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Sacred Heart School - Fostering Positive Mindsets In Math
The Teacher Learning and Leadership Program (TLLP) is a project-based system that allows teachers to come together and pursue self-selected professional learning goals by providing them with funding. Each year, educators across the province submit proposals in hopes of being selected as part of the program. Sacred Heart School has been fortunate to have been awarded funding in previous years, and was once again this past 2018-2019 school year. The focus of the current project was in the subject area of Mathematics and was led by Grade 3 teacher, Mrs. Brunetta and included Mr. Schuurman (Gr. 3), Mrs. O’Donovan (Gr.4) and Mrs. Chabbert (Gr.5) as participants.
The group set out to study research based strategies that promoted growth mindsets and positive attitudes towards mathematics. They examined the studies of Jo Boaler, a British education author and Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, consulting her book, “Mathematical Mindsets”, as well as her website, “Youcubed”, for inspiration. Boaler notes that students with fixed mindsets are more likely to give up easily, whereas students with a growth mindset persevere and remain positive about their capabilities even when the math task is difficult.
She goes on to further claim that there is no such thing as a “math brain”, explaining that the brain differences children are born with, are nowhere near as important as the brain growth experiences that they have in life and school. Other research supports Boaler’s theory and has proven that the highest-achieving students in the world are those with a growth mindset. Both of Boaler’s resources were important guides to techniques, vocabulary and activities that the TLLP team could implement within their own math lessons.
As time passed, the teachers could see a huge transformation in how the students within their classrooms approached math with more fearlessness and positivity. They adopted the quote, “In our classroom, mistakes are expected, respected and inspected.” The TLLP team has seen that their students are no longer afraid to make mistakes, as mistakes are valued and demonstrate growth and learning. They are looking forward to continuing this journey with their school community in the years ahead.
Submitted by Marie Brunetta