How to Help Students Overcome a Fear of Math through GRIT!
India White • June 12, 2023
How to Help Students Overcome a Fear of Math through GRIT!
Helping Students Overcoming a Fear of Math through Grit
As a teacher, you may have noticed that some students struggle with math more than others. This can be due to a variety of reasons, including math anxiety and low self-esteem, but one common factor is fear. Having a fear of math can be a significant barrier to learning and can lead to students feeling discouraged and disengaged. However, by cultivating grit, you can help your students overcome their fear of math and become more confident and successful learners.
Dr. Angela Duckworth coins grit as the combination of passion and perseverance towards long-term goals.
In the context of math education, grit can help students overcome their fear of math by encouraging them to persist through challenges and setbacks. Here are four tips for cultivating grit in your math classroom:
1. Encourage a growth mindset
Dweck has taught in her work that a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication. Encouraging a growth mindset in your students can help them see math as a skill that can be improved with practice, rather than an innate ability that they either have or don't have. This can help students feel more confident and motivated to tackle challenging math problems. As you help students develop a growth mindset, present opportunities for their confidence to increase in your classroom. Include them in mathematical discourse and allow them to display their thoughts on the board as they explain their reasoning to their peers. Compliment them as you see them making gains and remind them of how their mindset has shifted from a fixed reasoning to growth and belief in their ability.
2. Provide opportunities for productive struggle
Productive struggle refers to the process of working through challenging problems and making mistakes to learn and grow. Providing opportunities for productive struggle
in your math classroom can help students develop grit by encouraging them to persist through challenges and setbacks. This can also help students develop a deeper understanding of math concepts and build problem-solving skills. It’s been said that a true teacher’s classroom is one in which the teacher is mainly the facilitator and allows students to “take over” instruction. This should be the end goal for educators, while making sure that all students have a chance to partake in mathematical discourse. As students use higher order thinking questioning stems and refer to prior knowledge along with points main during instructional delivery, they will begin to thrive through grit as they develop conceptual understanding as a result of enhancing their understanding through productive struggle.
3. Emphasize individual effort over natural talent
Emphasizing individual effort over natural talent can help students see that success in math is not just about innate ability, but also about hard work and dedication. Praising students for their effort and persistence can help them develop a growth mindset and feel more confident in their ability to succeed in math. Although it is imperative to praise students who naturally “get” math, it is critical to help students overcome their fears through scaffolding them as they give their best efforts. Dweck found that teachers who focus on praising learners on their natural intellect versus hard work actually harms their motivation and performance. Teachers are the number one coach of every learner, and learners deserve the opportunity to overcome various fears of the mathematical learning experience by developing and cultivating grit with the support of their teachers.
4. Provide feedback that encourages growth
Feedback that encourages growth can help students see mistakes as opportunities for learning and growth, rather than as failures. Providing feedback that focuses on specific areas for improvement and provides actionable steps for improvement can help students develop grit by encouraging them to persist through challenges and work towards their goals. Dr. John Hattie references teacher feedback as one of the top teaching strategies that helps students achieve significant learning gains in the classroom.
Hence, providing timely feedback is critical for students as they use feedback to help them analyze their fears and push through towards academic success.
Conclusion
As an educational leader, as you cultivate grit in your math classroom, you can help your students overcome their fear of math and become more confident and successful learners. Encouraging a growth mindset, providing opportunities for productive struggle, emphasizing effort over talent, and providing feedback that encourages growth are all effective strategies for cultivating grit in your students. Never underestimate the power of a kind word, positive feedback, and being by your students’ side as they overcome their fears in the math class as they cultivate grit. You’ve got the power to make success happen for your students; choose to them conquer their fears through grit!
References:
Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Scribner.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.
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