“Mindsets: The Good, The Bad and The Unknown”

Seminal Texts?

What do we mean when we talk about mindsets and Self Theories? “Go.To.Source.” or we fight the war of the ghosts (AifL)

The ‘Meaning System’ Approach and Self Theories

1.Students with high ability are more likely to display mastery oriented qualities? 2.Success in school directly fosters mastery oriented qualities

3.Praise, particularly praising a students’ intelligence, encourages mastery oriented qualities? 4.Students’ confidence in their intelligence is the key to mastery oriented qualities?

Theory of Fixed Intelligence- ‘Entity Theory’ Theory of Malleable intelligence- ‘Incremental Theory’ Impact on how both frame ‘self esteem and self efficacy’

When Failure undermines = The Helpless When Failure motivates = The Mastery Oriented “The Two Patterns”

The Good – 3 Headlines 1. Allow us to Walk the Words of our values

The Good – 3 Headlines 2. Failure is not an indictment of ourselves- a locus of self control / self regulation

The Good – 3 Headlines 3. Longitudinal research that OVERLAPS and TALKS WITH with other psychological constructs- measurable???

The Growth Mindset A good theory – easy to implement badly Complex ideas, often over- simplified A middle-class theory? Links to other psychological concepts – cannot be taken in isolation (no silver bullet)

Assembly only intervention? You’ve done the assembly - What now? Many different considerations. (e.g. Strong links to Self-regulation: Goal Setting, Goal Operating and Goal Monitoring - Burnette et al., 2013) Pupils cannot just go away and develop a Growth Mindset because they’ve learned about it in an assembly

Does the ‘system’ conspire against the Growth Mindset? Setting and Streaming Target Setting Parental Expectations Labelling & Teacher Expectancy Effects – The Halo Effect; Self-fulfilling Prophecy; “Pygmalion in the Classroom” (Rosenthan & Jacobson, 1968)

Creating confusion in young minds? Cognitive Dissonance: The discomfort and distress experiences by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values at the same time, or is confronted with new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas or values. Assembly on Growth Mindsets – then send them back to bottom set maths with their target grade! Is Growth Mindset compatible with Setting/Target Grades/Differentiation? “Whole school” cognitive dissonance?

Personality Traits? Personality Traits – Generally stable over time (e.g. Introvert-Extrovert) Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation - Self- Determination Theory (Ryan and Deci) Some students are naturally intrinsically motivated (More likely to embrace the Growth Mindset) “Flow”

How do you see yourself? Academic Self Concept – How we view ourselves as learners: ASC tends to be state rather than trait specific ‘I’m good at English but I just don’t get maths’ Translates to: ‘I have a Growth Mindset for some subjects but a Fixed Mindset for others’ Poverty can have a negative impact on self concept (Herberle and Carter, 2015)

Emotional Learners? Emotional Regulation; Positive/Negative Affect Anxiety – negatively impacts on Working Memory function (Ng and Lee, 2015) Positive emotions positively correlate with academic achievement (e.g. Pekrun, 2009) – Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions “Broaden and Build” theory (Fredrickson) Can we build ‘Positive Psychological Capital?’

Resilient Learners? Academic Buoyancy (Martin & Marsh) – Day-to-day resilience Reconceptualising the idea of failure – Failure = Growth Test anxious pupils display lower levels of academic buoyancy Worry predicts lower mean GCSE scores; Academic Buoyancy predicts higher mean GCSE scores (Putwain et al., 2015) Where does Mindset fit in?

The Role of Executive Functions The regulation and control of cognitive processes Working Memory Inhibitory Control (attention, emotions, behaviour, thoughts, Marshmallows!) Self-regulation Problem Solving How does the Growth Mindset encourage executive function? Do we need to consider a number of interventions rather then simply focussing on Mindsets?

Heritability Research suggests that intelligence (IQ) is around 60% genetic (e.g. Asbury and Plomin) What about the other 40(ish)% Individuals from poorer backgrounds tend to score lower on IQ tests (see Mani et al., 2013 “Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function”)  Children from poorer backgrounds are usually placed in lower sets at school (labelling or IQ?)

Are we guilty of labelling? Attributing labels to children based on some arbitrary category Socio Economic Status Gender (girls tend to be more positively labelled) Appearance Past experience Growth Mindset based on the principle of change and individual growth So is it easier for middle-class kids to buy into the GM attitude?

Identifying the Fixed Mindset Academic Self Handicapping (pre-emptive explanations of future failure)

Measuring the Growth Mindset Do we need to bother? Given the right implementation, the intervention works – so why measure? Because knowing if ‘our’ intervention works allows for improvement Any intervention is only as good as its implementation

Measuring the Growth Mindset Outcome Measures – Exam results or change in Mindset? Who measures – Self Report Scales (Bias?), Teacher Observations (Bias?), Triangulation, Inter-rater reliability? How do you know if you are a Growth Mindset school? Competing interventions – Mindset, Resilience, Character – Which one has worked?

The Unknowns & The Questions Include sense of purpose & goals - 'future self’- what interventions sit behind this? Pastoral? Curricula? Teachable? So, what does a growth mindset school even mean? Assemblies to setting in Maths with target / predicted grades in all subjects? How does growth mindset talk to GRIT & resilience? Can we even pretend we know?

The Unknowns & The Questions Equal Applicability to high stake testing of secondary schools? Cross situationally consistent - across subject areas? Psychologically stability in a time of change? Physiological / brain maturation? Emotional? Not derailed by intellectual or social difficulties? How is that even possible?