Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 9

Administrator's Corner resources and materials that inform teachers and students about growth mindset. 5 5 Embed mindset into daily practices, and even your curriculum. Growth Mindset, facilitated through intentional, professional learning can be a great strategy to stimulate reflective practice, intellectual discourse, and new ways to support student performance by identifying time-tested and innovative ways to practice teaching and learning. What’s on your mind? References perseverance and strategic work. An obtained degree, title, or number of years in the classroom doesn't mean that learning stops. Continue to take courses online or in school, attend workshops, or build yourself through independent study of the latest research and best practices. You may even think about developing and presenting PD to your colleagues, if it’s not available in your school. 5 5 Because personal competence is prioritised, these teachers are open to exploring new ways of thinking, and embrace the challenges with a sense of resolve, improving themselves to impact the learning of themselves and others (Cox, 2019). If an individual or groups of students are struggling, or require enrichment, ask yourself, am I research-engaged? Have I read up on strategies to differentiate the instructional process, content and products for my students? Can I articulate and employ best practices for engaging students? Are there professional learning opportunities near me, I can take advantage of, to develop my skill sets? Most importantly, have I decided that any one of my students is incapable of learning at a grade or age appropriate level? If so, have I adjusted my own thinking, and taken action to try something new, believing that everyone has the capacity to grow his or her abilities? 5 5 Teachers with a growth mindset understand the importance of effort, and acquisition. Dweck (2015) reminds educators that a result of effort is also evidence of learning, and improvement in the teacher and the student. By virtue of our profession, most of us have a growth mindset. These teachers work diligently to exhibit tangible evidence that’s demonstrated by their own, and their student’s learning. Use Professional Development as a Tool There are many studies on the benefits of utilising professional development and learning to improve educational practices. However, most professional learning processes are explicit, focused more on content and programs, and less on implicit concepts (Evans, 2019; Evans, 2014), such as mindset. Given the fact that we all have the ability to plan and implement professional development in our schools, we can create opportunities to reflect on what goes on inside an individual's mind, and perhaps adjust “attitudes to, and intellectualisation that underpins the job…encouraging changed values and/or perceptions before hoping to effect productive or processual change” (Evans, 2014). A few ideas for leaders and teachers to focus on in PD include the following: 5 5 Spend time researching mindset to get a comprehensive understanding of the science behind the theory. 5 5 Provide professional learning opportunities for in-service teachers and leaders to promote a growth mindset, and prioritise time for critical reflection and discussion. 5 5 Identify, and adopt one or more of the many online or published Bethge, J. (2018). The power of transformation: A grounded theory study of cultivating teacher growth mindset towards student intelligence (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/ doctoral/1681 Casey, M. (2016). Motivational factors that sustain experienced teachers in high- need, low-performing public Schools: A phenomenological study (Doctoral Dissertations) https://digitalcommons.liberty. edu/doctoral/1310 Clark, A. M., & Sousa, B. J. (2018). Definitively unfinished: Why the growth mindset is vital for educators and academic workplaces. Nurse Education Today, 69, 26-29. doi:10.1016/j. nedt.2018.06.029 Cranton, P., & King, K. P. (2003). Transformative learning as a professional development goal. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2003(98), 31-38. doi:10.1002/ ace.97 Dweck, C. (2015, September 22). Growth mindset, revisited. Education Week, 35(5). Retrieved June 22, 2015 from https://www. edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol- dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset.html Evans, L. (2014). Leadership for professional development and learning: enhancing our understanding of how teachers develop. Cambridge Journal of Education, 44(2), 179- 198. doi:10.1080/0305764X.2013.860083 Evans, L. (2019) Implicit and informal professional development: what it looks like, how it occurs, and why we need to research it. Professional Development in Education, 45(1), 3-16. doi:10.1080/19415257.2018.1441172 Natasha is currently the Founding Principal of an international school in Oman. As an education specialist (Ed.S.), and founder of Key Education Solutions Consulting, she also employs 20 years of experience to engage schools, and families in research-based, best educational practices. Natasha enjoys investing in people, to increase life chances. Class Time Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020 09