We were pleased to have another of our articles on education published recently in the Fiji Times (23.8.21). We wrote on the Pygmalion effect and how our expectations can result in sometimes incorrect expectations on students. We all have heard of the story where someone was told 'you will never be anything'.
So what is the Pygmalion effect? It has its origins in Greek mythology where Pygmalion was an expert sculptor who fell in love with an ivory statue of his own. He asked the gods to give him a wife just like his statue. The god granted him his request, resulting in the statue coming to life. In other words setting expectations as he saw it.
The challenge for us then is how can we teachers use the lessons of the Pygmalion effect in our classroom today? How can we use our “expectations” to influence student outcomes? How do we apply these studies?
In the article, we look at the lessons from educational research on the Pygmalion effect and what are the implications for us teachers in the classroom and what to avoid.
Read the full article using the link below.