ERIC Number: EJ1119250
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Nov
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-1784
EISSN: N/A
Research Matters/Flip the Script on Fate Control
Goodwin, Bryan
Educational Leadership, v74 n3 p83-84 Nov 2016
In this article, Bryan Goodwin reflects on a Johns Hopkins University study from 1966 that at that time sent shock waves across America. The report's sober conclusion was that: "Schools provide no opportunity at all" to bring impoverished and minority students up to the starting line. Rather, schools allow them to "fall farther behind the white majority in the development of critical skills" (1966). The results of a survey of students revealed that they felt they could not control their own destinies. This was a predictable response to living with the uncertainty of poverty or in the long shadow of discrimination. So educators shouldn't be surprised that many poor and minority students tend to see themselves as lacking "fate control." Yet Goodwin adds, it's worth keeping in mind that although 50 years ago the label "fate control" has since found that educators can nurture students' internal locus of control by creating safe, secure, predictable learning environments. In so doing, there is the ability to help students flip the script and develop a new belief: "People like me have a chance."
Descriptors: Equal Education, Poverty, Low Income Students, Minority Group Students, Racial Discrimination, Self Concept, Student Empowerment, Locus of Control, Student Attitudes, Teacher Role, Educational Environment, Educational History
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A