I’ve always had a student-centered approach to teaching: my classrooms have always had tables (or desks formed into pods) and I try to limit my time standing in front of the room lecturing at the board. My classes often involve student activities/discoveries and conversations. The term “guide on the side” really resonates with me because I like to think of myself more as a coach than a teacher. This may be because I actually have no formal training as a teacher. I went to a small liberal arts college, majored in Math and Sociology and found myself figuring out how to teach as I went as a 22 year-old fresh-out-of-college young woman teaching high school students just five years younger than me. Looking back, I realize that I was greatly influenced by my incredible department chair who had this same student-centered approach and I naturally followed her lead. It didn’t feel new or novel and rather just became my style.
Carondelet is the fourth school I’ve taught at, the only all-girls school I’ve taught at, and the only school where I’ve received such resistance to this style of teaching. I’m used to the usual hazing that happens to new-to-a-school teachers, but I’m surprised that I’m still dealing with fierce resistance to my style of teaching. Given that the direction of the school is to a more student-cenered, guide-on-the-side style, I wanted to share some of the pushback I’ve received as a warning to all of us for what may be coming.
Here are some of the comments I received on a recent survey of my Algebra 2 with Trigonometry class:
[My previous math] class was very traditional and i was able to learn and do very well in that class, this class is all over the place and confusing and I’m not doing well at all.
[I prefer a traditional math classroom because] It is organized and has a plan this class room is very frustrating and all over the place I juts want to learn the section and do my homework everyday in class
I can’t teach myself, I need a teacher teaching me subjects or else I just don’t get it.
I DO NOT mesh well with growthmind. I like to have a sense of what will be on the test
so that I can come into class on test day feeling prepared. I feel that these growth mindset
tests do not reflect my knowledge of the information and I am just feeling very frustrated.
it is in that format hat I understand the concepts.
me hate the subject. I need to be able to be taught a way to do something and for me to practice
what I’ve been taught so I can grow my math skills. Me teaching myself is not helping me at all and
I walk into every test scared and stressed because I don’t feel prepared even though I complete almost
every practice test and it’s really frustrating. I’m concerned that I will not be prepared
for pre-calculus next year.
I am a person that appreciates predictablity and control.
You may notice that some of the students above refer to a growth mindset, something I’ve been pushing hard in this group. Also on the survey were two questions: Where are you on the growth mindset spectrum (1 = fixed mindset, 10 = growth mindset) and what type of classroom do you prefer (1= traditional, 10 = student-centered). These results were fascinating (p= .0013) showing that there is a significant positive relationship between students who have a growth mindset and prefer a student-centered classroom.
Here are some comments from some of our more willing students:
I like the collaborative [classroom]. It requires me to think more instead of just doing to do.
I like how we are actually making an effort to switch education
[I] much prefer the collaborative teaching style because it helps me learn from my mistakes and think through problems more. it is also more engaging.
I did realize the thoughts that go into problem solving, however actually doing a problem solving question made me feel as if I was getting somewhere. At some point I did not know how to solve it or could only solve it half way. So I think it made me think a lot more than I have in awhile which I liked.
Collaborative classrooms help me to see math in ways that I usually don’t. It doesn’t seem so black and white.
Finally, I want to pose a theory as to why our students GIRLS may be so resistant. In reflecting on why this resistance is happening here and now, I’m thinking about the other schools that I’ve worked at. All three were much smaller than Carondelet (class sizes closer to 12-15) and because of their smaller size perhaps more exclusive and competitive. At those schools there was an expectation that school would be hard, challenge was expected, and although not always enjoyed, this was seldom equated with bad teaching or some form of injustice. But, I think there is a bigger factor at play: the fact that this is the first time I’m experiencing this in an all-girls setting. I think in my previous schools, the boys loved the challenge, the unpredictable nature of our learning and the messiness of the class structure. And because they loved it (or at least didn’t complain) the girls too got on board. So, I’m finding myself challenged with motivating these girls by myself, convincing them that I am still teaching them (even if not directly) and they will be better served in college and life by having a class that isn’t neat, tidy, predictable and laid out on a platter for them.