This month, we speak to Oliver Omotto, a teacher from Kenya, who has used his summer break productively and focused on the language he uses in his classroom.
Our Teach2030 Growth Mindset course aims to create a classroom culture where students are encouraged to work cooperatively and collaboratively. Here at Teach2030, we believe students should be prepared to take intellectual risks and ownership of their own learning, whilst being open to new ideas and challenges.
Oliver explains that from the course, he has learnt the difference between ability and attainment. He discusses how this learning has impacted the feedback he provides to his students in his classroom:
Now, I encourage my learners to develop an “I can do it” attitude in all they do.
I focus more on strategies of how to raise learner attainment, rather than grouping learners according to their abilities and limiting them from learning. I will not praise learners for their intelligence, and other God-given abilities, rather mention how they can improve next time and mention exactly what task they performed well.
I really had to reflect on the wordings I use when giving feedback to my learners and whether that was meaningful or just waste of lesson time.
All our Teach2030 courses encourage teachers to develop an action plan. An action plan outlines what has been learnt during professional development support, and the activities that have been completed. It is really helpful to measure your own progress as a teacher and learner yourself. After completing the Growth Mindset course, Phionah Natukunda, a teacher from Uganda sent his:
For Oliver, the impact of the action plan has revolutionised his classroom and we celebrate his initiative. He now encourages his students to complete a student friendly version of their own action plan, so that they can take ownership of their learning:
I created worksheets that learners used for target setting and action plans at the start of the term.
I encouraged learners to use their action plan and targets, which really helped them to reflect on their performance and improve on their academics.
Learners became more reflective of their learning and more aware of how their attitudes affected their performance and progress in school.
When we asked Oliver for his final thoughts on the impact of the Growth Mindset course, he said:
My learners have a more optimistic outlook on things and overall performance has improved, as they take challenges more positively.
To take the course, visit Growth Mindsets for Teachers and Learners: Part 1.
What impact have our Teach2030 courses had in your classroom?
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