The Washington Post ran an article recently that was ostensibly about the U.S. women’s national soccer team. It focused on their coach’s embrace of a concept she calls “positive discomfort,” the idea that someone can’t reach their full potential without pushing themselves beyond their normal comfort zone.
It’s worked for the coach, Emma Hayes, who’s had success with the concept in high-level international soccer. And, as the article notes, it’s also an approach that can also be deployed in schools:
Middle school students also respond positively to high support in classrooms. In an experiment published by Yeager and Stanford psychologist Geoffrey Cohen, teachers covered students’ essays with critical comments.
Half the students received a note from the teacher: I’m giving you these comments because I have very high standards and I know that you can reach them. The other half received a different note: I’m giving you these comments so you’ll have feedback on your essay.
The first note contained “wise feedback,” a clear statement describing the reason for the critique: the belief that the student could meet the high standard with the right support. Those students were twice as likely to revise their essays, and they improved the quality of their final drafts. Black students benefited more than White students in the experiment, and nearly 90 percent of their scores improved from the first to the second draft, the researchers said.
Jim Cowen has written before about the powerful combination of high standards, practice, and accountability embodied by the U.S. women’s team, and how it can also make a winning formula for students. These types of interventions cost nothing more than a little bit of extra time. They show students that the adults around them care about their success. And, by maintaining high standards, teachers can nudge their students to reach a little bit higher.
