Becoming a growth mindset school The idea of becoming a growth mindset school has been over a year in the making. Our Headteacher bought each member of SLT a copy of Mindset for Christmas, and it was the main agenda item at our annual senior team conference. Today I launched the idea of becoming a growth mindset school to all staff at our INSET day. This is the basis of the presentation I did. Our INSET session was for all staff – teaching, support, administrative, catering, site, network, technicians – everyone! What is Growth Mindset? Professor Carol Dweck and “Mindset” Growth Mindset is the idea Professor Carol Dweck, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Dweck’s approach to mindset was sparked by her own experience of education. Even as a child, I was focused on being smart, but the fixed mindset was really stamped in by Mrs. The Science behind Growth Mindset I have previously blogged about my tentative first steps into neuroscience. Why are we interested in Growth Mindset
Why Understanding Obstacles is Essential to Achieving Goals There is no shortage of pithy quotes encouraging positive thinking: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” “Reach for the stars!” “Look on the bright side.” “See the glass as half full.” While inspiring words might provide a moment of motivation, it turns out they can have an adverse effect on achieving those goals. For 20 years, psychology professor Gabriele Oettingen of New York University and the University of Hamburg has been examining positive thinking and her conclusion is clear. What does contribute to success, she says, is the conscious adoption of a nuanced kind of optimism, one that takes into account the real-life barriers to success. Here’s an example of how it works. Wish: An 11th grader, say, wants to get an A in Honors English. Outcome: Next, he thinks about what would happen if he achieved this goal, his desired outcome. Obstacle: The 11th grader now has to engage in mental contrasting, and think about the internal obstacles that get in the way of achieving the goal.
6 ways to teach growth mindset from day one of school Imagine if your new class this fall was full of students who would: Be willing to try new thingsStick with hard tasks and not give upPush themselves to do their best work, not just what’s “good enough”Believe in themselves and their own ability to learn Here’s the great news–these are traits that we can help develop in our students by teaching them about how their brains work. Many students enter our classrooms believing they’re either smart or not smart, good at reading or math, or not good in those areas. This belief that our basic qualities like intelligence and talents can’t be changed is called a fixed mindset. Our students may not realize that their brains have the ability to change and grow through their experiences (neuroplasticity). And once they have a growth mindset, they can learn anything. Because a growth mindset is a critical element of success in school, I recommend teaching about it from the very first day. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Want more structured support?
Developing a growth mindset in the classroom | M J Bromley's Blog This article first appeared in Sec Ed magazine in April 2014. To read the original, click here. To read more of my monthly columns for Sec Ed, click here. To read more articles about the growth mindset, click here. Visit my blog | Browse my books | Follow me on Twitter | Like me on Facebook | Connect with me on LinkedIn | Download more posters | There’s a free info graphic version of this article. As a kid I wanted to become a cliché when I grew up so I bought a guitar and grew my hair. What all these childhood endeavours had in common – apart from their mutual failure – was that I took it for granted that I’d have to work hard at them, I knew I’d have to practise endlessly and that I wouldn’t become expert overnight. I played that old six-string every night after school till my fingers bled, readily accepting that improvement would be incremental. Most of us feel this way about our interests. Sir Ken Robinson argues that every child starts out willing to take a chance. Like this: Related
Egna lärarreflektioner kring statiskt och dynamiskt tankesätt efter läsningen av Dwecks Mindset Efter att jag läste ut Nottinghams bok Utmanande undervisning i klassrummet för #pedaläslyft var jag lite intresserad av att läsa vidare i Dwecks bok Mindset (Natur & Kultur 2015) som han bl a refererar till i Utmanande undervisning. Jag har också sett boken delas i sociala medier så med en dag till förfogande började jag läsa för att ta reda på vad som gör boken så populär. Dweck börjar med att förklara varför hon var intresserad av att ta reda på varför vissa människor klarar av misslyckas och vad som får den att fortsätta. Statiskt och dynamiskt mindset – vad är skillnaden? Dweck forskade i nästan 20 år om detta och hon fann att olika Mindset styr oss i vårt tänkande. Motsatsen till detta är ett dynamiskt mindset. I boken ger oss Dweck sedan många exempel på hur detta yttrar sig och jag tyckte det blev lite tråkig läsning då jag snabbt förstod vad det innebär. Beröm som blir fel Dweck visar på vad beröm gör med oss och hur fel det kan bli fast avsikten är god. Är det svart eller vitt?
jlsu Som en uppföljning till mitt förra blogginlägg om dynamiskt och statiskt tankesätt kommer här den s k isbergsillusionen. Isbergsillusionen visar exempel på vad som krävs för att bli framgångsrik, men som oftast inte syns på ytan. När man ser någon som är riktigt duktig (t ex en idrottsutövare, en musiker, en jonglerare etc) ser det väldigt enkelt ut. Därför är det lätt att tro att det handlar om ”medfödd talang”. Det man dock inte ser är all den träning, den uppoffring och det hårda arbete som ligger bakom. Oftast är det de som tränar mest (och bäst) som når längst. Den som vill ha isbergsillusionen som pdf kan ladda ner den här: Isbergsillusionen
jlsu En av böckerna som jag tipsade om i mitt blogginlägg boktips 2015 handlar om hur vi ser på hjärnan och vår förmåga att utvecklas. Boken jag tänker på är Carol S. Dwecks ”Mindset – du blir vad du tänker”. Hon skriver om ”fixed mindset” och ”growth mindset” som är två olika förhållningssätt till hjärnan och möjligheterna att utvecklas och lära sig. En svensk översättning av begreppen kan vara statiskt och dynamiskt tankesätt. Då hjärnan stimuleras och förändras beroende av vad vi utsätter hjärnan för är vårt förhållningssätt viktigt, särskilt för alla som jobbar i skolan. Jag har gjort några infographics som kan vara användbara i klassrummet. Lycka till med det dynamiska tankesättet och läs gärna Carol S.
Developing a growth mindset in the classroom | M J Bromley's Blog There’s a free info graphic version of this article. To download it, click here. As a kid I wanted to become a cliché when I grew up so I bought a guitar and grew my hair. I successfully learnt all the chords but struggled to combine them in a meaningful way (perhaps I should’ve joined an experimental jazz band instead of churning out 1980s power ballads). When my dreams of rock stardom eventually withered on the vine, I turned my attention to mastering magic, then to conquering chess, and to all manner of other hobbies. What all these childhood endeavours had in common – apart from their mutual failure – was that I took it for granted that I’d have to work hard at them, I knew I’d have to practise endlessly and that I wouldn’t become expert overnight. I played that old six-string every night after school till my fingers bled, readily accepting that improvement would be incremental. Most of us feel this way about our interests. Why should this be? Free info graphic version of this article:
untitled Top Ten Tips for developing a Growth Mindset in your Classroom Be Critical. Students should expect and welcome criticism. They must also be given the opportunity to act on any criticism or critique. Provide elements of choice. Imagine if every classroom, every teacher instilled this culture within your school. Author: Pete Jones I am primarily an Art teacher, but over the past 5 years have been co-developing an experienced-based learning programme in the school I work in called Pebble, (short for Project Based Learning).