Learner Failure, Progress, and Growth

  Mistakes are the portals of discovery. ~ James Joyce

In Scoop #4, I briefly discussed the Growth Mindset work of Carol Dweck.  She theorizes that people have either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Someone with a fixed mindset believes people have a finite or fixed amount of talent or intelligence that cannot be changed or grow.  Alternatively, someone with a growth mindset believes people can grow their natural talent or intelligence through hard work and effort.  It’s not surprising that people with a growth mindset are shown to be happier and more successful in life. The words we use when talking to our learners greatly affect their mindset and how they respond to challenges.

At AAM, we know that mistakes and failures are essential for learners to develop, test, and strengthen their growth mindset.  Therefore, we neither avoid nor prevent them for the learners.  Rather, we challenge the Eagles to own their mistakes and consider how to learn from them.  

In the article Learning From Mistakes: Helping Kids See the Good Side of Getting Things Wrong, Marilyn Price-Mitchell suggests ten ways to help children and teens learn from their mistakes.  These include acknowledging that you don’t expect perfection and providing examples of your own mistakes and how you grew from them.  Guides at Acton and parents alike can also support Eagles by using growth mindset language when they are facing challenges. 

Phrases to Encourage Growth Mindset
When a child says they can’t do something, reply, “You can’t do it YET.” or “You don’t know it YET.”
“Thinking is like giving your brain a workout.”
“The harder you try, the smarter you become.”
      “Don’t give up!”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Failure = learning” or “If it’s too easy, you’re not learning.”
“You are so hard-working!”  (Instead of, “You are so smart!”)
“I can tell you tried your best on this.”

Because the process of making mistakes and learning from them is paramount at Acton, the way we recognize (not monitor) learner progress looks different.  First and foremost, we look for ‘big small moments’ – times like when an Eagle rises to get help then decides to try again themselves.  Or like the day a younger energetic Eagle reads calmly without distraction for twenty minutes straight.  No quizzes.  No tests.  No grades.  Big small moments that accumulate and, over time, produce strength in competency, community, and character. 

Badges
Recognizing progress is a celebration at Acton. At the end of each session, learners who have completed a series of competencies earn a mastery badge.  Eagles use badges to track learning milestones and to see their work quality improve over time.  To earn a badge, Eagles may present evidence of their “excellent” work to peers, guides, and audiences for approval. Badges form the foundation of a portfolio and can be translated into a traditional transcript for school transfers or college admission.  Later, they can show employers and colleges what an Eagle has accomplished. 

Badges are grouped together for each learning squad (a group of Eagles at similar places on their learning journeys) and form a ‘badge plan’ – the collection of learning outcomes required for each Eagle. Badges offer clear guidelines and examples of the type of work required along with as much learner freedom as possible.  Badges also are designed so that they can be translated in such a way as to cover all the necessary traditional education subjects like math or reading. The modular and open-ended design allows Acton founders to create custom badges for their campuses. 

Several times a year, Eagles review their badge plans and progress in a Journey Meeting with their guide and report to parents.  Goals are discussed and adjusted as the Eagle considers their progress. Parents receive their Eagle’s badge plan when badges are introduced during Session 1.  At Acton, we do not use letter grades nor do we give written progress reports. Eagle progress will be documented through their achievement and mastery of badges in the Core Skills of reading, writing, language arts, and math initially and, eventually, in humanities and science areas. 

Acton Academy Marietta has been fortunate to participate in a beta group for a progress tracking software program. This coming year, all AAM learning squads will have access to this program and the ability to share and celebrate progress with their parents!

Last week, we learned that the ‘why’ of AAM is to provide an environment where learners can develop competency, community, and character.  Cultivating, observing, and celebrating progress in these areas is a tremendous paradigm shift from how we’ve all thought about and experienced learning progress in our lifetimes.  We, as guides and parents, are all learning together through this shift, and need to be kind and thoughtful with ourselves as we make the transition. There are bound to be moments of uncertainty and many questions – we have them, too!  Together, we will navigate our own Hero’s Journeys alongside our Eagles.

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