It was serendipitous that the name of my practice is "By George". More of a play on words between my last name than the original context.
You see “By George, I think she’s got it!” is the exclamation of Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) in the 1964 musical “My Fair Lady” when the beautiful Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) gracefully descends the stairs like a ‘lady’.
Professor Higgins made a wager that he could take a flower girl and turn her into to a lady of society.
Politically incorrect today, but the method he used is the same. He changed his language to change her story about herself. Basically, the Pygmalion Effect.
The Pygmalion effect refers to situations where high expectations lead to improved performance and low expectations lead to worsened performance.
So why does this matter to us as educators and good people?
As we start our year of education with a new classroom of bright eyed and stary eyed students, refrain from making judgement based on previous educator’s relationships.
Consider every student as eager, bright and sponge like who is looking to become a better version of themselves. They are telling themselves a story based on their past experiences of which you don’t know.
But you do know how to tell a story based on your knowledge of supporting and building relationships. Using positive language, uplifting language, inspiring language. Because this is not, what we tell ourselves.
I remember the start of a school year with my Year 5 class at Bungaree Primary School and the previous teacher started to tell me about her negative relationships with some of the students. I listened for a few minutes, thanked her for insights and promptly forgot them.
Every student was a winner. Every student could progress. I told them every day. I had high expectations for every child, and I used language to make sure they knew.
It was a matter of finding the things they were good at and building on these. Relate the possibility of success, to what they currently succeed at.
The Pygmalion Effect.
At the end of the year, I was proud to say to myself, “By George I think they’ve got it.”
What language are you using that changes or supports your student’s stories?
PS. I love being part of someone’s growth hence why I love the connotations of By George.
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