Lean Six Sigma Academy

“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” ~Albert Einstein

Last night we discussed two different learning theories – entity and incremental.

I read about these theories in the book The Art of Learning which was written by Josh Waitzkin – an eight time National Chess Champion and subject of the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fisher in his youth.  He then went on to win twenty-one National Championships in martial arts in his later years.

In last nights article I explained that even though an individual is plagued with an entity theory learning style, meaning he or she sees their knowledge level as a “thing” or “entity” that cannot evolve, they can change.

Nothing to do with intelligence

Now then, it should first be noted that, according to Waitzkin and other developmental psychologists, an individual’s intelligence level has nothing to do with their learning theory. Instead, these individuals – especially children – are basically handed their learning theory based on the instruction they receive from their teachers, parents, etc.

Forming an Entity Theorist

There seems to be a very fine line in how instruction can and should be delivered in order to either help or harm the student.  Waitzkin writes:

Entity theorists tend to have been told that they did well when they have succeeded, and they weren’t any good at something when they failed.

So a kid aces his math test, comes home, and hears “Wow, that’s my boy! As smart as they come!” Then next week Johnny fails his English test and hears “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you read?” or “Your Mommy never liked reading either – obviously it’s not your thing.”

So the boy figures he’s good at math and bad at English, and what’s more, he links success and failure to ingrained ability.

Now, you may be thinking… what kind of jerk parent would act like this? I hope the answer is not many. Sadly, I imagine there are a few.

But what about at the office or in the plant? Have you ever known a manager to ridicule an employee who made a mistake, or made someone feel like they were just a replaceable number in the ERP system? I sense a few more hands going up into the air.

Forming an Incremental or Learning Theorist

Waitzkin then goes on to explain the other side of the coin.

Learning theorists, on the other hand, are given feedback that is more process oriented. After doing well on an English essay, a little girl might be congratulated by her teacher with “Wow, great job Julie! You’re really becoming a wonderful writer. Keep up the good work!”

And if she does badly on math test, her teacher might write “Study a little harder for the next one and you’ll do great! And feel free to ask me questions any, that’s what I’m here for.”

So Julie learns to associate effort with success and feels that she can become good at anything with hard work. She also feels as though she is on a journey of learning, and her teacher is a friendly assistant in her growth.

What do you think?

What do you think about all this? I got several emails today about my article last night. Some folks agreed…. while some saw things differently. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Have you ever watched the movie Searching for Bobby Fisher? It’s the one about the child prodigy chess player. Well the child, Josh Waitzkin, is all grown up now and has written a book called The Art of Learning.

I am not done with the book yet, and will offer more detailed insight later, but I did want to share one of the topics of discussion with you this evening.

In the first part of the book Waitzkin discusses some “foundational” topics – one of them being how there are at least two approaches to learning.

He gives credit to a certain development psychologist named Dr. Carol Dweck for identifying the distinction between the entity and incremental theories of intelligence.

Entity Theorists

Waitzkin explains:

Children who are entity theorists – that is, kids who have been influenced by their parents or teachers to think in this manner – are prone to use language like “I am smart at this” and attribute their success or failure to an ingrained and unalterable level of ability. They see their overall intelligence or skill level at a certain discipline to be a fixed entity, a thing that cannot evolve.

Now re-skim that paragraph only this time replace the words children and kids with men or women. Do you know any entity theorists? I do.

Incremental Theorists

Waitzkin goes on to explain how incremental theorists are very different.

Incremental theorists, who have picked up a different modality of learning – lets call them learning theorists – are prone to describe their results with sentences like “I got it because I worked very hard at it” or “I should have tried harder.” A child with a learning theory of intelligence tends to sense that with hard work, difficult material can be grasped – step by step, incrementally, the novice can become the master.

Hermit Crabs

Waitzkin uses a hermit crab to describe the differences between the two theories. He explains that as time passes the hermit crab eventually out grows its shell and must find a new one.

Since the hermit crab is a very soft and delicate creature this transitioning period from the old shell to a new shell can be very dangerous due to predators, etc. Waitzkin then writes:

That learning phase in between shells is where our growth can spring from. Someone stuck with an entity theory of intelligence is like an anorexic hermit crab, starving itself so it doesn’t grow to find a new shell.

I absolutely love this analogy!

It’s about Instruction

The good news is any child (or man or woman) can be transitioned from an entity theory learning style to an incremental theory of learning with ease. Tomorrow night I’ll explain!

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J Thatcher recently asked:

Here’s a question:

If the student becomes the initiation point for “pull” learning, how does the instructor continue to “push” students beyond what they believed themselves capable? (And yes, I’m using “push” differently there)

This is not an easy question to answer and one I have spent several hours thinking about.  This type of question relates to  teaching kids for sure.  But it also relates to us grown ups who work in factories, hospitals, and board rooms. 

We too can initiate pull learning but how do we keep motivated to continue the journey?  How does our “instructor” or boss or board of directors continue to push us?

Understanding Current State

Well if I think about my kids and how my wife and I are trying to “push” them as they pull at their own speed I realize that one thing we are constantly doing is understanding where they are.  While my daughter may be excelling in one area my wife knows about it.  And she is preparing the next lesson accordingly.

So, while my little girl is able to pull at her own speed my wife and I are right there making sure she doesn’t actually run out of rope.  So, you could say we are rope suppliers in a peculiar kind of way. 

Likewise, if we see our child struggling with the rope we engage and help her pull a little.  Then, as she regains her momentum we back off and resume our rope supplier role.

Same thing for us Grown-ups

It’s the same thing in the corporate world if you think about it.  A good leader is one who recognizes the current state of affairs by going to see what is happening on the gemba (genchi genbutsu).  They know where the organization’s strengths and weaknesses are.  And they engage and help pull the rope when required (kaizen).

But more times than not these leaders are looking ahead to ensure their team of motivated and pulling employees never run out of rope to pull (hoshin kanri).  In short, they are rope suppliers too.

Anyhow, that’s my two cents on it.  What do you think? 

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My good friend, and excellent blogger, Mark Graban posted an interesting article related to how a school is using continuous improvement methods to, well, improve things.

For those who don’t know, Mark and I live in the same town and have actually become good friends. The thing I really respect about Mark is how he will challenge anyone when he thinks he is right. That is refreshing to me as there are far too many “yes-men/women” in this world.

Anyhow, Mark and I are having a nice friendly conversation over on his blog (see bottom of the post I linked above) about Six Sigma, GE, Karoshi and all kinds of fun stuff. But that is not what I want to write about tonight.

Push or Pull Learning?

Instead, I want to talk about one of the things Mark mentioned in another comment. He wrote:

“Do you error proof how math is taught? Do you have students “pull” learning instead of “pushing” it at them? Probably not….”

That last sentence caught my attention, “Do you have students “pull” learning instead of “pushing” it at them? Probably not…”

I respectfully disagree with Mark here.

I am of the opinion that children learn the best when they are allowed to excel in areas they are good at and move slower in areas they are not so good at.

In the traditional American public school room the pace is set by the slowest kid for the most part.

Little Bobby and Susie

If Bobby, for example, is slow at learning multiplication while little Susie has it mastered after the first lesson, chances are Susie is going to be forced to sit there bored stiff while the grossly underpaid teacher does her best to help Bobby.

Further, if Bobby begins to “sort of” get it but really needs more practice the teacher will likely “push” on since she sees poor Susie, bless her heart, waiting so patiently.

If you look at advanced programs in schools we see children allowed to move at their own speed. No one is slowing them down and nothing is being pushed on them.  Instead these kids normally pull… and pull hard.  There is a similar thing happening in most Montessori schools.

Time to Come Clean

I must confess I am a bit biased here since my wife is home schooling our 5 year daughter this year. My kiddo is supposed to be in kindergarten but since she has blown through the kindergarten curriculum (a Catholic school curriculum) she is now onto first grade (again a Catholic school curriculum).

How is it going?  Well my 5 year old daughter, if you will allow me to brag a bit here, is already reading at a first grade level and, oh yeah, already knows how to multiply. She had double digit adding and subtracting down at 4 years old. And most importantly to me and her mom, she is really learning her faith.

So, had we put her in a traditional school this year she would probably be bored stiff. In fact, she could have easily been the sweet little Susie I mentioned above.

Dora Academy

Of course, the danger here is not all parents will make sure their children are doing their best to pull knowledge. To some, their idea of home schooling may be turning on Noggin at 8:00 AM to let Dora and Boots teach them all they need know.

In these very unfortunate situations I would agree… get that kid in school and push that education down their throats.

In Goldratt we Trust

One last thing, people like Eli Goldratt (TOC guru) are now working to change the way kids are taught. I really hope people listen to him and would like nothing more than to see experts in lean manufacturing and six sigma step up the plate as well. Our kids are depending on it.

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I am passionate about teaching people the principles of lean and six sigma but this passion is nothing compared to how badly I want my children to learn and grow into well rounded/successful citizens.

I often joke about how I intend to teach my kids about lean and six sigma principles at a young age. And, in fact, I am really not joking at all as I am already planting seeds with my kids on some basic principles like “point of use” and “5S.”

With this said, I think I may have found another method to help me nurture and stretch their little minds even more. And this method is with LEGO!

Below is an email my wife recently got which I think speaks for itself. They do touch on some things that I will want to investigate such as the whole “technology” and “robots” aspect. The last thing I want is for my kids to think we need to buy expensive computer systems to solve problems. But all in all it looks like a solid program.

And who knows, perhaps I can round up folks like Mark Graban and Rick Foreman (local DFW lean gurus) and head on over to the LEGO center to get some full fledged lean manufacturing and six sigma principles built into the curriculum. Now that would be cool!

Here is the email in full.

Subject: LEGO Education Center Pilot Classes

In mid-September the first LEGO Education Center in the United States will be opening in Southlake, TX. The LEGO Education Center is not a new concept. There are over 150 centers in Japan, Singapore, China, and Australia.

The LEGO Education Center will offer 12 week courses for children ages 3 and up to 9 years. Each course is designed to provide valuable learning experiences for specific age levels. Qualified teachers will guide and support the children to solve problems through creative thinking, logic, and teamwork.

The LEGO Education Center is a fun, safe learning environment where children will eagerly expand their awareness of self and surroundings through creative thinking.

The LEGO Education Center courses will engage children in fun activities while developing social skills, communication skills, and critical thinking skills for problem-solving. We will use LEGO education products in each lesson and children will be introduced to concepts and vocabulary in ways that relate to their own lives.

For example, in one lesson, four-year-olds may be asked to construct a set of stairs that will allow the LEGO figures to reach a rooftop for an outdoor dinner party. They will have the opportunity to discuss their own knowledge and experiences and apply these connections to solving the problem. The children will be challenged to work together to find a viable solution, which allows the figures to reach their rooftop destination.

The eight-year-old courses involve robotics. The children will explore design, technology, and engineering through project-based lessons that utilize computers, blue-tooth devices, and robots.

The LEGO Education Center will be offering pilot classes in our temporary facility from August 22nd through September 13. The classes will be for 3-4 year olds, 5 year olds, 6-7 year old, and 8-9 year olds (robotics). Family classes will also be offered.

The classes will be $15 per child per class.

If you would be interested in signing up please contact us for more information on dates, times, and class offerings.

Carolyn Finch
LEGO Education Center
972-393-4259

Temporary Offices:
556 S. Coppell Rd
Suite 100
Coppell, TX 75019

Coming this September to:
2315 E. Southlake Blvd.
Suite 110
Southlake, TX 76092
http://www.legoeducationcenter.us
http://www.LEGO.com/education

“An education that will last a lifetime.”