SETTING HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Children learn best when they are expected to succeed.

Research tells us that high expectations are linked to higher achievement, performance, behaviour, attitude and self worth. We know that all children need to be challenged and engaged and all children have the potential to learn, grow and develop. The expectations we hold of our children are critical in determining their academic and social outcomes.

It is important to keep our expectations realistic by not aiming too high or too low. The key is in setting realistic goals, knowing your child and avoiding making comparisons. There’s a difference between what they are expected to know or do, and what they actually know or can do.

Things we can do to support high expectations -

1. Adopt a growth mindset - Support a Growth mindset in your children by emphasising the importance of hard work. It involves focussing on the value of the process that goes into things … rather than the outcome.
2. Make expectations clear, realistic and reasonable - Set achievable expectations for your kids and make sure they know exactly what they are, and how you expect them to achieve them.
3. Aim for personal bests and fulfilled potential - Not every child can get into the top sporting team, but they can still play sport, improve and even excel in it. It is reasonable and beneficial to expect fulfilled potential.
4. Let them make mistakes - By helping them too much, you can send the message that your expectations are low, and that they can’t meet those set by others (Teachers, sporting coaches etc). Even if they struggle, ‘failure’, in its many forms, is an inevitable part of life. By understanding that from a young age, children grow to be motivated by their mistakes, to discover where they went wrong, and to strive to fix them in the future – on their own.
5. Offer support and encouragement through the process - Let your children know that you have faith in their ability … that you believe they are confident and capable … as well as letting them know that hard work is what’s needed to get good results. Offer them whatever emotional and practical support you can, and that they may need, in order to achieve their goals.

One of the best ways you can support your child, boost their confidence, and increase their motivation, is to have high expectations.

‘It’s really important to have high expectations of children, adults, anyone, because if you have no expectations then people don’t strive for things’ (Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services)

Jeannine Ucdereli
Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching