EDC 230 - Chapter 6

 

    The sixth chapter of The Growth Mindset Playbook by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley reviews that shaming students in the classroom is unnecessary and wrong. Some teachers, parents, or coaches believe that shaming children can be a motivator, but it hurts them more than it helps. Shaming also creates a fixed mindset; when you repeatedly tell students they are not good enough, they start to believe it is true. The authors discuss public shaming by introducing a story about a teenage girl breaking her school’s dress code. She was wearing too short of a skirt, and as a result, the office told her she had to put an oversized yellow shirt on that said "dress code violation." That is just one example of many examples that schools embarrass students as punishment because they think it will motivate them to change. Humiliating students because they broke the dress code will only make them feel worse about themselves. 

    The authors use Brené Brown's definition of shame by stating, “The intensely painful feeling or experience of believing we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging” (Brock and Hundley 81). This shows that shame can make people feel isolated, and ultimately their experiences will form that feeling. To prevent this from happening in a classroom, teachers can implement a shame-aware classroom. Teachers can prevent shaming their students by utilizing more empathetic methods in this classroom setting. The author mentions that the first step to avoiding shame is to recognize it when it happens, and if you see it, you should say something. It is recommended that the best way to deal with it is to communicate with others, and it could help a student feel like they are being heard and their feelings matter. In conclusion, teachers discussing their moments of shame with students and modeling empathy is crucial for how they will deal with it too.