If a career change from Teacher to Instagram Influencer is why you’ve landed here, I’m afraid this blog isn’t for you. However, if you want to know what more you can do to get the best for all of your students, then read on… For our first Teach Meet of the academic year we looked at the Pygmalion Effect. The Pygmalion Effect, or Rosenthal effect, is a psychological occurrence in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area. The effect is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell so much in love with the perfectly beautiful statue he created that the statue came to life.
Pygmalion Research in the Classroom
The original research of Rosenthal and Jacobsen focused on an experiment at an elementary school where students took intelligence pre-tests. Rosenthal and Jacobsen then informed the teachers of the names of twenty percent of the students in the school who were showing “unusual potential for intellectual growth” and would bloom academically within the year. Unknown to the teachers, these students were selected randomly with no relation to the initial test. At the end of the study, students were given the same IQ test. While all students performed better the second time, Rosenthal and Jacobsen found that those students who had been labelled ‘intellectual bloomers’ had improved to a greater degree than the other students. From this, they concluded that teachers expecting enhanced performance from students can actually lead to enhanced performance. Therefore, if we as teachers have belief that our students will do well, this almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
In our Teach Meet last term, guest speaker James Nottingham showed us some of the research from Hattie’s ‘Visible Learning’ which showed that Pygmalion interventions can lead to an impact of 1.46 (which is almost an additional grade and a half of progress), hence why this seemed like something worth investigating. Interestingly, when researching this, I also came across the opposite to the Pygmalion Effect, which is called ‘The Golem effect’. In this model, where lower expectations are placed upon individuals either by teachers or the individual themselves, this will lead to poorer performance by the individual. As James Rhem puts it; “If you think your students can’t achieve very much, are not too bright, you may be inclined to teach simple stuff, do lots of drills, read from your notes, give simple assignments calling for simplistic answers”.
Labelling Theory and self-fulfilling prophecy
Researching this further, inevitably led me to come across similar research on labelling theory and ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. Labelling is simply the process of defining a person or group in a ‘streamlined’ way. For example, labelling involves that first judgement you make about someone, often based on first-impressions. When applied to teaching, this is where teachers actively judge their pupils over a period of time, making judgments based on their behaviour in class, attitude to learning, previous school reports and interactions with them and their parents, and they eventually classifying their students according to whether they are ‘high’ or ‘low’ ability, ‘hard working’ or ‘lazy’, ‘naughty’ or ‘well-behaved’, ‘in need of support’ or ‘capable of just getting on with it’, to name just a few categories. It’s worth noting here that a number of small-scale research studies of teacher labelling. The labels teachers give to students are sometimes based not on their behaviour but on a number of other preconceived ‘stereotypes’ and ideas teachers have (e.g. ethnicity, gender or social class background) therefore labelling can be said to be grounded in stereotypes; something to be aware of.
A concept similar to labelling theory is that of the self-fulfilling prophecy; where an individual accepts their label and the label becomes true. For example, a student labelled as ‘naughty’ actually becomes ‘naughty’ as a response to having such a label. Again, if we flip this on its head, as we saw in the Pygmalion study, if we use positive or aspirational labels, then our students will achieve this. This is illustrated by the flow chart above. Thus if a student is labelled a success, they will succeed, if they are labelled a failure, they will fail.
The reasons for this are as follows:
- Teachers will push students they think are brighter harder, and not expect as much from students they have labelled as less-able.
- A positive label is more likely to result in a good student being put into a higher band, and vice versa for a student pre-judged to be less able.
- Positively labelled students are more likely to develop a positive attitude towards studying, those negatively labelled will develop a negative attitude towards studying.
- The above may be reinforced by the peer-groups they socialise with as well.
However, one significant caveat to this is the fact that schools themselves often encourage teachers to label students. For example, entry tests, over which teachers have no control, pre-label students into ability groups anyway, and the school will require the teacher to demonstrate that they are providing ‘extra support’ for the ‘low ability’ students and that they are providing challenges for those who score highly in these tests. There are measurements such as ‘flight paths’ since the removal of levels and of course, we have students with very specific SEND profiles, which are not labels but can still create a label.
Are all labels bad?
Our first ‘provocation’ was ‘Are all labels bad’. As the reality is, whether intentional or not, they do happen. From this, a few specific themes appeared. Firstly we looked at the concept of setting. This is always a topical debate and one that comes up quite frequently, in fact this was something we discussed in our first ever Teach Meet on Crehan’s ‘Cleverlands’ which examines best practice from top performing educational systems around the world. In 1963 Finland moved away from a two tiered system that divided students from 10 years old. Instead, students choose an academic or vocational route at 15-16 years meaning that all students had the same education for 9 years rather than 4. This is supported through evidence which suggests that countries who select later reduce inequality in secondary school and those from disadvantaged backgrounds do better. In fact, the evidence from Hanushek and Woessmann shows that there was no negative effect of late selection on any group, even the brightest 5%, which resonates with the Pygmalion Effect. Furthermore, there is much evidence to suggest that in mixed ability groups, those who are ‘weaker’ are pulled up by those who are ‘brighter’ and those who are ‘brighter’ deepen their understanding by supporting the ‘weaker’ student.
Not surprisingly, the discussion on labelling also led to discussions on differentiation. Again, this echoes other elements of ‘Cleverlands’, when looking at practice in China. In China they have very much adopted a Growth Mindset and the Confucian way of thinking: “Learning does not privilege anyone, and neither does it discriminate against anyone. Everyone is capable of seeking and achieving knowledge regardless of one’s inborn capability and social circumstances.” In the book, Crenhan was talking to a Chinese teacher who had visited the UK and thought it odd how students are given different levels of maths problems, explaining that those with ‘easy’ maths will never keep up. If we want them to believe that everyone can achieve mastery knowledge, shouldn’t we start from the top and support all in getting there? Again, this would be adopting a Pygmailon approach. Following on from this, we then discussed aspirational and predicted grades. At Northwood, we make ‘aspirational’ predictions, this is what they should be striving to achieve. The rationale is that alongside wanting students to know how they are currently doing (a Current Performance Grade), we want them to know that we know their current attainment is just one piece of a much bigger picture, and that most importantly, we believe that they can achieve higher than this. What is also important about this, is that it is not a predicted grade. This links well with the Pygmalion Effect and also still means that students have an idea of where they are and where they should be aiming.
After this, we spent some time discussing students with SEND profiles. It was felt unanimously that a student having a SEND profile in no way labels them, however, the bigger caveat to this is how well trained staff are on the needs and breadths of needs of students with SEND profiles. For example, a student with ADHD may get labelled as ‘unable to focus’ but the reality is that ADHD can actually allow students to be hyper-focused on specific areas of interest. Our fantastic SENDCo highlighted that there is a general movement in the SEN community towards a broader view of diagnoses and more awareness of the comorbidity of many current labels, for example where a pupil may present with Dyslexia and Autism. This then led to the final area of discussion; staff narrative. Staff narrative can be a powerful force, both positively and negatively. I was reading the book ‘Personal and Authentic’ before the summer, which talks about the author’s journey as a teacher. In one of the first chapters, he recalls trying everything he could with a student and feeling like it was getting him nowhere. His mentor overhears him having a gripe about this student in the staffroom and afterwards pulls him up on this. The extract is as follows:
“Tom, what did I tell you before that first day?” Mark asked. Without waiting for me to respond, he continued, “This work is all about relationships. This work is about loving and caring about kids. Without it, you have nothing. And right now, with this student, it looks like you have nothing… Instead of yelling at him, what if you encouraged him the moment you saw something positive? Instead of calling home for being in trouble, what if you called home for something great? When do you think he last heard a compliment? When’s the last time you think mom received a positive call home? If you want to get through to him, Tom, maybe it’s you who needs to change.”
What a powerful message! This further highlights the importance of having a Pygmalion approach and avoiding a Golem narrative, and the fact that this is a responsibility that we as teachers must take.
Should we use praise?
After these discussions, I think it’s fair to say that we can see the merit in having high expectations and high aspirations for all of our students. So the next concept I wanted to consider was how do we let our students know we have high expectations of them and have a Pygmalion approach? When I think about how I try to validate students and want them to know I believe in them, I will often use praise as well as motivational talk. But the type of praise is crucial.
Dweck spoke about how teachers try to counter stereotypes and build confidence in girls, we often heap intelligence praise on them. But this is counter productive as they then become less confident and scared of failure, as the value is now on their intelligence. “My great concern is that in our attempt to counter these stereotypes and build girls’ confidence in their intellectual abilities, we now heap intelligence praise on them”. (Dweck, 2000) This is the danger of intelligence praise on any student. Dweck has always emphasised the importance of ‘Praise process not qualities’ As this tells them what they need to do whereas praise on intelligence or innate qualities is detrimental as it makes them scared about getting things wrong. It also gives them a label that they are scared of losing. E.g. no more ‘clever … or talented’ but rather ‘I really like the way you…’ or ‘I can see you’re working hard to solve that…’
Most interestingly, and what builds to our next provocation is that Dweck also says no praise is better than praising innate qualities and that teachers should actually ‘ramp down’ praise so that children aren’t constantly looking over their shoulder wanting praise, so they end up enjoying the actual learning experience etc. The other reality is that students do like the ‘bad praise’, they like when people call them intelligent, but this isn’t good for them. It’s a quick hit, it impacts confidence and means they develop bad habits. The other impact of this is that when you need to give constructive feedback, students cannot deal with it as it impacts their self-esteem, which in turn, will limit their progress. For example, in a sports context, if we label a student as talented at football and then need to give feedback, any challenge to this innate talent is too much. When we should be able to say ‘in the second half you could have done X’, but rather (most often parents) will say ‘you were robbed’ and put blame onto something else (such as the referee), to avoid hurting their feelings.
So my question here is, should we use praise? Especially if we end up praising labels. How can we combine praise and the Pygmalion Effect? Once again, this had me reflecting back on Cleverlands as China’s focus on praise and effort was very humbling. Yet in China, failure is not an issue, what matters is that you tried and that you learn from it. China’s graduation encouragement cards read ‘congratulations on your hard work’ and focus on self-improvement, rather than selecting students who simply ‘excel’ at a subject. If we adopt the Confucian way, we know that effort and persistent effort will lead to success. So as teachers we should praise the effort and process, not the outcome. By having this dialogue with our students we can motivate them in the process and ensure that they know their value does not simply come from their outcome. What is important here is also the equity of praise. If we are praising the process of our students, we need to make sure we do this for all students. Once again, pygmalion shines through, we must have high expectations of all of our students, and we must be transparent in showing this to all of our students.
Practical tips
Finally, I wanted to end our Teach Meet on some practical steps. I genuinely believe that we all have a positive view of our students and want them all to achieve, therefore having a few ‘bitesize’ reminders of what this can look like, is a positive way to finish.
- It is important that we treat our class with the notion that each student is capable of learning and improving.
- Always communicate high but realistic expectations of our students.
- Never forecast failure in the classroom. If you know a test is particularly difficult, tell your students that the test is difficult but that you are sure that they will do well if they work hard to prepare.
- Establish high expectations. Students achieve more when teachers have higher expectations. When you give students a difficult assessment, tell them, “I know you can do this.” If you genuinely believe that your students cannot perform the assessment, postpone the assessment and re-teach the material.
- Do not participate in gripe sessions about students. Teachers who gripe about students are establishing a culture of failure for their students, their department and their own teaching.
The impact of a pygmalion approach is significant and we can see the evidence through this not only in Hattie’s ‘Visible Learning’ but also in various educational systems around the world.
Sources:
Crehan, Lucy. Cleverlands: The Secrets Behind the Success of the World’s Education Superpowers. 2016
Dweck, Carol. Self Theories: Their role in motivation, personality and development. 2000
Loftus, Yolande. ‘Dyslexia and Autism: Is there a Connection? Feb 17 2022, Autism Parenting Magazine
McLeod, Susan. “Pygmalion or Golem? Teacher Affect and Efficacy.” College Composition and Communication 46 (3): 369-386.
Murray, Thomas C. Personal & Authentic: Designing Learning Experiences That Impact a Lifetime. 2019
Rhem, James. “Pygmalion in the classroom” NTLF 8 (2): 1-4.
Rosenthal, R, and L. Jacobsen. Pygmalion in the classroom: teacher expectation and pupils’ intellectual development. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.
Rosenthal, R., and E. Y. Babad. 1985. Pygmalion in the gymnasium. Educational Leadership 43 (1): 36–39.
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