Soundtrack: EL-P - Flyentology
At the core of Microsoft, a three-trillion-dollar hardware and software company, lies a kind of social poison — an ill-defined, cult-like pseudo-scientific concept called 'The Growth Mindset" that drives company decision-making in everything from how products are sold, to how your on-the-job performance is judged.
I am
Spooky stuff that helps explain a lot of the dysfunction flowing out from Microsoft.
My wife, as a teacher and educational psychologist, is honestly shocked that Growth Mindset’s bullshit has moved out of education and into business; it’s been responsible for removing classes that are streamed by ability and replacing them with things like tormenting low-achieving students by telling them they can achieve if they just try harder, and torturing high-achieving students by making them into unpaid teacher aids instead of extending them.
You, gentle reader, may be more shocked and angry at her news that some schools are adopting Agile, where they spend several hours every two weeks in retrospectives and planning what they’ll teach for the following two week sprint, with no long term plan for the children.
You mean does a solution exist? Yes. Experienced teachers with the right resources and support structures can reach kids where they are and help struggling students make great strides.
My wife, as a teacher and educational psychologist, is honestly shocked that Growth Mindset’s bullshit has moved out of education and into business; it’s been responsible for removing classes that are streamed by ability and replacing them with things like tormenting low-achieving students by telling them they can achieve if they just try harder, and torturing high-achieving students by making them into unpaid teacher aids instead of extending them.
You, gentle reader, may be more shocked and angry at her news that some schools are adopting Agile, where they spend several hours every two weeks in retrospectives and planning what they’ll teach for the following two week sprint, with no long term plan for the children.
Edit: “Here’s four links, have at them.”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Agile in schools.
Is there a solution for helping the low-achieving kids?
You mean does a solution exist? Yes. Experienced teachers with the right resources and support structures can reach kids where they are and help struggling students make great strides.
Maybe, but it involves paying more for teachers.