Labels are for Jars, not People
It is 1993 and I am a new fifth grade teacher. I buzz around my classroom happily, excited to meet the 28 humans who I will be privileged to spend the year with. But something strange keeps happening as I meet new staff.
“Oh, fifth grade … good luck!”
“Mmm that class.”
Eventually, Mary comes in with a pile of folders, wearing compassion and concern on her face she begins, “Here are the folders for your students. Everything you need to know about them is in there. Don’t worry - I’ll be here to help you. They are a tough bunch. You’ll see.”
Me: “What do you mean tough?”
“Well, let’s just say, don’t plan to smile until November at the earliest.” and off goes Mary clicking her heels down the hall.
I am left with a pile of judgements and evaluations staring at me.
In an act that still feels like deep subversion, I took the pile of folders and tucked them into a file drawer. “Hmph. ‘That class. Tough bunch.’ Sounds like a challenge to me!”
I created two huge words to hang at the front of my classroom that shaped our journey together that year:
Community / Respect
Even as a new teacher I knew I did not want my students coming to me with labels - I wanted to get to know them for myself. For us to grow together as a community of learners, and for me to have an opportunity to return to the files later (which by the way I NEVER did read).
There is more to the story of this year of teaching that greatly shaped - and reinforced - my belief system about students. There were obviously bumps in the road and lessons for me to learn. But you should know that my students thrived and exceeded previous expectations. Students who had been receiving pull-out services remained in my classroom, and everyone took steps forward heading off to middle school prepared.
I am often drawn back into this memory. What would the year have looked like for my students if I had begun with the folders - with their labels and deficits? This story is on my mind as I begin my work for the new year. Being mindful of the impact of how what we think, talk and believe about our students is something that has always been part of my work. After recently having the opportunity to attend the NCTM regional conference in Baltimore, I am again inspired to talk about this. If you aren’t familiar with Ken Williams, I urge you to investigate his powerful work here and to follow him on your favorite social media platform.
Graphic created by Jill Gough - More about Jill Gough here
Jill Gough shared this amazing sketch note summarizing the talk where Williams speaks passionately about four rules for ruthlessness from his new book Ruthless Equity.
In his new book, Williams shares his 4 rules of ruthlessness that are as follows:
Courage over comfort
Dismantle ability groups
Start with the crown (not with the kid)
Commitment to momentum over mood rings
I’d like to focus on #2 - Dismantling ability groups - dismantling a system of sorting children into ability whether that is tracking students into different classes or courses, creating small groups within a classroom that are based on overall ability levels or referring to children by their perceived overall ability. Words such as low / struggling / high-flyers … any word that reduces students to their performance in the math classroom (or any subject for that matter) is limiting. Research is clear on this. When we stop labeling students, their performance improves.
“providing a label to a student in many cases creates a glass ceiling” - DeWitt 2018
In an article in EdWeek on the subject of labeling, Peter DeWitt writes, “In Hattie’s research, which involves over 251 influences on learning, Not labeling students has an effect size of .61. That is significantly over the .40 that equates to a year’s worth of growth for a year’s input. What the research shows is that providing a label to a student in many cases creates a glass ceiling, which means that the student works to their label, and not always above it.”
One small shift of changing language by eliminating labels and deficit-based conversations (what they don’t know or can’t do vs. what they DO KNOW and CAN DO) can have a huge impact. According to the Hattie meta-analysis of the research, what teachers believe about a student has a significant effect on achievement.
Teacher estimates of achievement had an effect size of 1.29! That is a massive impact - what teachers think students will achieve IS what they achieve.
Here is an example of shifting your language, which in turn impacts students' learning. If you give an assessment and find out that you have 6 students who do not understand multi-digit multiplication, then that’s what you have - six students who need more time with multi-digit multiplication. You don’t have 6 low or struggling students. You then focus on the standard and the mathematics you need students to make sense of, and connect to what those students already know. That’s where you get to roll up your sleeves, find out what students DO KNOW and DO HAVE SUCCESS with, and build from there.
I’ve written more about this in previous blogs. Suggestions for how to make this shift can be found here:
From Jo Boaler, we learn that even positive perceived labels such as high-flyer negatively impact students. “The labeling of some students sends negative messages about potential, that are out of sync with important knowledge of neuroplasticity showing that everyone’s brains can grow and change. But few people realize that those labels are damaging for those who receive them too. At Stanford many students were labeled as gifted in Kindergarten or 1st grade and received special advantages from that point on, raising many questions about equity in schools. But labels and ideas of smartness and giftedness carry with them fixed ideas about ability, suggesting to students that they are born with a gift or a special brain. When students are led to believe they are gifted, or they have a “math brain” or they are “smart” and later struggle, that struggle is absolutely devastating.”
To learn more watch her video here:
So while a new year comes with ideas of challenges, resolutions, new things for you to do … I am asking you to not do something. As I did in 1993 and continue to do, join me and slide those metaphorical folders and piles of deficit language into a drawer. There’s no special planning for you to do to make this change. No work to do. Simply eliminate limiting language (no more low students, struggling students or high-flyers). Just students. AND spread the word by helping to educate others as to how and why need to make the shift.
Let’s let 2023 be the year that this change happens!