The More You Know...

There are two interesting psychological phenomena known as Impostor Syndrome and the Dunning-Kruger Effect.  Impostor Syndrome is when a person who is quite accomplished begins to fear that they will be outed as a fraud because they are undeserving of the the praise they have received.  This occurs because the more we learn about something, the more we realize that we don't know.  The most learned individuals will have the most questions and begin to feel as if they know very little.

On the flip side of this is the Dunning Kruger Effect.  This occurs when an individual who knows very little about a topic begins to feel as though they are an expert.  This occurs because they do not have the depth of knowledge to properly assess themselves.  As a result, they over emphasize what they know.

So what does this have to do with teaching?  I suppose the obvious answer would be a discussion about cultivating a healthy inquiry by our students, but I would flip the script and ask if we have taken a proper inquiry about our students.  How well do you know them?

For a moment let us reflect upon the following TPE element:

TPE 6: Developing as a Professional Educator Elements Beginning teachers: 

2. Recognize their own values and implicit and explicit biases, the ways in which these values and implicit and explicit biases may positively and negatively affect teaching and learning, and work to mitigate any negative impact on the teaching and learning of students. They exhibit positive dispositions of caring, support, acceptance, and fairness toward all students and families, as well as toward their colleagues

What do we know about our students and what are we assuming?  If we don't understand our students there is no way that we can treat them fairly and give them the support they need.

The following is an assignment I completed with a group of fellow teachers.  We were given vignette's about a teacher and his class and asked to analyze what we know, what we want to know, and what we would do to support the students.  Each week we were given a little more information about the students, which challenged some of our preconceived notions and challenged us to to support each student in a different way.  Please take a look and think about how our understanding of students changes over time and how we can adapt to their needs.

Mr. Jones Case Study