Ch. 2 Response

Wagner identifies self-confidence as “one of the most important qualities of an innovator” (39) and points to Ed Carryer’s classroom as one in which self-confidence is an ultimate goal. Although I would like to explore Kirk’s self-confidence as a manifestation of inherent social factors (looks, privileged background, athletic ability, personality, etc.), I will proceed as though self-confidence can be limited to parenting and education. Much of the underachievement and negative performance that I see in the classroom could definitely be attributable to the lack of that essential trait. When students rely on me to answer a question, for example, or when they prematurely give up on a task, I’m not sure it’s because they lack resourcefulness or persistence per se; instead, those behaviors could be derivations of a root cause, specifically a lack of self-confidence. We see the implications of this all the time. It’s why students are often crippled by constructive criticism. I am reminded of Amy Chua’s statement that the ‘tiger mother’ assumes strength on the part of the child, whereas the Western parent assumes fragility - perhaps the Western teacher as well? I see the lack of self-confidence with un-submitted assignments and that pesky non-answer, “I don’t know,” which, of course, is nothing more than a student’s reluctance to take a risk. I am convinced that many of my students know the right answer or have insightful ideas but are too self-conscious about being wrong to proffer an answer. Even within the brainstorming session that was built into my current PBL unit, I saw students shut down after an idea was rebuffed instead of motivated by a new challenge. This goes back to Wagner’s nod to the ‘fail early, fail often’ advice for entrepreneurs back in chapter one, but I wonder at what point failure becomes self-defeating? More importantly, how do I help students trust their own ideas and decisions and empower them to overcome setbacks and pursue innovation.

If self-confidence is built on past achievements, the ability to control situations, and the affirmations of peers, parents, and teachers, then PBL should naturally foster self-confidence; thankfully, I am seeing some evidence of that. First, my scaffolding for the narrative writing project set up small successes that allowed students to engage in low-risk, no-wrong-answer assignments that built on one another. For students accustomed to failure, this seemed to be a huge relief and allowed for an early achievement to propel them forward. Additionally, I was able to affirm students’ answers (plus remind them to provide justification) even if I disagreed with their answers. Finally, completing tasks at each group’s own pace seemed to bolster student attitudes about the project. That bit of student choice in terms of deadlines as well as the students’ ability to determine the requirements of the project gave them some self-confidence. However, when students were required to storyboard their own photo essays (creation), I felt like many of them reverted to learned helplessness, which is the educational opposite of self-confidence. So while I gave students successes and practice with the four exact skills needed for their own photo essays (arrangement, photo types, text/image connection, and narrative arc), the skills did not necessarily carry over. Even though this was a ‘near transfer’ of similar tasks, not all students felt confident with the creation of their own product.

In thinking about how best to instill self-confidence, I cannot help but think that there is a direct correlation between expertise and confidence. Even though Wagner minimizes the expertise component of the equation, I think professionals who are experienced and knowledgeable exude confidence not naturally but by being relied upon, looked to as a leader, and having the knowledge needed to confront any situation. Without knowledge, options cannot accurately be weighed, connections are not made, and discussions are limited, if not eradicated. I understand Wagner’s point in downplaying knowledge, but there is no immediate substitute for the internalized information that informs decisions and enriches projects.