The Growth Mindset Playbook Chapter 6 Reflection

Chapter 6 in The Growth Mindset Playbook was all about shaming and how it leads to a Fixed Mindset. Everyone at some point in their life has experienced some form of shame and may have even contributed to shaming. It is a natural thing in humans and sometimes we don't even realize when shame is at play. The point of this chapter, however, is to help recognize shame and how it can lead to a Fixed Mindset in students and anyone in general. When one feels ashamed, they typically end up feeling unwanted, unloved, or incapable, whether that be for just the time when the event happened or long term. Recognizing when someone feels ashamed and meeting them with empathy is key to help eliminate the Fixed Mindsets that shaming generates in students. Many teachers may not realize that they are using shame-inducing tactics in their classroom such as yelling out loud at a misbehaving student or a card chart where students flip when they misbehave. These and other tactics result in the student feeling ashamed, whether that be in front of the entire class or just ashamed of themselves. These types of things are a pathway to developing Fixed Mindsets within students where they believe that they are "bad kids" and "aren't capable of anything," which is not the kind of mindset you want to have in a classroom. This chapter provides many examples of outward shaming that lead to Fixed Mindsets within the students. It mentions the story of Miranda Larkin at Oakleaf High School who was forced to wear "an oversized bright yellow shirt with the words "DRESS CODE VIOLATION" emblazoned on the front in large, black letters" (Brock and Hundley, The Growth Mindset Playbook, Chapter 6, Page 80). In the case of this mentioned scenario, the student was publicly humiliated for not following the rules. This is a clear example of the use of shame and how it promotes an unwanted Fixed Mindset. The chapter provides a few other general examples of shame, such as making a student read a text message sent during class out loud, writing one's name on the board for talking out of turn, or announcing how many students failed a test. These and other examples promote Fixed Mindsets, and these ways of shaming must be combated and instead approached with empathy in order to promote Growth Mindsets.

In order to promote a more Growth Mindset in students, as this book suggests, is to combat shame. This can be done by not outwardly calling out a student for misbehavior. In the scenario of misbehavior, one should have a one-on-one talk with the student about what they have done wrong and how they can improve. As well, you need to see the problem from the student's point of view and approach it with empathy. Doing this will prevent outward shame and will diminish Fixed Mindsets produced by shaming. Empathizing with the student will not only be more effective than shaming, but it also shows how much you care about them. When this chapter explains some scenarios with Do's and Don'ts, many of the Do's include providing students with either one-on-one communication about the issue or effective feedback in some way (Page 83). 

This chapter also mentions the difference between an Engaged Student and a Disengaged Student. A Disengaged Student, or one that does not communicate, participate, or puts forth much effort, may have those actions because of feeling ashamed. In this scenario, it is important to recognize when shame comes about in the classroom and combat it when it does, especially for these students. Therefore, "work to help the student overcome shame through offering empathy" (Page 87). 

I appreciate how this chapter provides many examples of "Do's and Don'ts" when it comes to dealing with misbehavior in the classroom. I think this chapter provides a plethora of examples that almost any classroom can experience and solutions to them that don't involve shaming the student. Putting these in table form also keeps it well-organized and readable in this chapter. After reading the charts, however, I notice a trend that shaming emerges when a student misbehaves in some way shape or form, and they are outwardly put-down because of it in some way. All of these have the same solutions of having one-on-one communications with the students and approaching the situations with empathy. As Chapter 2 of The Growth Mindset Playbook even mentions, you need to build positive relationships with your students, and combatting shame with empathy can definitely improve that. Empathy leads to understanding which leads to better relationships with students and having an empathetic personality helps one to not contribute to shaming students when they have done wrong.