Many methods have been devised in the world of education to foster children’s talents. One of them is the Pygmalion effect. Research on this effect was conducted using intelligence tests on kindergarteners and elementary school students (grades 1-5). The experiment began with a university director giving teachers false information that they had administered the “Harvard University Learning Ability Prediction Test.” The teachers were then told that a randomly selected group of children were “children with great potential.” Six months later, the same children were given the intelligence test again. Surprisingly, the children whom the teachers had believed would improve actually did have higher IQs. The results of this Pygmalion effect experiment caused a great shock in the psychology and education communities upon their publication. The fact that children could improve simply through teachers’ expectations was astonishing.
However, experts were aware not only of the results but also of the process. Experts observed the homeroom teachers. The teachers tended to praise and reprimand high-expectation students more often. They also tended to give more smiles, nods, and eye contact to these students. It was found that teachers’ implicit expectation-based behavior influenced the students’ motivation. Conversely, teachers tended to avoid friendly interactions with low-expectation students. These students were called upon less frequently during class, and praised less even when they succeeded. This experiment, demonstrating how the level of expectation affects educational effectiveness, was a landmark finding.
In real schools, the success or failure of students depends on the teacher. What distinguishes teachers who can effectively nurture children’s talents from those who cannot? It seems to lie in the difference in their perspectives on children. Ineffective teachers tend to view children in a binary or definitive way, focusing on whether they can do “this” or “that.” Skilled teachers have a keen understanding of each child’s situation and possess an individualized measuring stick. They have a step-by-step teaching method that shows how much a child can do and how to help them succeed. It might be easier to understand teaching methods from the perspective of a measuring stick. A poor teacher’s measuring stick is characterized by very coarse markings. The growth and abilities of individual children are lost between the markings. On the other hand, a skilled teacher has a measuring stick with millimeter markings for slower learners and centimeter markings for faster learners. They can use a flexible measuring stick to teach in a way that doesn’t miss any of the budding growth in each child.
