Cats are cute :D

Rethinking What It Means to Learn

Alfred Binet, the inventor of the IQ test, once said,

“A few modern philosophers… assert that an individual’s intelligence is a fixed quantity which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism.”

Surprising, isn’t it? Especially coming from someone often associated with labeling intelligence.

But Binet wasn’t trying to categorize people. He believed intelligence could grow. Still, somewhere along the way, the IQ score turned into identity. Smart. Average. Weak.

And with that, many children began to fear mistakes — and protect their “label” at all costs.

When Do We Feel Smart?

Psychologist Carol Dweck once asked,

When do you feel smart — when you’re flawless, or when you’re learning?

Her research on growth mindset shows that our potential is not fixed. Success comes not from talent alone, but from how we approach challenges. Neuroscience agrees — the brain keeps growing, changing, adapting. This ability, called neuroplasticity, continues throughout life.

Learning, then, is not about proving what we already know.
It’s about daring to become more than we were.

The Table with Three Legs

Let’s pause here for a simple thought experiment.

Imagine a table.
You see three legs. One is hidden.
But you don’t panic — your brain fills in the gap. You know it’s a four-legged table.

Now imagine an alien who has never seen a table. They see the same image and conclude: “Ah, tables must have three legs.”

We know that’s a mistake. But it’s not a silly one — it’s just incomplete understanding. Unless the alien walks around the table, questions what they see, and seeks more information, they’ll never know what a table really is.

That’s learning.
And sometimes, we are all aliens.

To learn, we need curiosity and courage — the willingness to be wrong, to try again, to move and see things from a new angle. That doesn’t happen in a space where only the right answer matters. It happens in classrooms and homes where we say,

“Hmm, that’s interesting — let’s figure it out together.”

The Way We Praise

Many of us, without meaning to, grew up with praise that tied our worth to performance.

“You’re so smart.”
“You’re the topper.”
Labels that, over time, taught us to seek approval — not understanding.

Carol Dweck’s work nudges us toward a different kind of praise — one that sees effort, strategy, and persistence.

Instead of:

“You’re brilliant!”
We might say:
“I noticed how you kept trying different ways to solve it.”

It’s a gentle shift — but one that encourages children to value growth, not just outcomes.

Healing the Inner Label

But here’s something important.
It’s not just our students who carry labels.
We do too.

Many of us were raised in systems that rewarded perfection and punished failure. We learned to avoid risks, to fear mistakes, to strive for praise.

So before we change how we speak to children, maybe we begin with how we speak to ourselves.

Can we name the old stories we’ve been told?
Can we unlearn the belief that worth comes from winning?

When we begin to see ourselves as learners — still evolving, still becoming — we create space for children to do the same.

What It Means to Learn

Learning is not about getting it right the first time.
It’s about trying again.
Asking questions.
Being brave enough to get it wrong — and curious enough to understand why.

It happens in messy moments:
the scribbles in the notebook, the second try, the quiet “I’m still figuring it out.”

And if we want children to stay open to learning, we must show them it’s safe to do so.
Not by being perfect.
But by being present.
By being learners — alongside them.