Success versus failure and the “not yet” principle

I was introduced to the concept of “not yet” after listening to a presentation by NASA astrophysicist Dr. Michelle Thaller and one by Dr. Carol Dweck, a psychologist best known for her groundbreaking work in motivation, specifically, the growth mindset. After listening to them one after the other, a light bulb went off in my head. One of the ongoing challenges many faculty face is getting students to stop focusing so much on their grades. They seem to attach such significance to them, including their self-esteem, confidence, and whether they see themselves as a “success” or “failure.”  They don’t even have to earn a failing grade to feel like a failure. I know all of you can probably think of a student who considered their 89% a failure because it wasn’t higher. How can we counsel these students and help them see that a grade doesn’t define them? 

That’s where the information presented by Dr. Thaller and Dr. Dweck comes in. Dr. Thaller spoke of her experience of not thinking about her work as defining whether she was a success or a failure.  She is an experienced researcher who focuses on communicating and educating the public about science. Due to her exposure to young people, she found she is commonly asked questions like, “How did you become a success?” and “How did you overcome failure?”  The reality is, as Dr. Thaller eloquently points out – we are both. We succeed and fail all the time. But our society is so focused on being successful that failure is seen as unacceptable. What if we could change that message? What if we could send a different message to our students? What if mistakes and failures (real or perceived) are just opportunities to learn and grow? 

I pondered these ideas as I listened to Dr. Dweck, who spoke about “the power of yet” or, more specifically, the power of “not yet.” In her studies, she has shown the importance of helping students understand that learning is on a continuum, and if they haven’t mastered something, it doesn’t equate with failure but rather that they just haven’t mastered it - yet. (Dweck, 2014). It is about getting students to embrace this concept, which is part of the growth mindset. Her research confirms that the student’s mindset significantly impacts learning. Dr. Dweck defines mindset as how learners perceive their abilities, and she found that this plays a crucial role in motivation and achievement (Dweck, 2015). A growth mindset is not about effort, although effort certainly plays a role. Instead, it is about what students believe about their ability to learn that allows them to move into challenges with a willingness to explore, try, fail, and learn. We see this dynamic in our students every day. Some students roll with change, adjust, and figure out how to navigate things to keep learning. In other words, they have a growth mindset and trust their ability.  Other students move into fear, panic, and defeat, resulting in resistance and struggle. 

The Not Yet Principle

Dr. Dweck’s idea about “not yet” comes in here. Instead of perpetuating that passing equals success and failing equals failure, what if, for those students who are not passing, we use the term “not yet” instead of “you failed.” I agree with Dr. Dweck that, as teachers, we can change the message and help students move from seeing themselves as failures to considering that they simply have “not yet” learned what is needed. More time is required, although not necessarily more effort.  Think about it. How often have we said to students, “Great effort” or “ I know you tried your best.” These messages continue to reinforce effort over learning. What if, instead of posting their score as 62%, they receive a “not yet” as an alternative? This message may help students not see themselves as failures but rather encourage their belief in their ability to learn and work with them to help them get there.  I learned long ago that what I say and how I say it to students significantly impacts how they see things. Next time you hear a student say, I just can’t get this, or I have never been good at (fill in the blank), have them say instead, “I just can’t get this – yet.”  This seemingly inconsequential word has such potential to help students shift their mindset about their ability to learn.

References

Dweck, C. (2014, October 9). Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ?si=HXsvrESgN61qpW1g

Dweck, C. (2014, November). The power of believing you can improve. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?subtitle=en

Dweck, C. (2015) Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset.’ Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset.html

Thaller, M. (2018, March 14). How success and failure co-exist in every single one of us. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/p1xntUXRhSE?si=4RHGeHeGMdMOP8St