Mindset: The New Psy-
chology of Success. New York : Ballantine
Books, 2008.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological
safety and learning behavior in work teams.
Administrative Science Quarterly. 44.2 p.
350-384.
Education Week Researcher Center
(2014). ENGAGING STUDENTS FOR
SUCCESS. Retrieved from: https://www.
edweek.org/media /ewrc_engagingstu-
dents_2014.pdf
Haidt, J. (2012). The righteous mind:
Why good people are divided by politics and
religion. New York: Pantheon Books.
Hulleman, C. S., & Harackiewicz, J. M.
(2009). Promoting interest and performance
in high school science classes. Science, 326,
1410-1412.
Khazan, O. (2016). Can Three Words
Turn Anxiety Into Success? The Atlantic.
Retrieved from: https://www.theatlantic.
com/health/archive/2016/03/can-three-
words-turn-anxiety-into-success/474909/
Romero, C (2015). What We Know
About Purpose & Relevance. Retrieved
from: http://mindsetscholarsnetwork.org/
wp-content/uploads/2015/09/What-We-
Know-About-Purpose-and-Relevance-.pdf
Walton, G.M., Cohen, G.L., Cwir, D.
Spencer, S.J. (2012). Mere Belonging: the
power of social connections. Journal of Per-
sonal Social Psychology. 102 (3). P 513-532.
doi: 10.1037/a0025731
Dr. Dustin Bindreiff has spent 20 years
serving youth in need as a mentor,
educator and administrator.
November | December 2018
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