How to develop leadership

From an article in the current Harvard Education Letter:

More Than IQ

Researchers found just this sort of inner motivation to be a common ingredient among the children they tracked who held leadership posts as early as high school. While there was “a little overlap” between those with the strongest inner motivation and those with top IQ scores, the data showed that stronger motivation trumped higher IQ in winning top roles in clubs. “The motivationally gifted were significantly more likely to be the leaders,” according to Adele Gottfried.

The importance of inner motivation to leadership is not surprising to Carol S. Dweck, psychology professor at Stanford and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. She says the study offers a strong argument for schools “to do things fundamentally differently.”

“We have fallen into a culture that tests and labels—and we need to be creating people who are visionaries, who are risk takers, who know how to adopt a challenge and pursue it over time,” says Dweck.

Dweck says her work shows that those who are encouraged to have a “growth mindset” and find satisfaction in achieving their own intrinsic goals are more likely to persevere and succeed at tough tasks than those who are simply labeled “smart.” And yet both Dweck and Adele Gottfried point out that schools place such heavy emphasis on extrinsic rewards like test scores and classroom prizes that they risk stifling development of students’ inner drive.

When classroom teachers provide a rich variety of experiences and give students choices as they tackle required material, they help students take charge of their own learning, Adele Gottfried adds.

The missing voice

Laura Flores Shaw used to be a school psychologist. She became a Montessori school leader because she wanted to dedicate her life to helping children develop the personal strength and resilience that would make therapy unneeded.

Read her article in the Huffington Post.

The power of "yes"

A recent e-mail from Post Oak parent Deepa Poduval:

Aashna (4 1/2 years old) reminded us of a valuable parenting lesson this weekend and I thought we should share it with you since you will recognize POS' imprint in it!

Aashna's sister, Ashwini, is now 7 months old and has just started to crawl. She has been particularly attracted to the power outlets we have in the floor of our living room for our table lamps. Since she is still relatively unsteady and slow while she tests her new skills, Raj and I have had fair warning when she starts to approach the power outlets and have stopped her before she was able to get too close. We would look her in the eyes and say "No" firmly and repeat it a couple of times (for reinforcement!). Each time, Ashwini would look at us with those big, sparkling eyes, give us a toothless grin and set right off toward the outlet again. This afternoon I was at it again with Ashwini when Aashna walked by, saw us and went running to get Ashwini one of her favorite sqeak toys and held it out in the opposite direction from the power outlet and said "This is Yes!", "This is Yes!". And sure enough - Ashwini abandoned her journey to the power outlet and set off in pursuit of her toy. I'm pretty sure this will not be a permanent solution to Ashwini's fascination with the power outlet but we enjoyed and appreciated watching the way Aashna's mind worked while ours defaulted to saying "No"! Aashna saw the problem and as a Montessori child rushed to the rescue with a simple, yet practical solution - she instinctively offered choices and used the power of the affirmative.

Definitely a testament to her Montessori journey at POS every day!

Deepa

Choice matters

Research-driven school reform. That's what many are calling for.

Shouldn't schools follow practices that are backed-up by research showing what works best?

Erika A. Patall, an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin conducted a study of high school students in 14 different schools. In one group students were assigned work by their teachers. In the other group they studied the same material but were given choices of what work to do. "For example, students in a science class may choose to write a research report or conduct and explain an experiment in front of the class."

Dr. Patall's conclusion? "When students were given choices, they reported feeling more interested in their homework, felt more confident about their homework and they scored higher on their unit tests."

What's not to like about this?

"One of the other things that became very evident was teachers found this study kind of an imposition," Dr. Patall said. "They're not inclined to do this sort of thing, because it's more work for them."

Once again educational research confirms Montessori practice as best practice.

Student engagement

How do schools measure success?

Or perhaps, that is not exactly the question. A related question is, "What makes a good school?"

US News & World Report ranks colleges and universities. It is the ranking survey against which all others are measured, but it does not include any dimension of student experience. That seems like a glaring omission.

Over the past 10 years data has been collected by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) -- an attempt to focus on the student experience. (Want to read the NSSE survey?)
Does student experience matter?

"Teachers can increase engagement by providing more opportunities for student choice and voice in the classroom, and more hands-on activities that allow students to solve interdisciplinary problems, akin to what they will encounter outside of school." -Denise Pope, Stanford University School of Education

It appears that student engagement is an antidote to the kind of student stress portrayed in the film Race to Nowhere. More from the NYT Blogs...