Reflection

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be
necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise
from, how you can still come out of it.
Maya Angelou

Where I Started

This journey began at a tumultuous time in my educational career. I had jumped
into a position at a new school in a new grade level with a lot of uncertainty about what I
was doing or what the school would be like. Now, two years later, I feel that I am a
stronger teacher and a leader at Explorer thanks to the support and push from being a
part of the graduate school and completing action research.
When my research I was asking why some students believe themselves to be
incapable of learning math. I have always been interested in math education; mostly
because its a subject area that I find intriguing. To me, math is a puzzle, but one that
can be solved. I love the moment when a complex problem Ive been deciphering
becomes clear and I can take the last few steps to find the solution. As a teacher, I want
students to see the magic in that moment. What Im up against though is students who
are saying, math is too hard, its not my thing, or Im just not good at it. Math does have
mystery to it, but its not an unsolvable mystery, its one that students and teachers can
unravel together. I wanted to understand where students poor attitude about math was
coming from and how I could help them change it. A colleague pointed me in the
direction of Mindset by Carol Dweck (2006) and it guided my research from that moment
on.
As I began to research, I read in Switch by Chip and Dan Heath about solutions-
focused therapy (2010). I realized that like some therapists, I was looking for the source
of the problem, when what would really benefit my students was to look for solutions to
the problem. My question evolved to asking how I could work with families and students
to encourage a growth mindset. I included families, because my theory was that many of
the attitudes students express around certain areas, like math, were coming from
parents expressing those opinions. While I still think that families have a significant
influence on their childrens mindsets, my research taught me that it is much more
complex than that.
Writing the literature review was both exciting and daunting. There was so much
information that I wanted to read and just not enough time to take it all in. I often found
myself lost in the research vortex where I would read, save and bookmark article after
article, hoping to find the perfect piece or words that would answer the questions I was
asking. What I ended up with was a very complicated mind map and a bit of a headache.
I wanted to find something that would tell me what to do to improve the mindsets of my
students. I found several helpful hints, but nothing came right out and told me what to
do. The closest to a how to was Mindsets in the Classroom, which was a great
resource of ideas for my work (Ricci, 2013).
For me, the research never really stopped. I was always finding new journals or
books that added to my understanding of mindsets. I think that the research aspect for
me will continue long beyond my thesis. The process opened my eyes to a whole world
of information that I had not seen before. I find myself reading and sharing others work
regularly now and the exposure is improving my teaching.

The Journey

Once I actually had the students in front of me who would be the subjects of my
research, everything changed. No longer was I imagining a hypothetical class with
potential fixed mindsets, instead they were sitting at their desks, eyes wide and ready to
begin their fifth grade year. I had asked the fourth grade teachers to pass on some
students with fixed mindsets, and they delivered. Steven, who I mentioned throughout
the study, was the most fixed mindset student of the group. I wanted more for him than
just a better attitude about schoolwork, for him I wanted a better attitude about himself.
He was so down on himself that he failed to see the wonderful qualities that he
possesses. As I began the action for my research, I found myself looking to him to see
how he reacted. Every time he had a success, we celebrated it and I felt a renewed
sense of purpose in the research. If all I did in the study was instill him with a bit more
confidence, then the research was a success for me.
The surveys, focus groups and class discussions also opened my eyes to the
many students with a growth mindset. They showed insight and honest self-reflection.
They embodied the growth mindset in their words and actions. They articulated their
goals and beliefs so clearly, while also sharing honestly about their feelings around
success and peers. If it hadnt been for the research, we probably wouldnt have had the
conversations about their mindsets and learning. It made me regret that I hadnt asked
those questions before to help me know and support my students better.
Based on what I heard my students say about how they felt about mistakes,
intelligence and the effect of their peers on those things, I knew that my question needed
to evolve again. In its final transformation, my question became: how can teachers work
with students and families to build a classroom culture that encourages a growth
mindset?
The time spent gaining insight about my students and watching them change as
a result of work I had done, those were the moments when I was thankful for my action
research. The times I was less thankful, well, those times usually involved Excel.
Coming back to school was not as easy as I had hoped. I spent more time looking up
how to write APA citations than I did in four years of college. I analyzed data, tried to
create graphs, Googled how to create graphs, and then tried again. I changed the font of
my writing four times in six separate documents. There were many times where I
thought, Ive done the research, took the actions, collected data, do I really need to write
it all down in a book?
Yet, despite the pain of revising, editing and formatting, I found myself finding
new insight each time I reread my work. Even in writing this today I looked back at a
transcript of a focus group and found a quote that struck me that I hadnt noticed before.
While revising my literature review, a question from my advisor pushed me to look for
more opinions on mindsets and led me to two fascinating articles. So, even the parts that
challenged and frustrated me led to a more thorough understanding.

What Would I Do Differently?

Here is a brief guide for other potential action researchers, and perhaps for
myself if I decide to take action research on again in the future.

Keep track of where you read things. The mind maps on Mindmeister were
incredibly helpful and I wish I had started using them sooner. I also wish I had
organized the piles of articles so when I wanted to come back to that one that
had the really perfect quote, I could find it.
Analyze data as you collect it. I learned a lot from reading through data, but if
I had created graphs or charts sooner, I would have noticed patterns sooner.
I also would have had less work to do later on.
Be consistent. I gave students these wonderful journals that I bought
specifically for mindset reflections, but I often forgot to utilize them. Taking
more time to journal would have benefitted my research my students.
Keep reading and improving, but know that there has to come a point where
its good enough to submit. I feel I missed out on some great feedback
because I wanted my writing to be polished before I shared it with anyone. If I
had simply shared the working draft, I think I would have still received helpful
feedback and no one would have judged me if I didnt always use complete
sentences or my writing wandered.
Talk about frustrations in a productive way. I think there is a time and place
for simply venting, but a conversation is much more productive. Bring
troubles to someone who can help you find a path past the troubles and into
a productive place.

As in a growth mindset, I should learn from my mistakes, and hopefully someone else
will too.

Looking Forward

Looking forward to next school year, I am planning to repeat many of the
activities I did this year to teach students about their brains and mindsets. In addition, I
hope to continue to have conversations with my students about their learning so that I
can better meet their needs. Some questions that I am wondering about are:

How do I help students realize that learning is not a race? What will
encourage students to take their time to do thoughtful work rather than aiming
to be the first person done?
What is the definition of smart for my students? What should it be? Should we
even use the term?
How do peers affect mindset? If they do, how can we use that effect to
encourage a growth mindset?

My biggest take-away from the experience comes back to the growth mindset, as
is fitting. An action researcher has to overcome obstacles, be persistent in his or her
work, look to others success as a motivating factor, accept criticism to improve the work,
and embrace challenges. In summation, an action researcher must have a growth
mindset.