Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 187: Breaking the "I'm Just Not Good at Math" Myth

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Ep 187: Breaking the "I'm Just Not Good at Math" Myth · New Teacher Talk

My name is Ken King,
and I am an education professor at Aurora University in
Aurora, Illinois.
Today I'm going to talk about fixed mindsets and what we
can do to help learners overcome.
I'm just not a science person.
As a former high school science teacher,
I've heard students use this phrase,
sometimes right after receiving a disappointing exam grade,
to help rationalize their performance.
Later in my career,
I've heard prospective elementary teachers echo similar
sentiments,
often relieved when their cooperating teacher admits that
they don't teach science every day.
This statement reveals a deeply ingrained belief that only
certain people are wired for science,
as well as disciplines such as math, physical education,
or music.
It further challenges the belief that success depends on
innate talent rather than effort or learning.
Underneath this cliché lies several supporting beliefs,
that specific abilities are something one is born with,
that understanding should come easily if one is truly
capable and that lack of immediate success proves an
absence of aptitude.
These ideas reinforce a self-fulfilling identity.
I'm not a science person, but discourages persistence,
curiosity, and risk-taking.
The mindset mirrors broader myths like,
I'm not a math person, or I don't have that kind of brain,
both of which reflect the false notion that intelligence
and ability are fixed rather than developed through
experience and effort.
In this discussion,
we will examine the learning theories and research that
reveal the reality behind this myth and show how
intelligence and capacity for learning can, in fact,
grow over time.
It's time to realize that we can all be science people,
we can all be math people, and music people too.
There's a path forward to make it happen.
It's time to defeat the myth, fixed intelligence.
Let's start with a question.
What do we know about learning?
The everyday students, and even adults,
fall into the trap of believing that ability is fixed.
To understand why these beliefs are misleading and how
teachers can help students move beyond them,
it's useful to look at several key ideas from modern
learning science.
Four perspectives in particular, neuroplasticity,
challenging fixed intelligence beliefs,
thoughtful instructional design, and multimodal learning,
offer a more accurate and empowering picture of how
learning actually works.
These concepts not only counter the myths,
but also provide practical guidance for designing
instruction that helps every learner grow.
Let's start by discussing neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to change and
reorganize itself in response to experience.
When learners practice a skill or revisit a concept,
the neural pathways involved become stronger and more
efficient, often summarized as neurons that fire together,
wire together.
New connections form with repeated use,
while unused ones weaken,
showing that learning literally reshapes the brain.
Productive struggle and mistakes support this process by
prompting the brain to adjust and strengthen the networks
needed for long-term understanding.
Emotion also plays a key role.
Curiosity, motivation,
and a sense of safety promote growth,
while stress can interfere with the learner's ability to
form new connections.
The brain builds knowledge more effectively when lessons
tap into multiple pathways, including movement,
visual input, language, hands-on activities,
and social interaction.
Because the brain remains plastic throughout life,
these principles apply to learners of all ages,
even though the children's brains are especially adaptable.
Sleep further consolidates learning by stabilizing new
memories and reinforcing neural changes.
Altogether,
neuroplasticity shows that learning is an active,
dynamic process shaped by practice, environment,
and meaningful engagement.
Challenging fixed beliefs is important.
Neuroplasticity directly challenges the idea that
intelligence is fixed by showing that the brain is
malleable, not static.
The older view assumed that people were born with a certain
level of intelligence and that their abilities could not
significantly change.
Neuroplasticity proves otherwise.
Learning, practice,
and new experiences physically reshape the brain by
strengthening the existing pathways and creating new ones.
This means that skills once thought to be dependent solely
on innate ability, such as problem-solving, reading,
or reasoning,
could grow with effort and the right kinds of practice.
Because neural connections continue to form throughout
life,
neuroplasticity shows that intelligence is dynamic and
expandable when learners engage in challenging tasks,
make mistakes, receive feedback,
and persist through difficulty,
their brains adapt and become more efficient in handling
complex thinking.
This directly contradicts the fixed intelligence mindset
and supports the growth mindset.
This directly contradicts the fixed intelligence mindset
and supports the growth mindset.
Abilities are not pre-determined limits but can be
developed over time.
In terms of instruction,
teachers have an influence over this.
Begovki's zone of proximal development,
sometimes called the ZPD,
and Brunner's concept of scaffolding provide the
instructional structure that makes the neuroplastic change
possible.
The ZPD can be described as the sweet spot for learning,
tasks that lie just beyond what a learner can do
independently, but become achievable with guidance.
Scaffolding, whether through modeling,
through questioning visual supports or collaborative work,
supplies the temporary support that enables learners to
successfully engage in this zone.
As students practice within the ZPD,
supports are gradually withdrawn,
promoting independence and strengthening neural pathways
through repeated, meaningful effort.
Together, neuroplasticity, ZPD,
and scaffolding offer powerful counter-arguments to fixed
intelligence beliefs.
Growth occurs when learners are supported to stretch beyond
the current level, encounter manageable challenge,
and persist through difficulty.
Learning is therefore not the unfolding of a preset
ability,
but the act of construction and reconstruction of the brain
itself.
To support this,
we can look at the roles of multimodal learning.
So to tie all this together,
it's important to remember that the brain learns best when
it's engaged in many different ways.
Using Rupert, visual input, use of language,
hands-on activities,
and social interaction activates multiple parts of the
brain at once, which strengthens learning by building rich,
connected neural networks.
This is not the same as the outdated idea of learning
styles,
which suggests that each person learns best through one
preferred mode, like visual or auditory.
Instead,
research shows that everyone benefits from using multiple
modalities together,
because each one reinforces learning in a different way.
Carrying these approaches with support in ZPD and the
natural growth that comes from neuroplasticity helps all
learners build stronger understanding over time.
What can teachers do?
Well,
we understand that how the brain grows through challenge,
support,
and varied learning experiences naturally leads to the
question of what teachers can do to promote that growth.
Free, powerful strategies, giving constructive feedback,
designing scaffolded tasks,
and modeling a growth mindset are all important.
These actions will translate the science of learning into
everyday classroom practice.
These approaches create the conditions that the brain needs
to build strong neural networks, take productive risks,
and develop confidence as a learner.
One of the first things a teacher can do is emphasize
mastery-oriented feedback.
Focusing feedback on effort, strategy use, and progress,
rather than innate ability,
helps students see learning as something they do,
not something they are.
When teachers highlight the specific actions students took,
such as revising a hypothesis,
choosing an effective method,
or trying a new problem-solving approach,
they reinforce the idea that the improvements come from a
purposeful effort.
This kind of feedback also helps students recognize what is
working so they can repeat those strategies in the future.
Research by Hattie and Temperly, back in 2007,
shows that the feedback directed toward the process of
learning,
not just the final answer to the learner's traits,
has a powerful impact on achievement because it strengthens
self-efficacy and it encourages persistence.
Here are two examples of how to frame feedback that will
make a difference by showing students that effort and
action, rather than their identity, makes a difference.
In a science example, providing feedback such as,
you try two different ways to solve a chemistry problem
before finding a method that worked.
That persistence and willingness to test strategies is what
helped you get the correct answer.
Keep using that approach.
This works because it praises the strategy,
revising the procedure, and the effort,
learning the trial again, and the growth.
There are results,
rather than labeling the student as being good at science.
In an example drawn from math,
this is the sort of feedback that supports learning.
It's said to the student,
you tried several different ways to solve that fraction
problem before finding the method that worked.
In fact, you found two ways that work.
That persistence and willingness to try new ideas is what
helped you get the correct answer.
Keep that up.
This supports learning and a change of perspective as it
focuses on the student's problem-solving process and
perseverance and reinforces the idea that success comes
from strategic effort, not from being math-ers.
Using scaffolding to design challenging tasks is another
important approach to breaking the fixed mindset idea.
Using the zone of proximal development means designing
tasks that stretch students just beyond what they can
currently do on their own,
but are still achievable with the right kind of support.
Scaffolding provides that support through modeling,
prompts, visuals, sentence starters, checklists,
or guided practice.
As students become more capable,
these supports are gradually removed,
so learners get removed from guided work to collaborative
work to independent mastery.
This approach reflects Vygotsky's view that learning
potential is highest when students operate in this zone of
challenge with just enough assistance to be successful.
Fisher and Gray's gradual release of responsibility model
reinforces this idea by showing how effective teaching
shifts cognitive work from the teacher to the student
deliberate stages promoting stronger understanding and long
term trends.
Let's consider examples from literacy and social studies as
to how you might do this.
When teaching students how to write an analytical
paragraph,
a teacher might begin by modeling how to identify evidence
and explain its significance.
Students then practice with a partner using a structured
graphic organizer and finally move on to writing their own
paragraph independently.
The supports fade as their confidence and skill develop.
In social studies,
while teaching a unit on primary and secondary sources,
students may initially need a checklist to analyze a
historic document.
Questions like who created this?
When did they create it?
What was the purpose?
Working first with guided questions and then with small
groups,
they eventually learn to evaluate sources independently.
As the supports are removed,
they build the ability to think like historians.
Teachers should also model and teach the growth mindset
itself.
Teachers can powerfully model a growth mindset when they
openly share their own learning struggles,
normalize mistakes, and demonstrate how revising,
practicing, and trying new strategies lead to improvement.
Instead of presenting themselves as effortlessly
knowledgeable,
teachers show students what real learning looks like.
It's messy, it's iterative, it's full of adjustments.
This helps students see that their challenges are not signs
of failure,
but opportunities for the brain to grow stronger.
Carol Dweck's work demonstrates that when learners believe
their abilities can be developed,
they become more motivated, become more persistent,
and more strategic.
Key ingredients for academic success.
Research even shows that students who adopt a growth
mindset about math outperform peers who believe that
mathematical ability is fixed.
For instance,
let's consider what a math teacher solving multi-step
equation might say.
I tried isolating the variable this way,
but now the numbers don't balance.
Instead of getting frustrated,
I'm going to go look at the equation again and think about
another strategy.
Maybe I should just combine the like terms first.
That usually makes things easier for me.
If that doesn't work, I'll try drawing a model.
Let's keep testing until we find a method that makes sense.
This approach works because it normalizes mistakes,
showing students that even experts make,
but they also fix their errors,
while also making the learning process visible rather than
just presenting the final answer.
As teachers think aloud, students witness the strategies,
decisions, and revisions that lead to understanding,
which helps them see that persistence is a natural part of
problem solving.
By narrating how they check their work, revise their steps,
and try new approaches,
teachers connect effort directly to growth and reinforce
the idea that improvement comes from practice,
not from innate ability.
In doing so,
they model a growth mindset using language that highlights
ability as something that develops over time through
deliberate effort.
To close,
let's consider the roles of intelligence and what takes
place in your classroom.
Intelligence,
which includes the learner's ability to understand and
succeed in science and other disciplines,
is not a fixed trait that students either possess or lack.
It's dynamic and it grows through challenge,
well-timed support, persistence,
and meaningful learning experiences.
As an early-career teacher,
you play a crucial role in shaping that growth by offering
constructive feedback,
designing appropriately challenging tasks,
providing thoughtful scaffolding,
and modeling a growth mindset in your daily interactions.
When you intentionally apply these principles,
you help all learners move beyond limiting beliefs,
especially those who think they are not science people,
and create a classroom environment where every student sees
their potential to develop and improve.
Thank you for listening.
I hope that you become a regular follower of this podcast
channel, and remember, as a new teacher,
we are here to help.