As parents, we are all aware that teachers’ expectations about our kids become self-fulfilling prophecies.
If a teacher believes a child is "slow", the child will come to believe that too, and will indeed learn slowly.
The child who strikes a teacher as smart also picks up on that expectation and will live up to that.
Back in 1965, a Harvard psychologist named Robert Rosenthal approached an elementary school with a fancy-sounding IQ test that could predict which students would excel in the upcoming year.
Students completed the test and voila, a few weeks later, teachers were given the names of the students who got "unusual potential for intellectual growth." (Students were kept dark about it)
The following year Rosenthal came back to Spruce Elementary School to measure how the "gifted" students had performed.
Exactly as the test had predicted, the "gifted" students showed a significant increase in performance compared to their classmates.
The youngest of them made the most dramatic gains.
On average, these first-graders increased their IQ scores by more than 27 points, which is too compelling to be ignored.
In addition, they thrived in ways that went beyond measurement.
They were more curious, happier and better adjusted.
What's even more surprising, the teachers reported that they had enjoyed teaching those students.
Here’s the kicker.
The test was complete baloney.
The real subject of the test were not the students but the narrative that drives the relationship between the teachers and the students.
The ‘gifted ones’ had been chosen at random.
Let me repeat that.
At random.
The only difference between them and their peers, as Rosenthal put it, “was in the mind of the teacher.”
Rosenthal struck gold with his now-famous findings.
His study survived an extraordinary storm of controversy to become one of the most inspiring and widely cited breakthroughs in the history of psychology.
Replacing one story - "These kids are average" - with a new one -"These kids are destined to succeed" - had a dramatic impact on teachers' motivations and behaviours.
They were kinder and more attentive to the "gifted students".
They introduced more challenging material for learning.
They offered more chances to ask questions.
They provided better support and feedback.
By themselves, each of these behaviours meant little.
But compounded, they created a virtuous spiral that elevated students and helped them thrive in ways that exceeded their so-called limits.
“If a teacher does not believe in his job, does not enjoy the learning he is trying to transmit, the student will sense this and derive the entirely rational conclusion that the particular subject is not worth mastering for its own sake. If all the teachers they are exposed to are extrinsically motivated, students might well concluded that learning in general is worthless in and of itself.” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
The 'Godfather" of Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is talking, far more eloquently than I ever could, about the value of a positive attitude.
Amazing to think he knew more about education twenty-six years ago than most people who work in education know today.
The Pygmalion Effect is a powerful secret weapon that applies to all kinds of settings from classrooms and elite sports teams to family homes and the modern workplace.
And here’s something that's been on my mind lately.
Various studies have consistently proved that the impact of teachers’ high expectations in the lower-grade levels is far more dramatic than in the upper-grade levels.
Looks like younger kids are more malleable and they have fewer fixed notions about their abilities.
It is only later as they mature that their self-image gradually hardens and they begin to see themselves as their school records suggest.
Take some time out now to think about how the Pygmalion Effect may be taking hold in your organization.
Do you think you’re treating some team members differently than others?
Are there direct reports who you spend more time coaching than others?
Is your onboarding a top priority or just a paper-pushing exercise?
Do you focus special attention on an employee’s first months when expectations are set?
Are you making sure new hires get matched with outstanding supervisors who see others in the best possible light?
What if you are a young person’s first manager and therefore you are likely to be the most influential in that person’s career?
This is your last life.
Make it count.
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