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Children
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Families
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| Raising Life-Long Learners (Really...) by Michael F. Mascolo, Ph.D. |
How can we get our children to develop a love for learning? How can we get our children to look forward to learning rather than avoid
it? More and more school systems are beginning to adopt the goal of promoting “life-long learning” as one of their core values. How
can this be done? What can parents do to promote life-long learning in their children? One answer lies in teaching children that
mastering tasks is more important than trying to be smart.
To promote life-long learning in our children, we might have to re-think our beliefs about the nature of learning and intelligence.
Psychologist Carol Dweck has shown that people differ in their beliefs about the nature of learning. Some people tend to adopt a
performance-orientation to learning whereas others tend toward a mastery- or learning-orientation.
With a performance orientation, the focus is on demonstrating one’s competence to oneself and to others. As a result, a person
views tests and achievement situations as measures of competence rather than as feedback about one’s progress toward task
mastery. A learner tends to compare his achievement with that of others. The focus is on the outcome of a task: If I succeed --
especially while exerting little effort -- then I can show my ability. If I fail, I experience feelings of shame, anxiety or worthlessness.
To guard against failure, people who adopt a performance orientation will choose to participate in either simple or very difficult tasks.
They are bound to do well in the simple tasks, and cannot be expected to do well in difficult tasks! Either way, the learner fails to
challenge himself and risk a failing outcome.
The learning orientation is very different. Children who adopt a learning orientation focus their attention on the skill itself. They are
interested in mastering the skill and improving their ability. From this standpoint, failure is not a reflection of a general or fixed
ability. Instead, it is simply a form of feedback that reveals that more needs to be done in order to master the task. Because
demonstrating that one has a particular ability is not the child’s goal, failure at a task does not necessarily bring about negative
feelings. Instead, the child resolves to persevere with the task until mastery is achieved. As a result, the child’s attention is not
focused on avoiding failure in any particular task; the child’s attention is on the goal of mastery over time.
The learning and performance orientations stem, in part, from different beliefs about the nature of learning and intelligence. People
who adopt a performance orientation tend to view intelligence as a fixed thing, an unchanging entity that a person has to some
particular degree. As a result, failure to perform a task implies the absence of ability and a corresponding reduction in self-esteem.
In contrast, people who adopt a learning orientation tend to think of ability as something that is changeable. Ability develops over
time as a result of practice and hard work. If ability is something that requires hard work, failure is merely an indicator that more
focused work must be devoted to the task in order to achieve mastery.
Research shows that children who adopt a learning orientation are more academically successful than children who adopt a
performance orientation. In addition, it is well known that students in many Asian cultures typically outperform American students in a
variety of different learning areas. While there are many reasons why this is the case, one reason is that many Asian students adopt
a mastery rather than a performance orientation. As psychologist Jin Li of Brown University has shown, self-cultivation – a life-long
process of transforming the self through effortful learning – is a central value in Chinese culture. When students fail, they are
expected to redouble their efforts toward task mastery. Of course, it is important to note that what works in one culture does not
necessarily work the same way in another.
What can a parent do to cultivate a learning orientation in his or her child? Parents who adopt a performance orientation with their
children generally think of each learning activity as an isolated event. If the child does well on her spelling test, she is praised for her
good work; if not, some type of lecture may follow. The trick to cultivating a learning orientation is to think of individual learning
experiences as parts of a larger whole. Instead of treating a child’s performance on her spelling test as a single isolated event, the
parent treats it as but one step along the path to task mastery. The parent evaluates the child’s effort to learn how to spell, and then
directs the child’s attention to the next step toward task mastery. If the child does not learn, the child’s attention is directed to the
need for hard work.
For example, when a child shows his parent his performance on a spelling test, a parent might say, “I saw how hard you worked on
your spelling list last night. You did very well on your test. Good for you. Now, you spelled the words “belief”, “piece“, and “receive
“incorrectly. You have to work harder to learn the rule “i before e except after c”. Let’s practice…”
It is important to note that cultivating a learning orientation involves more than simply praising a child’s effort over outcome. While
many well-meaning parents might say, “I don’t care how well you do, as long as you do your best”, this statement implies that
achievement is not necessary. A learning orientation focuses the child’s attention not on effort alone, but instead effort toward
mastery. With steady practice, progress will occur.
Further Reading
Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
it? More and more school systems are beginning to adopt the goal of promoting “life-long learning” as one of their core values. How
can this be done? What can parents do to promote life-long learning in their children? One answer lies in teaching children that
mastering tasks is more important than trying to be smart.
To promote life-long learning in our children, we might have to re-think our beliefs about the nature of learning and intelligence.
Psychologist Carol Dweck has shown that people differ in their beliefs about the nature of learning. Some people tend to adopt a
performance-orientation to learning whereas others tend toward a mastery- or learning-orientation.
With a performance orientation, the focus is on demonstrating one’s competence to oneself and to others. As a result, a person
views tests and achievement situations as measures of competence rather than as feedback about one’s progress toward task
mastery. A learner tends to compare his achievement with that of others. The focus is on the outcome of a task: If I succeed --
especially while exerting little effort -- then I can show my ability. If I fail, I experience feelings of shame, anxiety or worthlessness.
To guard against failure, people who adopt a performance orientation will choose to participate in either simple or very difficult tasks.
They are bound to do well in the simple tasks, and cannot be expected to do well in difficult tasks! Either way, the learner fails to
challenge himself and risk a failing outcome.
The learning orientation is very different. Children who adopt a learning orientation focus their attention on the skill itself. They are
interested in mastering the skill and improving their ability. From this standpoint, failure is not a reflection of a general or fixed
ability. Instead, it is simply a form of feedback that reveals that more needs to be done in order to master the task. Because
demonstrating that one has a particular ability is not the child’s goal, failure at a task does not necessarily bring about negative
feelings. Instead, the child resolves to persevere with the task until mastery is achieved. As a result, the child’s attention is not
focused on avoiding failure in any particular task; the child’s attention is on the goal of mastery over time.
The learning and performance orientations stem, in part, from different beliefs about the nature of learning and intelligence. People
who adopt a performance orientation tend to view intelligence as a fixed thing, an unchanging entity that a person has to some
particular degree. As a result, failure to perform a task implies the absence of ability and a corresponding reduction in self-esteem.
In contrast, people who adopt a learning orientation tend to think of ability as something that is changeable. Ability develops over
time as a result of practice and hard work. If ability is something that requires hard work, failure is merely an indicator that more
focused work must be devoted to the task in order to achieve mastery.
Research shows that children who adopt a learning orientation are more academically successful than children who adopt a
performance orientation. In addition, it is well known that students in many Asian cultures typically outperform American students in a
variety of different learning areas. While there are many reasons why this is the case, one reason is that many Asian students adopt
a mastery rather than a performance orientation. As psychologist Jin Li of Brown University has shown, self-cultivation – a life-long
process of transforming the self through effortful learning – is a central value in Chinese culture. When students fail, they are
expected to redouble their efforts toward task mastery. Of course, it is important to note that what works in one culture does not
necessarily work the same way in another.
What can a parent do to cultivate a learning orientation in his or her child? Parents who adopt a performance orientation with their
children generally think of each learning activity as an isolated event. If the child does well on her spelling test, she is praised for her
good work; if not, some type of lecture may follow. The trick to cultivating a learning orientation is to think of individual learning
experiences as parts of a larger whole. Instead of treating a child’s performance on her spelling test as a single isolated event, the
parent treats it as but one step along the path to task mastery. The parent evaluates the child’s effort to learn how to spell, and then
directs the child’s attention to the next step toward task mastery. If the child does not learn, the child’s attention is directed to the
need for hard work.
For example, when a child shows his parent his performance on a spelling test, a parent might say, “I saw how hard you worked on
your spelling list last night. You did very well on your test. Good for you. Now, you spelled the words “belief”, “piece“, and “receive
“incorrectly. You have to work harder to learn the rule “i before e except after c”. Let’s practice…”
It is important to note that cultivating a learning orientation involves more than simply praising a child’s effort over outcome. While
many well-meaning parents might say, “I don’t care how well you do, as long as you do your best”, this statement implies that
achievement is not necessary. A learning orientation focuses the child’s attention not on effort alone, but instead effort toward
mastery. With steady practice, progress will occur.
Further Reading
Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.