teaching

Why Students (and Adults) Struggle to Be Wrong — and How to Help

/ Dave Eberwein / Leave a comment

The beginning of my career had me teaching high school Science, Chemistry and Math. One of my fondest memories was organizing science fairs at two different schools. The science fair was a great way for my students to expand both their knowledge in an area of interest, as well as give them practical experience in the scientific method.

Here’s an example of a typical conversation I might have had:

Two Grade 9 students set out to test whether plants grow better when exposed to music. They were excited, confident, and — after two weeks — convinced they were right. The plants exposed to music looked ‘happier’, they told me.

But when I gently pointed out that the control group had actually grown taller, they hesitated. “Maybe the music plants are just slower starters.”

The students aren’t being dishonest. They are being human — exhibiting something called Confirmation Bias.

Confirmation Bias: Our brain’s tendency to seek out, interpret and remember information that supports what we already believe.

It’s why a student who thinks they’re ‘bad at math’ might ignore a good test score one day, or why a child convinced their teacher or another student doesn’t like them may interpret neutral feedback from others as criticism.

It’s not a character flaw. It’s a feature of cognition — especially in an adolescent brain.

The Brain’s Shortcut System

Our brains are wired for efficiency. Every second, we’re bombarded with sensory input, and to make sense of it all, the brain relies on heuristics — mental shortcuts that help us make quick decisions. Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, describes this as the interplay between “System 1” (fast, intuitive thinking) and “System 2” (slow, analytical thinking). Confirmation Bias lives in System 1 — it’s fast, automatic, and invisible.

This heuristic shortcut helps us feel safe and certain. Confirmation Bias allows us to make sense of something very quickly. But, in a learning environment, it can unfortunately also close the doors to a more complete understanding.

The Adolescent Brain and Belief Formation

Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to Confirmation Bias. Their prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain responsible for critical thinking and self-regulation — is still developing well into their twenties. Research shows that the adolescent brain is particularly sensitive to social feedback. Beliefs formed during adolescence can become deeply entrenched and difficult to unseat — hence, the problem of changing “I can’t do math” or “Susie doesn’t like me”.

In school, this means that early experiences — both positive and negative — shape how students see themselves as learners for years to come.

When Confirmation Bias Meets the Curriculum

Confirmation Bias doesn’t just affect how students see themselves. It influences how they engage with content. A student who believes that History is ‘boring’ may skim over content that is actually really engaging. Someone who thinks that science is‘ too hard’ might dismiss their own curiosity on the topic. This same idea applies to every subject area depending on what a student believes — they can’t do math, sing, dribble a basketball, or bake a cake.

And when students are asked to explore controversial or difficult topics — things like climate change, historical injustices, or ethical dilemmas — Confirmation Bias can make it harder to consider multiple perspectives. This can close the door to exploring deeper, more complete truths.

Teachers as Cognitive Coaches

Educators play a powerful role in shaping how students process information. The way we frame questions, give feedback, and design lessons can either reinforce or disrupt Confirmation Bias.

When students actually believe their abilities can grow, they’re more likely to embrace challenges and revise their thinking. But this requires intentionality on the part of teachers, parents and others who work with them. A well-meaning comment that they’ve done a ‘good job‘ can actually reinforce a fixed belief just as easily as it can encourage growth.

Disrupting Confirmation Bias

So how do we help students see beyond what they already believe?

  • Ask open-ended questions — Invite multiple interpretations of the same issue or event.
  • Encourage metacognition — Have students reflect on how they’re thinking, not just what they’re thinking.
  • Introduce disconfirming evidence — What would it take to change their mind?
  • Model intellectual humility — Share moments when you’ve changed your own thinking.

Technology and Media

In today’s world, Confirmation Bias doesn’t stop at the classroom. In a previous post (Implicit Bias: Yup, I’m Talking About You! – Feb 2022) I discussed how social media (e.g. Instagram, TikTok, X, Facebook) is designed to confirm our bias by showing us posts and reels that agree with us — in direct contradiction to what we hope to be doing in classrooms. For young minds still forming their worldviews, this can reinforce narrow thinking as they settle into the belief that they must be right because “I see it everywhere on social media.“

In Saanich Schools, teaching digital literacy — how to evaluate sources, question algorithms, and seek diverse perspectives is something we put a lot of effort into and will continue to do so.

A New Kind of Resilience

Helping students challenge their own beliefs isn’t about changing their views on being right. It’s about building cognitive resilience — the ability to sit with uncertainty, to revise one’s thinking, and to grow — to be confident enough in oneself to be open to other perspectives and, yes, to maybe being wrong.

And, let’s be clear, it’s not just students. Many adults also have a difficulty being wrong.

It’s why we see slow change on things that are destructive or hurtful — we know better, but we still carry on. Think of things like climate change, growing income disparity, intolerance towards others, stereotyping, and bigotry.

All of them wrong, yet they persist.

Building cognitive resilience is not just learning — it’s transformation. It’s building reflective, curious young people who are open to new ideas that can solve existing and future problems.

Teaching for Curiosity, Not Certainty

Education isn’t about filling students with facts. We have come past the point of thinking the goal of K-12 education is simply placing more facts and figures into their heads — yes, there are important lessons from history, science, math, reading, and physical literacy — however, education is about teaching students HOW to think, HOW to question, and HOW to stay curious — HOW to be open to conflicting information that should challenge one’s current understanding.

It’s about them being confident enough in themselves to be unsure.

Confirmation Bias is a natural part of being human. But when we help students recognize it, name it, and work through it, we give them a gift far greater than facts and certainty.

We give them the tools to keep learning.

(This post was written with assistance of an AI prompt on exploring confirmation bias in education. I changed much of the content and added significantly to the final product.)

Confidence Isn’t a Synonym for Competence

/ Dave Eberwein / 2 Comments

Have you ever watched someone speak with absolute certainty about a topic, and you knew that they really had no clue about what they were talking about?

It’s uncomfortable, isn’t it?

We have all likely been that person at some point — where our confidence exceeds our ability. What is that strange gap between confidence and competence? That’s the Dunning-Kruger Effect — and it shows up more often than we think, especially in the workplace. For a few people, it can be a daily event.

Dunning-Kruger Effect: A cognitive bias where people with low competence in a skill tend to overestimate their own abilities and knowledge in that area. This lack of metacognitive awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their own performance, while high performers often underestimate their abilities.

It’s not arrogance — it’s a lack of self-awareness. And ironically, the more skilled you actually become, the more you realize how much you really don’t know. It’s a humbling paradox: ignorance breeds confidence, while knowledge breeds humility.

In the workplace, this can manifest in subtle but impactful ways:

Confidence does not Always Equal Competence
  • Take the new manager who’s just stepped into a leadership role. They’ve read a few books, maybe taken a course or two, and suddenly they’re convinced they know how to lead a team. But leadership isn’t theoretical –it’s relational. Without emotional intelligence, listening skills, and the ability to navigate conflict, that over confidence can quickly erode trust.
  • In politics, a new leader speaks from a place of confidence yet includes statistics and events that are not true or highly exaggerated to make their point. Their presence presents itself as arrogance — yet it’s uninformed arrogance. Being familiar with the topic, you soon lose trust in the leader. You question their integrity, intentions and ability.
  • Or the school district leader, who’s just attended a one-day workshop on a new pedagogical approach to language instruction. They return to their school district, energized, ready to overhaul their system. But, without deeper understanding or support, the implementation falters. Staff are confused, students are frustrated, outcomes may drop, and the leader feels disillusioned. The intent was good, but the execution lacked depth.

Understand this effect isn’t meant to shame anyone. It’s about recognizing a pattern — and learning from it.

The real danger of the Dunning-Kruger Effect isn’t ignorance itself — it’s the illusion of knowledge. When we think we know more than we do, we stop asking questions. We stop listening. And that’s when growth stalls. Arrogance takes over and learning stops.

So how do we move forward as an organization?

NORMALIZE NOT KNOWING

  • In a culture that rewards certainty, admitting “I don’t know” can feel risky. But it’s actually a sign of calm wisdom. The most competent leaders I know are the ones who ask the most questions. They’re not afraid to look foolish by not knowing, because they know that learning is messy — and worth it.

BUILD FEEDBACK-RICH ENVIRONMENTS

  • Whether it’s in a classroom, the boardroom, or a team meeting, feedback helps us calibrate our self-perception. It’s not about criticism — it’s about clarity. When we invite others to reflect back on what they see, we gain insight into our blind spots. And that’s where real growth begins.

INVEST IN REFLECTION

  • Think about a time you were sure of something and later realized you were completely off base. What led you to that conclusion? What did you miss? Reflection isn’t about beating ourselves up — it’s about building self-awareness. Self-awareness is the antidote to the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

LEAD WITH HUMILITY

  • Humility isn’t weakness — it’s strength. It’s the quiet confidence that comes from knowing your limits and being open to learning. When leaders model humility, they create space for others to do the same. And that’s when teams thrive.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect isn’t a flaw — it’s a feature of how our brains work. But when we understand it, and pay attention to opportunities when it might happen, we can move from unconscious incompetence to conscious growth.

So, stop pretending to know when you don’t … admit when you don’t know something … and look for those opportunities to gain the knowledge you’re missing.

Be genuine … Be transparent … Be humble … and seek knowledge.

Why wouldn’t we want to do that?

(This post was inspired by the author prompting AI, however, the majority of the writing is the author’s own work.)

The Power of Kindness Over Niceness

/ Dave Eberwein / Leave a comment

There is a constant tension in leadership. There are moments in every leader’s journey when we’re faced with a choice — Do we say the hard thing, or do we stay silent to keep the peace?

It’s tempting to choose what appears to be the ‘easier’ route. After all, we’re in the business of nurturing, supporting, and building community — ‘rocking the boat’ would appear to be the opposite of that. And, we all want to be viewed as nice.

But the truth is — being ‘nice‘ isn’t the same as being ‘kind‘.

Let me explain.

As leaders, we can confuse niceness with goodness. We all desire to be ‘good’, and to do that we can also think we just need to be ‘nice’ all the time. We avoid the difficult conversations because we don’t want to hurt feelings or be seen as harsh.

But niceness, when it avoids the truth, can erode the trust we need as an organization. Kindness, on the other hand, is rooted in respect which can build and strengthen trust. It’s the courage to speak honestly, even when it’s uncomfortable — because we care enough to want better for each other and for our organization.

Being a kind leader means holding people accountable with compassion. It means addressing the colleague who consistently misses deadlines, not to shame them, but to support their growth. It means naming the tension in a meeting, not to create conflict, but to clear the air and move forward with integrity. And, it may sometimes mean making a difficult decision.

Over my 37 years in public education, I’ve learned that the most honouring thing we can do for our staff is to be clear and consistent. Clarity is kindness. When we avoid the awkward conversation — the hard conversation — we leave people guessing. We create a culture of uncertainty, where assumptions fill the silence. But, when we speak with honesty and empathy, when we work to address the issues, we build a workplace where people feel seen, respected, and safe.

Speaking with honesty doesn’t mean we abandon warmth or empathy.

Quite the opposite. Kindness is deeply relational.

Kindness in Leadership: The practice of demonstrating empathy, compassion and consideration even when making difficult decisions. Kindness in leadership is not about being weak or compromising standards, but rather about balancing firmness with care, and understanding. 

Kindness is about showing up with humanity, even when the message is hard. It’s about saying, “I believe in you enough to have this conversation”.

In our schools, we talk about modeling the culture we want to see in our students. If we want them to grow into courageous, respectful and engaged citizens, we must show them what that looks like in adult relationships. This starts with us — leaders who are willing to be kind, not just nice — leaders who have the hard conversations because it’s not only the right thing to do, but also the kind and respectful thing to do.

So, the next time you hesitate before a tough conversation, ask yourself this question: ‘Am I avoiding this to be liked, or am I leading with kindness and respect?‘

Kindness isn’t always comfortable — but it’s always worth it. It’s always the correct path.

Building an organizational culture where truth and care walk hand-in-hand is what makes us stronger and on our desired trajectory — to grow and get better. It’s a leadership journey where we realize that feedback is a gift, not a threat — where we honour each other enough to be real.

Because in the end … kindness builds trust. And trust builds everything else.