1. Promoting Growth Mindsets
How to Develop Your Child’s Growth Mindset
for Learning, Motivation and Success
Saturday 7 October 2017 – Time
In this session we’re going to be looking at Mindsets and how they can be promoted and applied in the classroom
Kirstie Walker
Wellbeing Educator | Facilitator

2. Outcomes Participants will leave with understanding of:
fixed and growth mindset
benefits of growth mindset
strategies to promote growth mindset in both you and your child
By the end of the session l hope you’ll have a greater understanding of
both fixed and growth mindsets and you will understand the benefit of a growth mindset in the classroom for both teachers and students. You will also leave with some practical strategies to help you promote a growth mindset in the classroom.
Kirstie Walker

3. Mindset (noun)
A set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines one’s behaviour, outlook and mental attitude.
So what are mindsets? Mindsets are the beliefs you have about yourself and your most fundamental qualities such as your ability, personality and talents. For example you may believe that you are sporty, intelligent, outgoing, good at cooking, bad at running and definitely unable to play a musical instrument. These beliefs in turn determine your behaviour, outlook on life and mental attitude.
Our mindsets originate from the ideas and beliefs we absorb from those we encounter as we grow up, our life experiences and our education and our environment. Our mindsets acts as a lens through which we interpret events that occur and they determine how we react or behave.
In 2006, Dr Carol Dweck, a psychologist and Standford University Professor popularised the idea of mindsets following decades of research on achievement and success. During her research Carol found that when some people were confronted with a difficult problem they became easily discouraged whilst others loved the challenge and were happy to fail in their quest to solve the problem and they saw failure as a means of learning. Carol came up with the term fixed and growth mindsets to describe these differences.
These mindsets are not absolute but tend to exist along a continuum with a fixed mindset at one end of the continuum and a growth mindset at the other. So lets have a closer look at Carol’s depiction of mindsets.
Kirstie Walker

4. Two Mindsets: Beliefs GROWTH MINDSET FIXED MINDSET
Born with a set level of skills / talent / IQ
Focus on:
performance/outcomes
not looking bad
Skills / talent / IQ can be developed
Focus on:
improving / learning
So lets go through and look at the differences between those with more of a fixed and those with more of a growth mindset. From this slide you can see that those with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. Their main focus and desire is to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart. On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. They view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges. They understand that effort is necessary to achieve their goals and they welcome constructive criticism so that they can continue to improve and grow. Ultimately this lead them to higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

5. Approach to challenges
Primary desire is to appear smart or to do
a task with ease
Leads to:
Avoiding challenges
Primary desire is to improve
Leads to:
Embracing challenges
From this slide you can see the differences between those with more of a fixed and those with more of a growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. In their desire to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart they avoid challenges and anything they perceive may be too difficult for them. This leads them to seek out quick wins and easy successes rather than putting themselves in situations where they can learn and grow. They see little value in effort as you either have what it takes or not, and they ignore or avoid constructive feedback that may be useful for their growth.
As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential.
On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. They view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges. They understand that effort is necessary to achieve their goals and they welcome constructive criticism so that they can continue to improve and grow. Ultimately this lead them to higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

6. View of effort Effort seen as: Effort seen as: useful / necessary
useless
proof of lack of ability
Leads to:
Less effort applied
Effort seen as:
useful / necessary
path to mastery
Leads to:
Applying effort
From this slide you can see the differences between those with more of a fixed and those with more of a growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. In their desire to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart they avoid challenges and anything they perceive may be too difficult for them. This leads them to seek out quick wins and easy successes rather than putting themselves in situations where they can learn and grow. They see little value in effort as you either have what it takes or not, and they ignore or avoid constructive feedback that may be useful for their growth.
As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential.
On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. They view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges. They understand that effort is necessary to achieve their goals and they welcome constructive criticism so that they can continue to improve and grow. Ultimately this lead them to higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

7. Approach to obstacles / setbacks
When obstacles occur:
blames others or outside factors
Leads to:
giving up easily
When obstacles occur:
sees obstacles as opportunity to learn
enjoys the process not just the outcome
Leads to:
persistance
You can see that those with more of a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. In their desire to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart they avoid challenges and anything they perceive may be too difficult for them. This leads them to seek out quick wins and easy successes rather than putting themselves in situations where they can learn and grow. They see little value in effort as you either have what it takes or not, and they ignore or avoid constructive feedback that may be useful for their growth.
As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential.
On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges.
Kirstie Walker

8. View of mistakes Mistakes seen as: Leads to: Leads to:
something to be avoided
Leads to:
Getting upset / discouraged
Mistakes seen as:
necessary / ‘normal'
learning opportunities
Leads to:
learning from mistakes
From this slide you can see the differences between those with more of a fixed and those with more of a growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. In their desire to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart they avoid challenges and anything they perceive may be too difficult for them. This leads them to seek out quick wins and easy successes rather than putting themselves in situations where they can learn and grow. They see little value in effort as you either have what it takes or not, and they ignore or avoid constructive feedback that may be useful for their growth.
As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential.
On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. They view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges. They understand that effort is necessary to achieve their goals and they welcome constructive criticism so that they can continue to improve and grow. Ultimately this lead them to higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

9. Response to feedback ignoring feedback Feedback Feedback seen as:
of little / no value
seen as an insult
taken personally
Leads to:
ignoring feedback
Feedback seen as:
of value for improvement / growth
Leads to:
use of feedback
From this slide you can see the differences between those with more of a fixed and those with more of a growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with innate abilities that we can’t do much about. In their desire to look smart and to prove to others that they are smart they avoid challenges and anything they perceive may be too difficult for them. This leads them to seek out quick wins and easy successes rather than putting themselves in situations where they can learn and grow. They see little value in effort as you either have what it takes or not, and they ignore or avoid constructive feedback that may be useful for their growth.
As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential.
On the other hand those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent and abilities can be developed which leads to a desire to learn. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. They view obstacles as part of the path to learning and so are able to persist when they come up against challenges. They understand that effort is necessary to achieve their goals and they welcome constructive criticism so that they can continue to improve and grow. Ultimately this lead them to higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

10. Mindset
So to summarise what we were just looking at: people with more of a fixed mindset are more interested in their performance and how they look and so they are more likely to avoid challenges, give up, see effort as fruitless and ignore useful feedback. Those with a growth mindset display traits that help them learn and grow including embracing challenges, persisting, applying effort, and learning from feedback. As a result those with a fixed mindsets may achieve less than their full potential whilst those with a growth mindset are more likely to reach higher levels of achievement.
Kirstie Walker

11. Mindsets predict motivation and achievement
So on the back of Dweck’s work, educators and researchers became interested in growth mindsets and their application in the education setting to assist students with learning and they started doing some research. So lets have a quick look at some of the research findings. Studies have shown that mindsets predict achievement but that they also predict motivation and effort. Studies have demonstrated that students with a growth mindset were higher achieving and more motivated than those with a fixed mindset.
Mindsets predict motivation and achievement
Kirstie Walker

12. Research Yr 10 students with growth mindset
outperformed fixed mindset students in maths
more motivated to learn / applied more effort
Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007
Yr 10 students with growth mindset
outperformed those with fixed mindset in language and maths
For example a study by Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck looked at over 370 Year 7 students and their maths grades from year 7 to 9. Although all students started year 7 with equal maths achievement, by the end of the first year, those with a growth mindset had outperformed those with a fixed mindset in math, and the gap continued to increase over the two-year period. Furthermore, those with a growth mindset were found to be more motivated to learn, they exerted more effort and were also more likely to employ positive strategies if they faced a setback.
Similarly, in a national study of 168,000 year 10s in Chile students who endorsed a growth mindset outperformed those with a fixed mindset on language and math tests. Students who held a growth mindset were three times more likely to score in the top 20% on the test, while students with a fixed mindset were four times more likely to score in the bottom 20%.
Claro, Paunesku & Dweck, 2016
Kirstie Walker

13. Mindsets predict seeking feedback
Research has also been able to show that mindsets predict whether students will seek feedback to help them improve.
Mindsets predict seeking feedback
Kirstie Walker

14. Research
Students given difficult test then told they hadn’t done well.
Next they had a choice - look at tests of those who did worse or better than them.
Growth mindset students more interested in looking at tests of those who had done better
Fixed mindset students more interested in looking at tests of those who had done worse
For example in a study by Nussbaum and colleagues, researchers were interested in the kind of feedback people would seek out after they struggled. Researchers gave the 29 participants an intentionally difficult speed-reading test and then told the participants that they hadn’t done well on the test - that they’d scored around the 37th percentile of students. Then, they gave them a choice: Did they want to look at the strategies used by people who had previously done the test and done worse than them or look at the strategies of people who had done better? Whilst people with a fixed mindset seemed more interested in making themselves feel better and so looked at the tests of people who had done worse, those with a growth mindset chose to look at the strategies and learn from people who had done better than them.
Nussbaum & Dweck, 2008
Kirstie Walker

15. Research
Students asked trivia questions. When told if answer right or wrong
Both growth and fixed mindset students’ brains activated
When told correct answer
Growth mindset students- more interested in getting feedback - brain activated
Fixed mindset students - less interested in getting feedback - brain less activated
In another study by Mangels and colleagues 47 undergrad students were brought into the lab and had EEG caps placed on their heads so that they could look at their brain activity. They then asked them a set of trivia questions. The participants were then told if their answer was right or wrong and the scientists found that for both groups of students, their brains were activated. What followed was interesting though. Participants were then told the correct answer and the scientists found that the brains of students with a growth mindset were significantly more activated than those with a fixed mindset. In other words those with a fixed mindset had tuned out once they knew whether they were right or wrong whereas those with a growth mindset wanted to find out the correct answer so that they could learn. At the end of the study, the scientists gave participants a pop quiz with the same trivia questions. Not surprisingly, the people with a growth mindset did better.
Mangels et al, 2006
Kirstie Walker

16. How do parents impact their
Whilst we’re looking at research and because this is a parent session I’d also quickly like to look at what impact parents have on their child’s mindset. There actually hasn’t been a lot of research done yet in this area but there are 2 studies I’d like to share with you. The first study looked at parents and the way they praise their child.
How do parents impact their
child’s mindset?
Kirstie Walker

17. Research Parents using process praise for 1- 3 yr olds 5 years later -
child more likely to have growth mindset
more likely to believe that traits were malleable
preferred challenging tasks
attributed success and failure to effort
more likely to generate strategies for improvement.
A study done in 2013 by Gunderson and colleagues looked at the effect of praise on a child’s mindset. Researchers observed how 53 parents praised their children at the ages of 1 to 3 then when they measured the children's mindsets 5 years later they found that the more parents used process praise (praising effort, strategies etc) as opposed to person centred praise (commenting on the child such as good girl, what a smart boy) when their children were 1 to -3-years-old, the more likely those children were to have a growth mindset 5 years later. The children of parents who gave more process praise were more likely to believe that traits were malleable, they preferred challenging tasks, they attributed success and failure to effort and were more likely to generate strategies for improvement. We’ll be looking at process praise and how to do it later in the session. It’s important to note however that this particular study didn’t find the use of person centred praise at this age predicted a fixed mindset.
Gunderson et al, 2013
Kirstie Walker

18. Research Parents who view failure as negative
parents more likely to focus on performance and ability
child more likely to have fixed mindset
Parents who view failure as enhancing
parents more likely to focus on helping child recover from failure, learn from it, grow skill set
child more likely to have growth mindset
In other research, a parent’s view of failure, whether they see it as debilitating or enhancing, was shown to predict children’s mindsets.
The 2016 study by Haimovitz and Dweck, looked at 73 pairs of parents and grade 4 and 5 children. The study found that parents who viewed failure as negative or harmful had children who were more likely to have a fixed mindset. The parents who saw failure as debilitating were found to focus on their children’s performance and ability rather than on their children’s learning, and their children, in turn, tended to believe that intelligence is fixed rather than malleable and were less likely to believe that they could improve their intelligence. On the other hand parents who believed that failure was necessary for growth and crucial for learning were more likely to work with their children to help them recover from failure, learn from it and to enhance their skills and their children were more likely to have a growth mindset. So just take a moment to reflect on your view of failure. Do you believe that it is something negative and to be avoided or do you believe that failure offers an opportunity for learning and growth?
Haimovitz, K & Dweck, C. (2016)
Kirstie Walker

19. Research
Parents attended 45 min panel discussion on responses to academic difficulty for grade 8s
Following this:
parents responded more positively to experiences of academic difficulty
student’s grades improved
The last piece of research I’d like to share with you is a recent small study. Parents either attended a brief 45 min panel discussion that taught them that academic struggles are normal and discussed how parents can positively respond to their adolescent’s academic difficulties or they attended a control panel that was a getting to know you session.
The study found that parents who attended the session on academic difficulty responded more positively to hypothetical experiences of academic difficulty for their children. They also found that the grades of children whose parents attended the parent panel increased throughout the year; at the end of the school year, these students’ grades rose approximately a half letter grade higher than students whose parents attended the “get to know you” discussion.
Destin, M. & Svoboda, R. (2017)
Kirstie Walker

20. What can parents do to promote a growth mindset?
So given the benefits of growth mindsets, what can parents do to promote a growth mindset in their children? What effective practical strategies can you implement at home to promote a growth mindset?
What can parents do to promote a growth mindset?
Kirstie Walker

21. STRATEGY NO 1: Teach your child that the brain is
An effective way to promote a growth mindset in your child is to introduce them to the concept of the brain developing through effort and learning. Whilst we used to think that the brain was fixed from about 8 years of age, we now know that the brain is able to change throughout our lives. This change is known as neuroplasticity. The aim is to teach children that the brain is like a muscle that grows stronger with use, and that every time they stretched themselves and learned something new their brain formed new neural connections that made their brain stronger. Kids are usually pretty excited to find out that they can actually influence the way their brain develops. I’d like to show you a quick video that explains neuroplasticity.
Teach your child that the brain is
like a muscle that can be developed
Kirstie Walker

22. https://youtu.be/ELpfYCZa87g
Summary of Video: During the process of Neuroplasticity:
New thoughts and skills carve out new pathways
Repetition and practice strengthen these pathways
Old pathways get used less and weaken
This means that with repeated and direct attention we all have the ability to rewire our brains.
What Neuroscience now can show us is that when you use a growth mindset and challenge yourself, there is greater electrical activity in your brain and this fosters the development of new neural pathways and connections. That is you make your brain stronger when you use a growth mindset.
Kirstie Walker

23. RESOURCES: Youtube Clips
Fostering Growth Mindset (4 mins)
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset (5 mins)
4 Steps to Developing a Growth Mindset (3:45mins)
Embracing Kids' Failures (4 mins)
Effort, Not Achievement (3mins)
How to Develop Growth Mindset in Kids (10 mins)
Kirstie Walker

24. RESOURCES: TED Talks
The Power of Believing You Can Improve - Carol Dweck
Change your mindset, change the game - Dr. Alia Crum
The Power of Belief -- Mindset and Success - Eduardo Briceno
After watching this, your brain will not be the same - Lara Boyd
Kirstie Walker

25. RESOURCES: Books Books for parents Books for kids
Mindset - The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Mindset: Changing The Way You think To Fulfil Your Potential (updated edition) by Carol Dweck
Mindsets for Parents: Strategies to Encourage Growth Mindsets in Kids by Mary Cay Ricci and Margaret Lee
Books for kids
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: Stretch It, Shape It by JoAnn Deak
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg
Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty
Kirstie Walker

26. RESOURCES: Websites
Mindset Works
The Mindset Kit
The Mindset Scholars Network
So how might you go about teaching your child about the brain and it’s ability to be developed through learning? Maybe you can chat to your child about attending tonight’s session and talk to them about the brain. Ask them what they understand about how the brain changes and grows then have a discussion about the brain being like a muscle and growing stronger connections as you challenge yourself. Maybe you could look at a youtube clip like the one I showed you.
There are some really good resources for teaching your child about mindsets and neuroplasticity online like the youtube clip one I just showed you. You may also find TED talks or sites like these helpful. Many offer fabulous resources, some of which are free. If you are interested in this list come and see me after the session and I can it to you. I can also you the Grow Your Intelligence Information sheet compiled by Mindsetworks that has info on how the brain develops.
Kirstie Walker

27. STRATEGY NO 2: Teach your child the language
The third strategy I’d like to share with you is to teach your child the language needed for a growth mindset and make sure you also model it.
Teach your child the language
needed for a growth mindset
and model it
Kirstie Walker

28. Instead of ... Try thinking...
I’m not good at this
What am I missing?
This is too hard
This may take some time / effort
I give up
I’ll use a different strategy
I made a mistake
Mistakes help me learn
I’m naturally good at this
How can I keep improving
Teach your kids to consider their language. The aim is to help them tune in to when they are using fixed mindset language and then replace it with more constructive growth mindset language. For example, as this slide shows, maybe instead of saying or thinking I’m no good at this, they can consider what they may be missing or replacing “I made a mistake” with”mistakes help me learn”. It’s also important that you also model growth mindset language for your kids so that when you make a mistake or find something difficult you are aware and use growth mindset language.
Kirstie Walker

29. .…YET “I CAN’T” HAVE THE COURAGE TO ADD IF YOU ARE TEMPTED TO SAY
Another strategy is to teach your child to use the statement ‘yet’. This can have a big impact on a child’s motivation as there is a big difference between not knowing and not knowing yet.
Kirstie Walker

30. It doesn’t make sense…yet I don’t get it…yet I’m not good at this…yet
I can’t do this…yet
This doesn’t work…yet
I don’t know…yet
It doesn’t make sense…yet
I don’t get it…yet
I’m not good at this…yet
For example when a child expresses that they can’t do something teach them to add the word ‘yet’.
By saying “I can’t do this yet” it puts their fixed mindset statement into a growth mindset context of learning over time.
Kirstie Walker

31. Use process praise rather than
STRATEGY NO 3::
The next strategy I’m going to show you to help develop a growth mindset in your child is to give process praise where you focus on effort, strategies and progress rather than person praise where you focus on the person or on traits that they can do little or nothing to change.
Use process praise rather than
person praise
Kirstie Walker

32. Person praise to process praise
Great job! You must be smart at this.
Good job! You must have
tried hard.
You got an A. You’re a natural at maths.
I like the way you tried different strategies when the maths problems got harder
So lets look at some examples of the two types of praise. You can see that in these examples being told “you must be really smart at this” gives the child no idea how they can improve, and potentially makes them less inclined to try something that they may not do so well in. Process praise on the other hand focuses on things that the student can control and change.
Kirstie Walker

33. PROCESS Praise R resilience O optimism C concentration E effort
P persistence
R resilience
O optimism
C concentration
E effort
S strategies
S studying skills
So as you can see, the acronym PROCESS gives you an idea of the things to focus on. When giving process praise you focus on the process the child engages in, their hard work, trying many strategies, their focus, their perseverance and resilience in the face of setbacks or challenges, their use of errors to learn, their improvement.
Kirstie Walker

34. Process Praise thought used explored I like the way you… created
decided
chose
I like the way you…
I noticed that you…
Tell me how you…
Focus on process
So if you wanted to give process praise you might say “I like the way you thought about a variety of solutions for this problem then focused on one to explore in more detail”.
Now before we move on I’d like to just add a word of warning. As the concept of mindsets has grown in popularity, Carol and some of her colleagues noticed that some people were misunderstanding the core message believing that they could foster growth mindset merely by telling kids to try hard, and rewarding effort regardless of whether the student’s hard work was getting results. Now there is no point in praising a student for effort and having them redouble their effort if they are using ineffective strategies. Rather they need to know when to ask for help and when to use resources that are available.
Kirstie Walker

35. STRATEGY NO 4:
Teach your child that success does not happen without effort, persistence and making mistakes as you learn
Teach your child that success does not happen without effort, persistence and making mistakes as you learn. It’s important that you let your child know that you value effort, taking on challenges, and subsequent mistakes they may make over perfection. To do this you can explain that success is like an iceberg.
Kirstie Walker

36. Teach students that success is like an iceberg
As you can see from this slide we often only see the end result of success and not all the hard work, persistence, dedication, mistakes made and recovery from failure that was required to succeed.
There are numerous examples of people who achieved success but their success required hard work, persistence, and the ability to keep going after numerous failures. For example Michael Jordan the basketballer who didn’t make his school basketball team, who lost more than 300 games and who was trusted to take the game winning shot and missed not once but 26 times.
So what opportunities can you create to discuss the journey of success with your child? Maybe then you can get them to think of a time when they were successful and reflect on the steps that were required, the mistakes they made, the failures they overcame.
Kirstie Walker

37. Other ideas:
Make mistakes / talk about your mistakes with your children
Another strategy is to make mistakes in front of your children or talk about your mistakes with you children, having a positive reaction to those mistakes, and openly reflecting on what could be learned from the mistake. Try to show that it's all about learning, not about being right. A great place to do this is at the dinner table when you can own up to a mistake you made and talk about how you overcame it or what you learned that you’d do differently next time. Then they get to see that even as adults we don’t always get it right!
It’s also important that you learn to react positively and constructively when you child makes a mistake or fails. Try and see it as an opportunity for learning and growth. For example if your child comes home with a poor grade, rather than getting upset or showing concern, ask you child what they think about the grade and how they feel about it. You can acknowledge your child’s feelings and then help your child to think through what could be learned from this. Did they need to study a little more? Or study differently? Ask more questions? Practice? Maybe it’s an opportunity to teach them about prioritising or to do lists. This reaction will send a subtle but very robust message that success comes not just with time and effort but also overcoming challenges. I think it’s also important to take note of the subtle and sometimes not so subtle messages we give off about success and failure. Our kids are great at picking up on these messages.
React constructively / positively when your child makes a mistake
Kirstie Walker

38. Activity:
How did you respond when your child struggled this week? How could you respond in a growth mindset way?
How did you respond when your child excelled this week? How could you respond to their success in a growth mindset way?
What I’d like to do before we finish up are a couple of activities. I’d like you to have a look at these 2 questions and reflect on them for a minute then turn to you neighbour and share with them.
What thoughts did you have this week when your child struggled? How could you frame their struggle in a growth mindset way by helping them understand that this is when their brain is growing most?
What thoughts did you have when your child excelled? How could you frame their success in a growth mindset way, e.g., by talking about the process that went into their success?
Kirstie Walker

39. When your child struggled: Let them struggle Tell them not to give up
Ask them what they can do to solve the challenge / what strategy they could try now
Ask them what they can do to improve their work
Ask them what they can learn from this
Remind them of when they have struggled previously and been successful
Kirstie Walker
What I’d like to do before we finish up are a couple of activities. I’d like you to have a look at these 2 questions and reflect on them for a minute then turn to you neighbour and share with them.
What thoughts did you have this week when your child struggled? How could you frame their struggle in a growth mindset way by helping them understand that this is when their brain is growing most?
What thoughts did you have when your child excelled? How could you frame their success in a growth mindset way, e.g., by talking about the process that went into their success?
Kirstie Walker

40. When your child excelled: Praise them - on the process
Ask them to reflect on what it was that they did to achieve the result e.g. what strategies did they use?
Ask them to think about what else they could do to improve their work even more
Ask them what would make the activity more challenging
What I’d like to do before we finish up are a couple of activities. I’d like you to have a look at these 2 questions and reflect on them for a minute then turn to you neighbour and share with them.
What thoughts did you have this week when your child struggled? How could you frame their struggle in a growth mindset way by helping them understand that this is when their brain is growing most?
What thoughts did you have when your child excelled? How could you frame their success in a growth mindset way, e.g., by talking about the process that went into their success?
Kirstie Walker
Kirstie Walker

41. Learn to recognise your own mindset
Fixed
Mindset
Growth
Mindset
Lastly it is really important that you learn to recognise your own mindset and how that impacts your thinking and your behaviour. So lets have a look at the results of your mindset check up.
Kirstie Walker

42. Results:
8-16
You firmly believe that your talents, skills and abilities are set traits. These things can’t be changed very much. If you can’t perform really well and look good on a test or project you’d rather just not do it. You think that smart and talented people don’t have to work very hard to be good.
17-24
You think that your skills and intelligence probably don’t change very much. You like situations where you perform well, are less likely to make mistakes, and don’t have to put in too much effort. You believe that learning and getting better at things should be relatively easy.
25-32
You’re not too sure whether or not you can change your skills and intelligence. Your grades and performances are important to you and so is learning. You are not the biggest fan of putting in too much effort though.
33-40
You believe you can develop your skills and intelligence. You really care about learning and don’t mind having to put in some effort to make it happen. Performing well matters to you but you think that learning is actually more important than always scoring well and looking good.
41-48
You totally believe that you can grown and improve your skills and intelligence. You love challenges and know the best way to learn is by working really hard, You don’t mind making mistakes or looking bad in order to get better.
Remember your mindset is not absolute but if you find that you have a tendency to more of a fixed mindset or there are certain things that you know trigger your fixed mindset what can you do about it?
Kirstie Walker

43. Developing your own growth mindset
Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice”
Step 2: Recognise that you have a choice
Step 3: Respond with growth mindset action
Carol Dweck has some suggestions for how we can develop our growth mindset. Firstly we can learn to tune in and become aware when we may be using a fixed mindset or when our fixed mindset is triggered. For example, if you find yourself in a situation where you will be challenged, you might catch the voice in your head saying“Are you sure you can do it? It’s not too late to back out”. Or another situation might be if someone gives you some feedback, and you begin to feel yourself getting angry and thinking “who do they think they are” or alternatively saying “it’s not my fault”.
These responses are fixed mindset responses and once you become aware of them you can then teach yourself that you have a choice over which mindset to use. You can choose rather than interpreting challenges, setbacks and criticism as a sign that your talents or abilities are lacking, you can interpret them as signs that you need to ramp up your strategies and effort. We can then learn to counter our fixed mindset with growth mindset action however this will take time and practice.
Kirstie Walker

44. Developing your own growth mindset
Look for learning opportunities
Be receptive to feedback
Become comfortable with failure
Practice self compassion
Some other ways we can develop our growth mindset is to continue to look for new opportunities to learn and grow. Is there a new approach to parenting you’d like to know more about and be willing to try or a new style of cooking or a new exercise class you’d like to try? Can you challenge yourself to try and learn something new once a week/ once a month? And as you try something new, remain open to feedback on how you can improve. You also need to become comfortable with failure. If you feel like everything you do has to be a success you won’t be prepared to take risks and try new things. Know that the worse that can happen if you fail is that you’re going to discover that you’re human and you’re learning just like everybody else. Find ways to make failure and struggle the norm, be prepared for multiple attempts to get the result you’re looking for, share your struggles with others, and seek help when you need it.
When you are learning to embrace a growth mindset certain situations and people may still trigger your fixed mindset. When this happens you need to practice a little self compassion and remind yourself that you are trying to develop a more growth mindset, and making mistakes is just part of this.
Kirstie Walker

45. What will you apply in the next week?
To finish off I would like you to turn to the person next to you and tell them one thing that you have learnt or that resonated with you tonight. Does it relate to changing your own mindset or a strategy you can implement to change your students mindsets? I’d like you then to make a commitment to implementing this in the next week.
What will you apply in the next week?
Kirstie Walker

46. teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, “
If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is:
teach their children to love challenges,
be intrigued by mistakes,
enjoy effort, and
keep on learning.”
and just before we wrap up I’d like to leave you with a comment from Carol Dweck who says that the best thing parents can do is teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning. Thanks.
Carol S. Dweck
Kirstie Walker

47. Kirstie Walker
Wellbeing Educator
If you are looking for some good resources for teaching your students about mindsets you may find these sites helpful.

48. References:
Blackwell, L.S., Trzesniewski, K.H., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, , Study 1
Claro, S., Paunesku, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mindset equals income as a predictor of achievement. Unpublished manu- script, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Dar-Nimrod, I., & Heine, S.J. (2006). Exposure to scientific theories affects women’s math performance. Science, 314, 435.
Grant, H. & Dweck, C.S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85,
Kirstie Walker

49. References:
Gunderson, E.A., Gripshover, S.J., Romero, C., Dweck, C.S., Goldin- Meadow, S., & Levine, S (2013) Parent Praise to 1- to 3-Year-Olds Predicts Children's Motivational Frameworks 5 Years Later, Child Development, 84(5), pp1526–1541, DOI: /cdev.12064
Haimovitz, K & Dweck, C. (2016 What predicts children’s fixed and growth intelligence mind-sets? Not their parents’ views of intelligence but their parents’ views of failure. Psychological Science, 27(6),
Mangels, J.A., Butterfield, B., Lamb, J., Good, C. & Dweck, C.S. (2006) Why do beliefs about intelligence influence learning success? A social cognitive neuroscience model, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 1 (2), pp 75–86,
Kirstie Walker

50. References:
Nussbaum, A.D. & Dweck, C.S. (2008) Defensiveness versus remediation: Self-Theories and Modes of Self-Esteem Maintenance, Personality and Social Psychology, 34(5),
Rattan, A., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). “It’s ok—Not every- one can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 731–737.
Rheinberg, F., Vollmeyer, R., & Rollett, W. (2000). Motivation and action in self- regu- lated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self- regulation (pp ). San Diego: Academic Press.
Kirstie Walker