This is Part IV of exploring Professor Brian Cambourne’s 7 Conditions of Learning. Read the intro here and Immersion here, Demonstration here, and Engagement here.
Expectation
“Positive emotions drive attention, which in turn drives both learning and memory.”
Brain Principle #4: Emotions, learning, and memory are closely linked as parts of the brain are activated in the learning process.
Expectations, like engagement, is a loaded word.
I’ve noticed that teachers easily say, “Of course, we have high expectations for all our students.” This is a concerning statement to me. How do children hit these high expectations?
My son Nicholas’s life is a perfect example of not hitting high expectations. He failed first grade. Testing showed he could only read ten words, had no strengths, and a low IQ. There’s a cycle here—like so many other students’ experience—where teachers change their expectations: “He cannot learn and the testing proves this. Our expectations have lowered. There’s simply nothing we can do.”
It was only through removing Nicholas from school and totally changing the teaching which allowed him to truly shine. I believe this change would not have occurred within the regular school system, where the focus would have been on only teaching Nicholas to follow specific instructions and decode words—his weakness.
By tapping into his curiosity and his imagination, I changed the teaching, thus changing his response. He found he loved learning, and the questions he asked me showed the depth of his thinking.
I take this same knowledge with me when I teach all my students.
We cannot ignore a student’s challenges. If a student cannot do the work we expect, it is up to us to find solutions, to find ways around the challenges they face allowing them to be successful in school.
My expectation is: I must teach this child to read. I must provide a positive learning environment which allows my students to engage in the learning process. Only then will they be successful.
I, the teacher, am the one who must change first to allow my students to have high expectations.
Next time, we’ll discuss Responsibility.
