Developing a Growth Mindset Parents’ Briefing Workshop 14th November 2017

Professor Carol Dweck: We all have different implicit theories of intelligence (mindsets) Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset

You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it. Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence. Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree Disagree Agree 1 2 3 4 5 6

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures... (or the high and low ability) I divide the world into the learners and non learners.” Benjamin Barber Intelligence: The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.

What are Mindsets? Growth Mindset Fixed Mindset Belief that intelligence can be increased Takes effort and persistence, Learning from mistakes and challenges. Fixed Mindset Belief that intelligence is something you are born with. Can’t change it much.

Helplessness orientation Identifying Behaviours Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Focus on performance Focus on learning Failure and/or effort perceived as being sign of low ability Not threatened by hard work, failure or challenge. Choose easy activities to maximise performance (so feel clever) Seek new challenges for learning and development. Don’t recover well from setbacks, challenge or failure Mistakes are seen as a good thing – aid learning Self protection (to repair self- esteem): Decrease efforts, avoidance (passive/active), deny value of work, consider cheating… View effort and persistence as a necessary part of success Helplessness orientation Mastery orientation

We aren’t all born the same, but We aren’t all born the same, but... We can all change our ability EVERYONE has to work hard to be successful

We can change children’s Mindsets Evidence Research studies have shown that Growth Mindsets: Increase attainment Improve motivation Reduce classroom problem behaviours Suppress stereotype effects Improve reports of life-satisfaction We can change children’s Mindsets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

How can you help at home? High Expectations Building Resilience Celebrate Mistakes Praise (Growth Feedback)

Set High Expectations Albert Einstein - did not speak until he four and did not read until was seven, teachers and parents thought he was mentally handicapped. Expelled from school and failed to get a place at the Zurich Polytechnic School.

High Expectations How you can help at home: Model a growth mindset Take care not to pass on your own difficulties Ensure expectations don’t just focus on outcomes Focus expectations on: Effort Improvements Resilience Experimentation Persistence

Building Resilience Henry Ford - early businesses failed and left him broke 5 times before founded the Ford Motor Company.

Building Resilience How you can help at home: Model and share times when you have had to do something several times before you complete/get it right. Encourage flexibility. Talk about negative feelings when things go wrong/things are hard, normalise these. Help them to link positive feelings to a hard task “This is exciting and challenging!” “Although this is hard, I’m really enjoying this!”

Celebrating Mistakes George Bernard Shaw (Playwright) When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work”

Celebrating Mistakes How you can help at home: Help to normalise mistakes. Share what you found hard and discuss how you overcome problems you encounter. - What did you learn today? - What did you find hard? - What did you learn from it? Use the word ‘YET’

We may encourage fixed mindsets without realising it Language/Praise We may encourage fixed mindsets without realising it “Let’s try an easier one” “Never mind you are good at other things” “Maths just isn’t one of your talents, you’re more creative” “You are so clever” “You are such a natural at maths” “This is definitely a gift of yours” “You seem to be able to turn your hand to anything” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGTk6yeh9qE

Growth Feedback Give ‘process praise’ Use ‘task praise’ Effort Strategy Interpret setbacks as lack of effort, persistence or result of inappropriate strategies Use ‘task praise’ What is better/worse than the last attempt? What is/is not good, realistic, neat, correct etc. about the product?

Growth Focused Feedback… “You tried really hard and it’s even better than the last one.” “That is the best one that you have done yet!” “That was a good way to do it.” “You have learned so much.” “This is so good that I think you should do the harder questions next time.” “You are getting better and better every time you do this.” “Try different ways until you find the right one for you.” “Try to do even better next time.” “Why not take some more time to improve this bit.” “Everyone has to work at it.” “I know that you can do better than this with a little more focus.” “You could have been clearer in the way you expressed that” “That approach might not be the best for you.” “You can try harder than you did that time.” “ There is a mistake here, but what can you do to put that right, how can you avoid it next time?”

Twitter: @GLearnersUoP Any questions? changingmindsets@port.ac.uk Twitter: @GLearnersUoP www.port.ac.uk/department-of-psychology/community-collaboration/growing-learners/ Thank you!