From a Grain to a Harvest

I recently came across an interesting website, Psychology Matters, whose mission is to demonstrate "the application and value of psychological science in our everyday lives." The site includes brief reports on a variety of interesting topics, one of which examines the effect thinking of intelligence as changeable rather than fixed has on academic achievement. This report describes an experiment in which one group of students was informed of the malleability of intelligence and another was not (the control group). The study found that the students who were told that intelligence is changeable had greater improvement in their grades, and saw academics as more important, than the students in the control group. The report goes on to describe the application of this principle with a group of seventh-grade students in New York:

During the first eight weeks of the spring term, these students learned about the malleability of intelligence by reading and discussing a science-based article that described how intelligence develops. A control group of seventh-grade students did not learn about intelligence's changeability, and instead learned about memory and mnemonic strategies. As compared to the control group, students who learned about intelligence's malleability had higher academic motivation, better academic behavior, and better grades in mathematics. Indeed, students who were members of vulnerable groups (e.g., those who previously thought that intelligence cannot change, those who had low prior mathematics achievement, and female students) had higher mathematics grades following the intelligence-is-malleable intervention, while the grades of similar students in the control group declined. In fact, girls who received the intervention matched and even slightly exceeded the boys in math grades, whereas girls in the control group performed well below the boys.

These findings shed an interesting light on the importance placed in the Writings of the Baha'i Faith on education. 'Abdu'l-Baha described the interplay between education and the unique God-given capacity bestowed upon each individual as follows:

. . . education cannot alter the inner essence of a man, but it doth exert tremendous influence, and with this power it can bring forth from the individual whatever perfections and capacities are deposited within him. A grain of wheat, when cultivated by the farmer, will yield a whole harvest, and a seed, through the gardener's care, will grow into a great tree. Thanks to a teacher's loving efforts, the children of the primary school may reach the highest levels of achievement; indeed, his benefactions may lift some child of small account to an exalted throne. Thus is it clearly demonstrated that by their essential nature, minds vary as to their capacity, while education also playeth a great role and exerteth a powerful effect on their development.

Moreover, one of the central teachings of the Baha'i Faith is the primary importance of educating female children, as one of the most significant obstacles to the establishment of the equality of women and men in the world, and all of the attendant consequences of this development, has been the denial of educational opportunities to women. It is interesting in this light to consider the finding of the study cited above related to the marked improvement in math grades for female students who received the "intelligence-is-malleable intervention." 'Abdu'l-Baha writes:

. . . the principle of religion has been revealed by Bahá'u'lláh that woman must be given the privilege of equal education with man and full right to his prerogatives. That is to say, there must be no difference in the education of male and female in order that womankind may develop equal capacity and importance with man in the social and economic equation. Then the world will attain unity and harmony.

And finally, one last quotation from 'Abdu'l-Baha that relates very closely to the findings of the study:

When one attempts to educate a person, one should inspire him with hope and ambition so his capacity for progress may increase. He should not be told that he is inferior or weaker in qualities. If you tell a pupil in school that his intelligence is less than that of the other pupils, it is a very great obstacle to his advancement. On the contrary, he must be encouraged to advance, saying: you are most capable, and if you endeavor you will reach the highest pitch -- and that is the way it should be.