Page 34 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

an observer of countless talented young chess pl ayers, I can vouc h for the
accuracy of this point—some of the most gi fted pl ayers are the worst unde r

pressure, an d have the hardest time reboundi ng f rom def eat.
How are these theories of intelligence progr ammed into our minds? Often
subtle differences in parental or ins truct ional style can make a huge di fferenc e.
Entity theorists tend to have been told that they di d well whe n the y ha ve

succeeded, and that they weren’t any good at somethi ng when they ha ve failed.
So a kid aces a math test, comes home, and hears “Wow, that ’s my bo y! As
smart as they come!” Then, next week Johnny fails an Engl ish test and he ars
“What’s wrong with you? Can’t you read?” or “Your Mommy ne ver like d

reading either—obviously, it’s not your thi ng.” So the boy fi es he ’s go od at
math and bad at English, and what ’s more, he links succes s and failur e to
ingrained ability. Learning theorists, on the other han d, are given feedba ck tha t
is more process-oriented. After do ing well on an Engl ish essay, a little gi rl

might be congratulated by her teacher with “Wow, gr eat job Jul ie! You’ re
really becoming a wonderful writer! Keep up the go od work! ” And if she do es
badly on a math test, her teacher might write “Study a little harder for the ne xt
one and you’ll do great! And feel free to ask me ques tions any time after class,

that’s what I’m here for!” So Julie learns to associate effort with suc cess and
feels that she can become good at anythi ng with some hard work. She also feels
as though she is on a journey of learni ng, and her teacher is a friendl y assistant
in her growth. Johnny thinks he’s good at math and bad at Engl ish, and he

focuses on quick results as opposed to long- term pr ocess—but wha t ha ppe ns
when he does badly on a hard math test do wn the line? Will he be pr epa red to
learn the right lessons from life’s inev itable chal lenges ? Unf ortuna tely, he may
not.

It is clear that parents and teacher s have an eno rmous respo ns ibi lity in
forming the theories of intelligence of thei r studen ts and childr en—a nd it is
never too late. It is critical to realize that we can always evolve in our
approaches to learning. Studies have shown that in jus t minut es, ki ds can be

conditioned into having a healthy learni ng theo ry for a given situa tion. In one
study, children were given different instruct ions abo ut what the aim of the ir
task was. Some kids were told that solving certain probl ems woul d he lp the m
with their schoolwork in the futur e, and other ki ds were told that the y woul d

be judged based on their results. In other words , hal f the kids received
“mastery-oriented” instructions, and half the ki ds received “he lpl essne ss-