“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Belief” is unique in that in some contexts it seems like a stage in the continuum of action, while in other contexts it appears as a crossroads — or perhaps as a gatekeeper — either promoting or impeding action. Robert Anton Wilson, in his book Prometheus Rising, describes a thought experiment where participants begin each day by vividly imagining a quarter, repeatedly telling themselves, “I will find a quarter today!” A seemingly innocent thought like “today, I will find a quarter”, given enough time and faith, can bring out a change in one’s routine; “I’m a failure”, on the other hand, may lead to “what’s the point?” and impede action.
“Belief” also marks the point at which instructors’ influence drops to nil. Teachers exhibit some degree of impact on students’ Observations and Understandings through the materials and method through which a lesson is taught. Beliefs, on the other hand, are highly personal evaluations that develop in response to Understandings; one could sooner convince a child a yellow table is black than the same child that Brussells sprouts are tasty, desirable snacks when she adamantly holds fast to her assertion that “all vegetables are yucky”.
My Belief regarding the pivotal role of “Belief” in students’ learning experience led me to decide upon three different action plans with origins in Social-Emotional Learning:
- Designing, implementing, and facilitating the development of an inclusive, mutually supportive classroom environment
- Incorporating multimodal lesson and unit delivery that equally emphasizes learning strategies as well as outcomes
- Facilitating the development or adaptation of positive self-concepts through scaffolding learning, teaching emotional literacy and coping strategies, and increasing focus and emphasis on process- and progress-based assessment
Pathway to Inquiry: You are at BELIEF
Introduction — Observation — Understanding — BELIEF — Action