Attitude: The source of the problem and the source of the solution
Making adjustments. (A woman working on a "Vengeance" dive bomber, Tennessee, 1943. Source: Library of Congress)
A teacher expressed dismay that the majority of her students failed their final exams in both of her classes. She talked about all of strategies she had used to ensure her students’ success, helping them to learn the material and build a growth mindset. She couldn’t figure out what she was doing wrong.
But there it was, in the middle of the wall of text she shared in the teachers’ forum online:
“They are the laziest, least capable group I’ve ever worked with.”
This statement gives many clues as to what could be contributing to the problem.
Such is the power of a teacher in the classroom that her expectations create her reality — and this teacher’s expectations are low.
Her students can tell what she thinks of them and are less likely to rise to the occasion to work hard for her.
The labels she is using may leading her to think of laziness as a permanent state of being rather than a symptom of distress, causing her to stop seeking solutions to the problems she’s encountering.
She’s thinking of the students as a single entity instead of making space to acknowledge and deal with individual needs.
The patterns of thought that this teacher is experiencing are common, which is why I’m able to spot them. I write about them all the time and coach teachers on them. In one sentence, this teacher revealed the source of her difficulty, and also the way forward: It’s all about attitude.
Changing our attitudes is not easy. Part of the reason is that we can’t see ourselves clearly — just as our own eye can’t perceive itself, it’s hard to perceive our attitudes from the same place those attitudes were generated! And shifting those attitudes requires changing our habits, which, as we’ve discussed before, is really tough.
However, this teacher is already on the right track. Because even though sharing negativity can be destructive, it can also be the opposite: A cry for help.
By having the courage to reach out and share her struggle with colleagues, this teacher is laying the groundwork for her own growth. Simply taking the time to write and reflect on her work as a teacher is a positive step — but asking for support is even better.
Our attitudes leave clues. And just as teachers can clear up misunderstandings for their students based on the clues they see, our mentors and coaches can uncover these clues and guide our transformation accordingly. They can hold up a mirror to make our patterns visible to us while offering kindness and empathy as we deal with the discomfort of it.
I hope this teacher is able to make the shift toward what Benjamin and Ros Zander call “being the board,” in which we take responsibility for the game we are playing not by seeking the vantage point of a pawn or a queen but of the actual board we are playing on. In doing so, she’ll be setting a great example for her students. Maybe she will begin to see a shift in their attitudes. Perhaps they’ll become more receptive to guidance or even seek it out. I hope she is able to dramatically improve outcomes for her students as a result — and also have more fun along the way.
And I hope she always has people to talk to.