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Revealing the Hidden Competing Commitment that Resists Change

Dwayne Harapnuik —  January 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

We need to consider that most people are not intentionally or logically resisting change, they simply have been conditioned by our educational system to accepting the way their world is and unconsciously have a hidden competing commitment that prevents them from even seeing the opportunities that are being presented. The following is an excerpt from the soon to be published book on the Learner’s Mindset (Harapnuik & Thibodeaux, 2021)  that explains why people will have a hidden commitment that hinders their growth and progress:

…Garnder Campbell also laments that when he points to an opportunity that new media, technology, or other emerging resources offer, too many educators fail to see the potential in these opportunities, and he shares the following exchange to highlight the missed opportunities:

Gardner: I say well I have a bag of gold. Would you like a bag of gold?
People: Where do you find time for bags of gold…oh no another currency to master gold… is that sustainable?
Garnder: Like no you spend it.
People: Well, what would you spend it on?
Gardner: What would you like to spend it on?
People: I don’t have time for your philosophical questions Gardner.
Gardner: It’s a bag of gold what part of that do you not understand?

This resistance to change or more specifically resistance to recognizing an opportunity should not be attributed to these educators’ lack of commitment to change or doing what is best for their students. Harvard researchers Kegan and Lahey (2001) suggest that most people are not opposed to change they are just unwittingly holding a hidden competing commitment that prevents them from seeing the need for change. These commitments are often grounded in beliefs or mindsets that have been held very closely and many will be routed in their childhood experience.

Since most people in the west have spent 13 years in K-12 education and assuming 7 hours a day for 180 days a year we have spent 16,380 hours in a school-based on the information transfer model, we should not be surprised by our deep routed fixed mindset thinking and our aversion to seeing the world from any other perspective. When you factor in another 4 years for an undergraduate degree, most teachers have spent 21,420 hours in a passive educational environment of information transfer, main lecture points, rubrics, individual competition, and standardized testing. Considering the thousands of hours most teachers have spent in this environment, we should not be surprised by their deeply rooted hidden commitment to maintaining this status quo. Shifting from the fixed mindset to the growth mindset, to the innovator’s mindset, or ultimately a learner’s mindset may seem straightforward but as Kegan and Lahey (2001) have found this type of change challenges the very psychological foundations upon which people function.

Kegan and Lahey (2001) suggest that you deal with or mitigate the limits of the hidden commitment to the status quo in the following steps:

  • Diagnose the competing commitment
  • Identify the big assumption
  • Testing and replacing the big assumption

It is possible to diagnose the competing commitment and identify the dominant assumption simultaneously by getting teachers to step back far enough to see how an authentic learning opportunity can create the context for the standards, curriculum, and assessment they are required to use. This change in focus is the first step, but it will be difficult because it is asking people to look at things from a different perspective while their hidden commitment to maintaining the system of education that they know is preventing them from seeing the opportunity. Replacing the big assumption happens when you equip teachers to create a significant environment where they can give their learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. This will start them down the path of embracing or adopting a learner’s mindset.

Moving to or adopting a learner’s mindset requires that one change their thinking about learning, their approach to helping learners learn how to learn, and changing the learning environment. One of the most significant challenges to adopting and living the learner’s mindset is that these three changes in our behavior need to happen cumulatively and in close proximity.

This change in mindset is not easy and there are several systemic, psychological, and practical challenges that must be overcome. Consider the following resources as you explore how to reinvigorate your learner’s mindset:

References

Campbell, G. (2010, May 3). No digital facelifts: Thinking the unthinkable about open educational experiences. [Video] Retrieved from https://youtu.be/lelmXaSibrc

Harapnuik, D. K., & Thibodeaux, T. N. (2021). Learner’s Mindset. Book in progress.

Kegan, R., & Lahey, L. L. (2001). The real reason people won’t change. HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Change, 77.

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SITE 2020 Conference Presentation

Dwayne Harapnuik —  April 9, 2020 — Leave a comment


Attending academic conferences is simply part of conducting and sharing research into improving the learning environment. Over the past few years, I have often used Zoom to join my colleague who has taken the time to travel to the conference. Most often we have simply added this virtual function to our presentations and since I have been working fully online since 1995 being brought in via some form of video-conferencing tools has been what I have been doing for over two decades. Quite often session the moderators are simply surprised by how easy it is to have someone join the session virtually.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic I was able to attend the SITE conference fully online via Zoom and did a presentation on the paper Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Factors that Contributed to ePortfolio Persistence Beyond the Program of Study. Other than a few minor glitches in getting their slides screen shared all of the academics in my session were able to present without any major problems. Yes, some will point to the fact that OLC and other organizations have offered a virtual attendance option for a couple of years now.

Makes one wonder if we will ever go back to the way that is was where we have to spends dozens of hours and hundreds or even thousands of dollars to present. Yes, there is the serendipity of large collaborative environment but as we are seeing with the lock down or stay in place situations there are other ways for us to communicate and collaborate. I have to admit I didn’t miss the 2 hour trip via bus, seabus, and then train to the airport. I didn’t miss the long lines and the hours of waiting to check in and get through security. I didn’t miss the jet lag or the cold that I always seem to catch from a sick passenger that I sat next to on the plane. I didn’t miss the taxi or shuttle bus ride to the hotel or conference center. This morning I logged onto the system 15 minutes early, ran a last minute test on my audio and video, and waited for the rest of the conference participate in my session to join. Everyone was on time, each session stayed within the allotted time, and the Q & A session was as good if not better then in many face2face sessions I have experienced. Yes, I do miss the chance meetings of colleagues I haven’t seen or simply experiencing the power of the crowd, but this morning presentation and session was much more efficient, less costly, and still a really good experience. To answer may own question at the start of this paragraph…I liked the virtual conference experience and I wouldn’t mind if we do not go back to the way that it was.

One more thing it is also easier to share my conference files online – go ahead and download a copy of the paper that we submitted and the slide deck I used this morning.

Enjoy!

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LMD EP28 Revisiting Rubrics

Dwayne Harapnuik —  August 28, 2019 — Leave a comment

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How to Foster Intrinsic Motivation

Dwayne Harapnuik —  April 24, 2019 — Leave a comment

Articles & Ideas mentioned in the video:
Intrinsic Motivation is Key to Student Achievement – But Schools Can Crush It – https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53337/intrinsic-motivation-is-key-to-student-achievement-but-schools-can-crush-it

Additional Links:

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How to Grow a Growth Mindset

Dwayne Harapnuik —  April 5, 2019 — 4 Comments

Articles & Ideas mentioned in the video:

While promoting the growth mindset is important it must be done so within the context of structural changes to the learning environment. The research is quite clear using the growth mindset as an intervention alone or on its own will not make any significant difference. If you wish to help your learners adapt and grow a growth mindset then you make a structural change and create a significant learning environment in which you give your learners choice ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

The “Mindset” Mindset: What We Miss By Focusing on Kids’ Attitudes – https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/

Kohn’s concluding paragraph summarizes the problem of promoting the growth mindset while not changing the structural arrangements or the learning environment:

I’m not suggesting we go back to promoting an innate, fixed, “entity” theory of intelligence and talent, which, as Dweck points out, can leave people feeling helpless and inclined to give up. But the real alternative to that isn’t a different attitude about oneself; it’s a willingness to go beyond individual attitudes, to realize that no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements. Until those arrangements have been changed, mindset will get you only so far. And too much focus on mindset discourages us from making such changes.

The growth mindset problem – https://aeon.co/essays/schools-love-the-idea-of-a-growth-mindset-but-does-it-work

Hendrick points to the systemic problem that we have in education that limits the potential of the growth mindset:

One of the greatest impediments to successfully implementing a growth mindset is the education system itself. A key characteristic of a fixed mindset is a focus on performance and an avoidance of any situation where testing might lead to a confirmation of fixed beliefs about ability. Yet we are currently in a school climate obsessed with performance in the form of constant summative testing, analysing and ranking of students. Schools create a certain cognitive dissonance when they proselytise the benefits of a growth mindset in assemblies but then hand out fixed target grades in lessons based on performance.

To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323565554_To_What_Extent_and_Under_Which_Circumstances_Are_Growth_Mind-Sets_Important_to_Academic_Achievement_Two_Meta-Analyses

This Meta-Analyses of growth mindset interventions reveals that there week impact of the growth mindset on student achievement. Growth mindset interventions on their own won’t bring about change but as the researchers argue:

Alternatively, mind-set interventions might need to be combined with other interventions to increase effectiveness.

More evidence to suggest that changing the learning environment and giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities may make the difference.

Misinterpreting the Growth Mindset: Why We’re Doing Students a Disservice – http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2017/06/misinterpreting_the_growth_mindset_why_were_doing_students_a_disservice.html

Hattie warns us to not over-reach with our claims of what the growth mindset will provide and encourages us to go back to the original work and recognize that the growth mindset has a role to play in the whole learning environment.

We need more care about over-reach with concepts like growth and fixed mindsets- otherwise, they will disappear like other over-used and over-rated claims that bedevil education and psychology. We will then miss the incredible value the research on these topics can provide relating to when to use them, how to use them, with which students, and to what ends.

Is “Have a Growth Mindset” the New “Just Say No” – https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/is-have-a-growth-mindset-the-new-just-say-no/

Gerstein argues:

The faddish or pop culture version of the growth mindset is emerging as: “Have a Growth Mindset.” This smacks of the “Just So No” campaign of the Reagan era. Catch phrases about a growth mindset will have as much effect on actually developing a growth mindset as just saying no did on curbing drug use.

Carol Dweck says mindset is not ‘a tool to make children feel good’ – https://schoolsweek.co.uk/why-mindset-is-not-a-tool-to-make-children-feel-good/

Dweck argues:

A lot of teachers are saying ‘yes I have a growth mindset’, without doing the work and without making a journey to deeply understand it and to know how to apply it.

Once again we argue that this hard work involves creating a significant learning environment in which you give your learners choice ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.

How to Build a Growth Mindset – While this video is upbeat, motivation, and does point to the fact you have to take action it misses the key factor of the need to change your learning environment in order to create the context for the growth mindset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=V7XjFTrPl6o

Additional links:

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