Blog Post #1-Mindsets, Grit, Strength Based Thinking vs. Critical Leadership; Can They Ever Be Frien

As I reflect on the first evening of our Technology and Leadership course, one of the ideas that stood out for me was the concept of Strength Based Thinking. As the instructor introduced both herself and the framework and philosophy of the course, on the fourth slide of her presentation, was a chart contrasting the concepts of Deficit Thinking vs. Strength Based Thinking. While I was new to this particular iteration of the hugely popular concept of positive thinking, the tenents of Strength Based thinking such as "focusing on what is working" and "reliance on personal strengths" was reminiscent of Dwek's work on Growth Mindsets and dare I say it, Angela Duckworth's work on "Grit". As teachers who are continually convincing our students that the path to success is contingent upon their ability and willingness to work hard and to work harder, these ideas are tempting both for their simplicity and seemingly irrrefutable nature. As the daughter of two hard working, successful Jamaican immigrants who came to this country in a time of economic growth, clinging to a narrative that "hard work will conquer all" makes sense to me on a very basic, instinctual level. After all, my parents came here the 1960s with nothing accept their labour, and managed to build a succesful life, raise two children and own a home. During the course of my childhood, my parents preached extholded the values of hard work and determination even as they However, upon closer examination of these concepts, I cannot deny the need for a more nuanced analysis of these ideas. As a critical educator, I understand the role and impact of both historical, and continued systemic marginalization of various groups in society. I must therefore unpack and critically examine any system of thinking that only deals with individual behaviour. With all that we claim to understand about the role that systems of oppression play in the lives of our students both inside and outside of the classroom, why do we continue to promote ideologies that only look at individual "character" and behaviour as indicators and predictors of success? Recently, the school board with which I am employed has begun to examine and share the data that indicates what in my community has long been known to be true anecdotally; that Black male and Indigenous learners have among the lowest rates of graduation in the system. How do concepts such as "Grit" and "Growth Mindsets" account for these imbalances? Does it make sense to talk about "personal responsibility" and "independence" and the "capacity to act" in the context of a system rife with inequality. Some may argue that populations who have been disenfranchised need to adopt the values encapsulated in these ideologies even more than mainstream populations. In addition, the majority of the educational leaders within my own ethno-racial community do in fact advocate these types of "personal agency" narratives as a remedy for the large scale systemic barriers that have continued to suppress the educational outcomes of Black and other marginalized groups of students. What do you think? Can these kinds of narratives lead to the kind of equity that we need to promote the equitable access that we need for historically marginalized groups of students?