Putting the Focus on Learning (Conquering the Grade-Centric Mindset)

Would it surprise you to hear that one of sport’s greatest coaches never mentioned “winning” to his players?   To John Wooden, the longtime head coach of UCLA basketball, winning was an end result.  He wanted his players attendant to the journey, focused on doing the right things, the right way, every day.  Winning is the by-product of those labors.  And some days the best effort results in losses and the worst results in wins.   He asked his players to give all, save none, and do their best.  If that resulted in winning, great.  And Wooden’s teams, their focus elsewhere than on winning, won an awful lot. **

I think you will enjoy this short video clip of Wooden discussing his teaching philosophy:  John Wooden Defines Success (also linked at the end of this post)

Why do I share this?  No, SPS is not starting a basketball team (and even if it were, they would not be looking to a 5’4” ex-lawyer to spearhead the effort).   I share this because it provides a blueprint for getting our students focused on the learning process (the journey) rather than on final grades (the by-product of that journey).

We are not A’s or B’s or C’s.  We are what we know, what we do, and what we believe.  We are the effort we put forth, the potential we realize.  Grades are ephemeral transcript notations; true learning we keep as our own.  How do we help our students understand that, so they can emerge from the haziness of GPA fever and hunger not for A’s but for the means to keep getting better?

Suppose a student comes into Quantitative Analysis with zero understanding of the topic or its purpose.  Inspired by the passionate instructor (let’s call him Prof. Tom B.), the student identifies the course’s treasures,  redoubles effort to obtain them,  puts in extra time-on-task, devours Prof. Tom B.’s timely and useful feedback, and gets a final grade of, heaven help us, 87 (B+).   This student went from zero to 87 in eight weeks.  That’s the value, the scope of knowledge gained.   Despair awaits a student in this situation who laments falling short of an A instead of understanding the extraordinary situational value of this B+. 

  

Now imagine a student who came into the same class but with solid quantitative background and coasted to an 87 (B+).  Both students earned the same grade but with much different value gained because the rigors and splendors of their journeys differed.   The final grades are accurate and fair as they represent the ultimate mastery demonstrated by the student (equal).  But the first student has gained more.  This need not be reflected in the grade, as it is not what grades are for (in my mind).  Grades measure mastery.  The value added, the distance traveled, is recouped personally by the student in terms of human betterment and self-efficacy. 

  

Coach Wooden talked about those days when his teams worked hard and expended their best effort but faced a superior opponent.  Even if his team lost that day, he taught them how to evaluate their own effort, to understand that wins and losses were mere by-products and not the true measure of their ultimate success.

Learning is a culture.  As instructors we are cultural icons in our classrooms.  In that role we can focus our students on the learning journey, liberating them to value effort and quality and let the grades fall where they may.  We must help our students understand and recognize the situation where a hard-earned B+ in one class might be better than an easy A they earned in another. 

**If you prefer the same philosophy but in a different context, consider Eric Rippert’s approach to running a world renowned restaurant:

Jeff Haden:  [L]e Bernardin has received four stars from The New York Times for a record 26 years in a row, with you as executive chef for 18 of those years. How?

Eric Ripert: As much as we don't take for granted our four stars and any awards we have received, we do not think about these on a daily basis--our focus is solely on the kitchen preparing the best food and front of house providing the best service possible.

Click here for the full interview with Chef Ripert from Inc.com.