The Staff Infection: Growth, MAGA, and Coffee
Mike walks downstairs to Buck sitting in front of the television. He strolls around the kitchen, searching for…something.
Mike: Did you drink all the coffee AGAIN?
Buck: I’m a growing boy with ideas. The java is the engine that makes it all come together, my man.
Mike: Whatever. I’ll drink ginger ale.
Buck: My bad. I’ll be more respectful of your caffeine needs in the future. It hurts me to see you this way.
Mike has a seat next to his BFF.
Mike: Whoa. Look at that growth. There is hope for you yet.
Buck: Speaking of growth. I’m been reading Dweck while watching Scooby Doo this morning.
Mike: That’s rather odd.
Buck: What? The Dweck or the Scooby Doo?
Mike: The combination of the two. I mean, who does that?
Buck: Caffeine makes you do crazy things, dude. Anyhow, of course I go down the rabbit hole and I end up with all the blog posts about Growth Mindset in schools.
Mike: Inspiring, right? Intelligence is not fixed. Try hard and persevere. The American Dream is alive, man!
Buck: The Growth Mindset mantra is great, in theory, but REALLY scary when applied to an institution that refuses to look at it’s reflection in the mirror.
Mike: What? How paranoid are you? Are you being serious? What could be dangerous about wanting kids to know that you can improve yourself through working hard and studying?
Buck: Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, bro. Keep to the caffeine.
Mike: (mumbling) I would if someone would have left me some.
Buck: I heard that. But back to my train of thought. This concept appeals to some because it’s essentially a control mechanism, right? If you don’t succeed, work harder. If you don’t succeed again, work harder. The philosophy doesn’t address the actual conditions that one is working under, does it?
Mike: Dweck isn’t a teacher, though. She’s a researcher. This isn’t based on pedagogy.
Buck: Yes, that as well. But consider, if a teacher designs a poor exam or is unable to actually teach and I fail, working harder to pass isn’t an option. I am subjugated by a system that damns me if the instructor does not adopt the “Growth Mindset” as well. Without adding empathy to the formula, I don’t dig the hustle.
Mike: But if the teacher adopts the “Growth Mindset,” I think it can be really effective. Don’t you think?
Buck: Depends. The teacher is a small cog in a larger machine. Don’t school systems still use grades? Grades are not evaluative. They’re punitive. You can’t punish growth, can you? If everyone grows at different rates, then having arbitrary “scoring” systems that aren’t tailored to the different growth rates seems a little daft, don’t you think? I think that people like this idea, but integrating it into a system that is structurally unfair is a bit ludicrous.
Mike: Unfair? Everyone knows that education is the…
Buck: (In his Nate Dogg voice) Hold up. Did you read the GAO report I texted you? Kids can’t use education to get ahead if they are constantly getting in trouble for stuff that others get away with. It’s too early for the institutional racism convo. I’d have to brew another batch.
Mike: I was going to get around to it after I binged Lewis for the third time. You have your cartoons. I need my British crime shows.
Buck: Anderson Paak, homie.
Mike: Huh?
Buck: Nx Wxrries.
Mike: You try too hard, son.
Buck: It’s just more MAGA. The Growth Mindset stuff doesn’t even have that great of an effect size. It’s cool and all, but come on.
Mike: There goes your Christmas present.
Buck: I’ll put another brew on. I got problems to solve.
