Dr. Carol Dweck is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and has devoted decades to growth mindset research. Her books include: Mindset and Self-Theories

Growth mindset questions: Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.

What is your mindset? FIXED MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET YOU CAN DO NOTHING TO CHANGE YOUR TALENT OR INTELLIGENCE. YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR INTELLIGENCE OR TALENT THROUGH EFFORT. FIXED MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET

FIXED MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET A desire to LOOK smart A desire to LEARN Avoids challenge Embraces challenge Gives up easily when faced with an obstacle Persists when faced with an obstacle Views effort as pointless and a sign of weakness Views effort as an admirable quality that results in success Threatened by others’ success Inspired by others’ success Gets defensive when criticised Learns from criticism DOES NOT REACH FULL POTENTIAL REACHES HIGH LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT

Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say What Mindsets Do Goals Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say Looking clever is Most Important “The main thing I want when I do my school work is to show how good I am at it.” Learning is Most Important “It’s much more important for me to learn things in my classes than it is to get the best grades.”

Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say What Mindsets Do Effort Beliefs Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say Effort is negative “To tell the truth, when I work hard at my school work it makes me feel like I’m not very clever.” Effort is positive “The harder you work at something, the better you’ll be at it.”

What Mindsets Do Strategies After Failure Fixed Mindset Students Say Growth Mindset Students Say Helpless “I would spend less time on this subject from now on.” “I would try not to take this subject ever again.” “I would try to cheat on the next test.” Resilient “I would work harder in this class from now on.” “I would spend more time studying for the tests.”

People with a growth mindset believe that potential is unknown and unknowable: Whether people achieve expertise ‘is not some fixed prior ability, but purposeful engagement’ Robert Sternberg or ‘it is not always the people who start the smartest who end up the smartest’ Binet

THE JOURNEY IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE DESTINATION Everyone is born with a growth mind-set as default. People are taught the fixed mind-set when negative emotions become associated with making a mistake or finding something challenging. A fixed mind-set is learned behaviour…anything that is learned can be unlearned

Benjamin Bloom studied 120 outstanding achievers ‘what any person in the world can learn, all persons can learn, if provided with the appropriate prior and current conditions of learning,

2 groups of students of equal ability, did a test, half praised for their ability, half for their effort – which group had more success in subsequent tests? The ability group developed a fixed mindset, they did not want to be challenged or do anything that would expose their flaws and call into question their talent. The ‘effort’ group continued to achieve good test scores, and achieved significantly better grades at the end of the trial.

Effects of Intelligence vs. Effort Praise Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Looking Smart Low Decreased Learning High Increased Goals After difficult trial Confidence Motivation Performance

# of problems solved on the IQ test Trial 1 (before failure) and Trial 3 (after failure)

NASA – Only recruit people who have had significant failures and bounced back from them, not people with a purely successful record.

NATURAL TALENT DOES NOT EXIST Michael Jordan Cut from his high-school team Not selected by his preferred college Passed over by 2 NBA teams The greatest basketball player of all time – maybe, …..the hardest working athlete of all time… probably. NATURAL TALENT DOES NOT EXIST ‘The talent myth’

How does someone develop a fixed mindset? Through messages we send… “That’s an excellent score, you are clearly very good at this” “That’s an excellent score, you have clearly tried really hard at this” “Charlotte is an intelligent girl with a natural talent for Physical Education” “Charlotte is achieving above the expected level this year as she uses feedback effectively” “I’m sorry the work wasn’t hard enough – next time I will challenge you” “Wow! You did that really fast – well done!”

Famous ‘failures’ WALT DISNEY He was fired from a newspaper for ‘lacking imagination’ and ‘having no original ideas’.

Famous ‘failures’ STEVE JOBS Before inventing the iPod, iPhone and iPad, he was sacked from Apple – the company he co-founded.

‘Amateurs call it genius…masters call it practice’

‘It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure’ Bill Gates

its not that I’m so smart; I just stay with problems longer’ Albert Einstein

First Attempt In Learning Means I Start To Acquire Knowledge Experience & Skills

‘You have only failed when you have given up ‘You have only failed when you have given up. Until then, it’s called learning’

Once you start to think hard about what Dweck says you begin to question everything about what you do as a school leader. ‘If Dweck is right – and in my personal experience I think she is – then setting students grades as targets is deeply flawed. The subject leaders of our two most successful A levels, the ones which are about to explode out the top of the ALPs thermometer and make an awful mess, both fessed up to me this autumn that they don’t look at students’ targets, they don’t consciously differentiate, they just teach to A* standard all of the time to all of the students. Go figure…’ John Tomsett, Headteacher, Huntington School, York (Blog)

Famous ‘Growth mindset’ quotes Satisfaction lies in the effort, not the attainment; full effort is full victory. Mahatma Ghandi It’s not that I’m so smart; I just stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. Bill Gates People say I’m lucky but you know, the more I practice the luckier I get. Gary Player It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all; in which case you fail by default. J K Rowling Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Kevin Durant The price of success is hard work, dedication and determination…knowing that we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Vince Lombardi Don’t tell me how talented you are. Tell me how hard you work. Artur Rubenstein Whether you think you can, or think you can’t…you’re right. Henry Ford I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying. Michael Jordan Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination. Napoleon Hill Ever tried? Ever Failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett Amateurs call it genius…masters call it practice. Thierry Henry Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. As soon as you are trying you are succeeding. Mistakes are brilliant! Don’t let failure be an ending. Make it a beginning. You have only failed when you have given up. Until then, it’s called learning. If you’re never wrong then what else have you get left to learn? Don’t be afraid to fail…be afraid not to try.