One of the major stumbling blocks that comes up when we discuss learning culture is uncertainty about how, exactly, one goes about teaching students the skills we’re discussing.
How do you teach someone to be a risk-taker? How do you teach resilience? How do you teach confidence?
And the answer is…you don’t. Not directly.
Tell a student, “Be confident! Be resilient! Be a risk-taker!” and they’ll say… “How?”
But if you tell a student, “Making a mistake is perfectly fine and normal, as long as you learn from it,” over and over again, at every opportunity and in every medium possible, for the entire time you get to spend with them—they will begin to internalise it. It will become a habit.
And a student who has been taught the habit of thinking about mistakes as a natural part of learning, rather than as a calamity, will be much more likely to be willing to take a risk. That learner will be more likely to be resilient in the face of a disappointing grade or assessment score. That learner will be less fearful—which looks suspiciously like ‘more confident!’
MuchSmarter’s methodology, built over twenty years of private tuition and in line with the very best in international research, focuses on teaching students habits of thinking, habits of feeling, and habits of learning that allow them to develop the character traits and skills necessary to learning whatever they want.
Our team has collectively helped hundreds of individual students on both sides of the Atlantic develop these habits and become more capable, confident learners who are willing to take risks, who are resilient enough to withstand pressure and grow from setbacks, who are independent and intellectually curious, and who see themselves as lifelong learners.
And we want to empower schools to do the same for their staff and their student bodies.
Because if helping an individual develop and strengthen these habits is the way to mould that individual’s character, helping a community develop and strengthen these habits is how you build a learning culture.
Take a moment to ask yourself:
And if there’s anything we can do to help you build the learning culture you want for your school and your community, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
Our learning philosophy focuses on teaching students more effective habits of thinking, feeling, and learning in order to help them improve key traits like self-image, willingness to take risks, resilience, independence, and curiosity.
We focus on teaching the process of learning, rather than just on the material that students need to learn in order to make a grade, and on showing students and educators alike how to approach the learning process as a game of skill.
Our research-backed and evidence-based programme uses a blend of experiential learning, student stories, and group discussions to set an entire school staff on a unified path towards creating an engaging, empowering learning culture.
I like MuchSmarter because I'm only ever competing against myself and not other people.
It makes practising fun and not stressful.
I was getting less than one quarter of maths questions correct in practise. I worked on my maths fundamentals on MuchSmarter and wound up getting two-thirds of the questions correct on my final assessment!
