Session Two: Using Growth Mindset Techniques to Change How More Able Students Think About Themselves 11:05 – 12:30

How would you describe your brain? My brain is like…

What if I told you that your brain is like a muscle?

Make your hand into a fist… …then stroke the back of it.

That’s what the surface of a mouse’s brain feels like!

Complexity Capacity

It’s (partly) about surface area

What are Growth Mindsets? The idea comes from the research of the psychologist Carol Dweck. A mindset is simply a belief – a belief about yourself and your most fundamental qualities like ability, faith (or lack of it), personality, political views, talent and so on. To put it another way, a mindset is a way of thinking about something concerning yourself. Students have mindsets. They bring these to school with them. They can be growth or fixed.

Growth Vs. Fixed What experiences do you have of fixed and growth mindsets? Do you agree that intelligence and talent can go up or down? For everybody? Can you prove this?

Fixed mindset thinking and more-able students What experiences do you have of more-able students who perceive their ability, talent or intelligence as fixed? How familiar are the different behaviours in the context of these students?

Growth Mindset Case Studies

We can cultivate growth mindsets in all students – including the more able – by taking the theory and breaking it down into 6 practical areas: Language Trial and Error Metacognition Targeted Effort Feedback Embracing Challenges We can then focus on these areas as we plan, teach and assess.

What examples of fixed mindset language can you think of? How might fixed mindset thinking infiltrate the language you and your students use in the classroom? What examples of fixed mindset language can you think of?

Moving Away from Trait-based Praise That’s great. Super work. Clever boy! You’re a genius. As smart as ever. That’s great because you went through three attempts first, before settling on the one which works best. Super work – I can see how you changed your thinking in response to the challenge. Can you talk me through your reasoning? Why’s it right? You’ve produced something really impressive because of the effort you put in over the fortnight. Sorry for wasting your time, I should have made the work more challenging!

Mental Contrasting If I want to play the piano, then I will need to practise regularly. If I want to fulfil my potential, then I will need to keep targeting my efforts, even when things get tough. If I want to improve my maths, then I will need to make sure I don’t give up when it gets difficult.

2) Trial and Error Why are some students happier than others to use trial and error in the classroom? To what extent have you been happy to use trial and error as a way to learn in your life?

Might What is X? What might X be?

Trial and Error Reflection Three examples: Look back over the work you have produced. Identify three places where you used trial and error. How did it help you? How did it change your work? What have you tried this lesson and what mistakes did you make? How did you learn from these? Why were they helpful? Ask students to keep a log of the mistakes they make and the ways in which they change and improve their work/understanding as a result.

3) Metacognition Do you ask students questions about their thinking? What questions could you ask them? Consider a student who really thinks about their own learning. How do they stand out from their peers?

4) Targeted Effort Why are some students prepared to put in effort while others aren’t? Could your students give an accurate explanation of what effort is?

Effort is a Vector

- Outline - Colour - Pattern - Shape - Line - Symmetry - Wings - Antenna - Body - Scale

Points to consider: Structuring peer-assessment significantly increases its utility. Students learn more about their own work when they have a clear set of categories through which to analyse it. Incremental gains are achieved through recourse to highly specific repetition.

Targeting Effort – Keyword Quota Clutch Gears Steering Wheel Acceleration Brake Indicators Changing Lane Mirror Manoeuvre Engine Tyres MOT Tread Exhaust Motorway Traffic Lights You have two minutes to write a piece on the topic of ‘Driving.’ Your minimum keyword quota is six. No lists or bullet points are allowed.

Targeting Effort – Keyword Quota Clutch Gears Steering Wheel Acceleration Brake Indicators Changing Lane Mirror Manoeuvre Engine Tyres MOT Tread Exhaust Motorway Traffic Lights You have two minutes to rewrite your piece on the topic of ‘Driving’ focussing on one of the following targets: Decrease the length of your sentences to give your writing a greater sense of pace. Choose one of the words you included and go into more detail about it. Include two further examples to illustrate a couple of the things you wrote about. Use an analogy and a simile to add interest to what you wrote.

5) Feedback Trumps Praise and Prizes

Hattie’s Table of Effect Sizes (one version)

How Feedback Works All judgements involve reference to some set of criteria: Criteria to which the judgement refers Person making the judgement That which is being judged

How Feedback Works All judgements involve reference to some set of criteria: Mark-scheme; prior experience Teacher Student’s work

Feedback Trumps Praise and Prizes Think about more-able students you teach. In what different ways do they respond to feedback? Do these students seek praise and avoid feedback? Why?

Focus on the process, not the product Products are external to us. When they are finished, they leave us. Processes are internal to us. These are the things we use to create products (or outcomes). They stay with us over time.

6) Embracing Challenge Why do some students embrace challenge while others shy away from it? Think about specific students you teach. When have you embraced challenge in your life and what were the results? Was it a ‘growth’ experience?

Teach Neuroscience Teaching students what happens in their brains when they learn, make mistakes and encounter challenges helps them to understand why all of this matters. It also helps them to appreciate the central feature of a growth mindset: the idea that our own efforts can directly affect our intelligence, talent and ability.

Mistake Quotas ‘In this lesson I expect you to make a minimum of 3 mistakes. If you get half-way through and haven’t made any mistakes, you need to ask me to make the work more challenging for you. At the end of the lesson we will spend five minutes reflecting on what we learned from our mistakes and deciding whether the lesson was sufficiently challenging.’ How would you feel about saying or displaying this at the start of your lessons? How do you think your students might react? Do you think you could introduce this straight away? Why? If not, what specific steps do you think you will need to take to reach a position where this approach is feasible?

Growth Mindsets: Conclusion Mindsets are open to change We can promote growth mindsets in our classrooms The first step is to focus on language and one other of the practical areas we have looked at: Trial and Error; Metacognition; Feedback; Targeted Effort; Challenge.