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. 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. And yet when it comes to schooling – to mastering English or maths or science – we often forget the importance of hard work and practice. By creating a culture in which students believe that their abilities are preordained, and in which they are either good at a subject or not, we discourage them from taking risks, from making mistakes. Why should this be? Free info graphic version of this article: Like this:
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! It was essential for us, if we’re going to begin the process of shifting the culture of the school, that all staff are working together as one coherent team. 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. The Science behind Growth Mindset Establishing a growth mindset works in just the same way.
The Learning Myth: Why I'll Never Tell My Son He's Smart
By: Salman Khan Join the #YouCanLearnAnything movement My 5-year-old son has just started reading. Researchers have known for some time that the brain is like a muscle; that the more you use it, the more it grows. What this means is that our intelligence is not fixed, and the best way that we can grow our intelligence is to embrace tasks where we might struggle and fail. However, not everyone realizes this. The good news is that mindsets can be taught; they’re malleable. The Internet is a dream for someone with a growth mindset. And now here’s a surprise for you. — You can view the original op-ed in Huffington Post here.
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. This will allow students to realise that through improving their work and responding to feedback, they can be better than they were. For this to happen, the culture of improvement needs to feel completely normal. 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).
Why the Growth Mindset is the Only Way to Learn
“You’re too old to learn a foreign language.” “I couldn’t work on computers. I’m just not good with them.” “I’m not smart enough to run my own business.” Do you know what these statements have in common? When you have a fixed mindset, you believe that at a certain point, what you have is all you’re ever going to have: You’ll always have a set IQ. The problem is, this mindset will make you complacent, rob your self-esteem and bring meaningful education to a halt. In short, it’s an intellectual disease and patently untrue. The fixed mindset’s antithesis, the growth mindset, may be the cure. Dr. But before the good news, we have to address the bad. The Fixed Mindset in Action Do you find yourself trying to prove how smart you are? These are all symptoms of a fixed mindset. Within a fixed framework, progress is impossible. But where do these mindsets come from? According to Dweck, they’re formed very early in life – and it’s actually possible a mindset like this was useful. Find peers
Ethical issues in teacher-led research | Evidence into practice
At the last research leads event at Cambridge, I raised the issue of ethical considerations where teachers engage in research. Here are some thoughts: First of all, it’s important not to over-state the seriousness of ethical issues in teacher-led research within schools. The sorts of things that most teachers ‘investigate’ are close enough to the activities which take place as part of ordinary teaching in schools that ethical issues are not a major concern: Trying out a new writing frame, creating a formative assessment to identify misconceptions, developing questioning techniques, adapting materials to help EAL students access learning, implementing low-stakes quizzes to help consolidate previously taught topics, etc. Teachers already have a duty of care towards their students and should simply exercise professional judgement when planning innovations in their teaching. BPS: Code of Human Research Ethics (The British Psychological Society, 2010) Minimising Harm “Minimising Harm.
