1 Unexpected Way Thinking Can Improve Student Grades

Are you using the powerful ‘Pygmalion effect’ in your classroom?

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You can improve your students’ results by thinking differently.

Sounds like magic? It seems like it, but the concept is simple. If you have high expectations of your students, they’ll perform better than if you have low expectations of them.

It’s called the Pygmalion Effect, and you can start using it immediately.

Read to the end for practical tips to use in your classes.

What is the Pygmalion Effect?

It’s a psychological phenomenon, not wishing or praying for your students to get better grades.

It’s the idea that expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy. High expectations lead to improved performance, and low expectations lead to worse performance.

The effect holds in other areas of life, not just the classroom. In their book Pygmalion in the Classroom, psychologists Rosenthal and Lenore give examples of self-fulfilling prophecies:

• A bowling team player will perform to their team’s expectations.