by Charles Barnard
Here is one of many clips from one of Robin Williams’ great films, Dead Poet Society that I could show to demonstrate different ways of shifting mindsets or different ways mindsets influence states, or influence behavior. There is so much we can unpack here. The acting is brilliant because it is so believable, so real. You can feel the fear of Todd Anderson and Mr. Keating’s daring pattern interrupt turns out to have a lasting impact on the young man.
Effective pattern interrupts often require daring, which implies that there is fear associated with how far you can go in your own behavior to help someone stuck in a negative behavioral pattern. This kind of teaching often causes a struggle with the teacher’s own limiting beliefs and fear of how far he or she can go to move the immoveable – move the fixed mindset to a growth mindset. How far any teacher can go, any leader can go, truly depends on the quality of the relationships that have been built with those you lead. When you have built a relationship of trust, your sincere attempts to shift a mindset will be seen as just that.
Teachers – leaders – can learn to use their language to shift these mindsets. They can also learn how to use humor and anchoring which are portrayed well in this film. Unfortunately, colleges that train teachers focus on the psychology of learning at the expense of the importance of communication and rapport building strategies. While the former is important, the latter is arguably where the greatest impact comes from.
Professional educators who want to learn more should reach out to me. While I have a short, in person workshop covering these topics, I will soon have that available on-line. It is a workshop that covers topics that simply are not provided to teachers. I also have a semester long training in the works that will also be an on demand course. I will be addressing this more in future articles. You can learn more on these topics by going to Growth Mindset Training Academy.