1. Mindset Mindset Objectives for Mindset sequence:
Understand how a growth mindset impacts student motivation and achievement.
Learn strategies to help students develop a growth mindset.

2. What are Mindsets?
Beliefs people hold about their most basic qualities and abilities
(based on the research of Carol Dweck, PhD.)
INTENT: To introduce Mindset

3. Mindset Survey
Privately circle your level of agreement with the 8 statements.
INTENT: Participants will become aware of their own Mindset
Refer to the handout, “Mindset Survey and Scoring Guide.”
For each statement, rate your level of agreement. Notice the scale:
1 = Disagree a lot
6 = Agree a lot
Leave the “Profile Number” column blank.
The purpose of this survey is to privately measure participants’ opinions about intelligence, performance, learning, effort, and challenges. Explain that you will not collect these or ask them to share their responses…participants will be able to keep them private.

4. Mindset – Fixed vs. Growth
Mindsets are beliefs—beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities.
People with a fixed mindset tend to believe that traits are fixed qualities. They have a certain amount of intelligence or talent, for example, and nothing can change that.
People with a growth mindset believe these qualities can be developed through dedication and effort.
Note that while this slide focuses on academic qualities, people can hold either a fixed or growth mindset about other qualities (athletic or artistic or personal qualities, for example). It is quite possible to for someone to hold a growth mindset in one area (for example: “I believe my intelligence can be grown…”) while simultaneously holding a fixed mindset in another (“…but I’m just not artistic and that’s that.”)
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

5. Examples of Fixed Mindset Thinking
“I’m not good at math!” “I am not a good writer.” “I can’t do this!”
Share the quotes on the slide as examples of fixed mindset thinking.

6. When do you feel smart? Fixed Mindset: “When I don’t make mistakes”
“When I finish my work quickly”
“When I get easy work”
“When I get ‘A’s”
Growth Mindset:
“When I don’t know how to do it and its pretty hard and I figure it out without anyone telling me”
“When I’m doing school work because I want to learn”
“When I’m reading a challenging book”
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

7. What does intelligence mean?
Fixed Mindset:
“How smart you are”
“Inborn ability to learn complex ideas”
“The ability to survive with the least effort while still doing really well”
“Can be measured by one test”
Growth Mindset:
“Studying hard”
“The amount of knowledge you possess and how you use it”
“How much effort you put into something”
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

8. Why does this matter?
Research has shown that students who hold a Growth Mindset perform better than those with a Fixed Mindset, especially under conditions of challenge.
(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007)
However, these mindsets themselves are learned, and they can be changed (Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
When students are taught that the brain develops and gets smarter with effort and learning, they become motivated and perform better.
(Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003)

9. Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence Intelligence can is static
be developed
The following slides compare how the different mindsets view challenges, setbacks, effort, criticism, and the success of others. Participants may wish to follow along with the handout, “Mindset Graphic.”
The Fixed Mindset believes intelligence is static and is therefore concerned with how much intelligence others perceive they have. By definition, a challenge is hard and success is not assured, so the fixed mindset will often avoid challenges and stick to what they know they can do well rather than risk failing and negatively impacting their self-image.
People who hold the Growth Mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, that the brain is like a muscle that can be trained. This leads to the desire to improve. And how do you improve? First, you embrace challenges, because you know that you’ll come out stronger on the other side.
Relate to their self-view of mathematics and their experience in this workshop.

10. Obstacles Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence Intelligence can
is static
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can
be developed
Even when Fixed Mindsets avoid challenges, they may still run into obstacles along the way, and they will give up easily.
But obstacles – external setbacks – do not discourage Growth Mindset thinkers. Their self-image is not tied to their success and how you will look to others; failure is an opportunity to learn, and so whatever happens you win.
Obstacles

11. Effort Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence Intelligence can
is static
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can
be developed
The Fixed Mindset sees effort as useless and to be avoided. Why would I try if it puts me at risk of failing? It’s easier to say I failed because I didn’t bother than it is to say I failed because I don’t have it in me.
The Growth Mindset sees effort as necessary to grow and master useful skills. Effort, practice and persistence are the pathway to improvement and growth.
Effort

12. Criticism Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence Intelligence can
is static
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can
be developed
For the Fixed Mindset, useful negative feedback may be ignored or even taken as an insult the rest of the time. The Fixed Mindset logically leads you to believe that any criticism of your capabilities is criticism of you.
The Growth Mindset views criticism and negative feedback as important sources of information. That doesn’t mean that all criticism is worth integrating or that criticism is never taken personally, but at least the Growth Mindset individual knows that he or she can change and improve, so the negative feedback is not perceived as being directly about them as a person, but rather about their current abilities.
Criticism

13. Success of Others Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Intelligence
is static
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can
be developed
For the Fixed Mindset, the success of others is seen as a benchmark against which the person looks bad. Usually when others succeed, people with a Fixed Mindset will try to convince themselves and the people around them that the success was due to either luck (after all, almost everything is due to luck in the Fixed Mindset world) or objectionable actions.
For the Growth Mindset, the success of others is seen as a source of inspiration and information. It isn’t just for those who are born to be successful, so another’s success does not mean that you might not be cut out for success.
Success of Others

14. As a result…
Those with a Fixed Mindset may plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.
Those with a Growth Mindset reach ever-higher levels of achievement.
For the Fixed Mindset, this can work like a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a Fixed Mindset point of view, failures lead to increased self-doubt and inability to overcome obstacles. These negative beliefs feed future failures. Since they don’t change or improve much with time, if at all, it seems to confirm that “they are as they are”.
For the Growth Mindset, this can work like a positive feedback loop. Learning and growing through challenges lead to increased effort through subsequent challenges, which leads to continued learning and growth.

15. A View from Two Mindsets
One day, you go to a class that is really important to you and that you like a lot. The professor returns the midterm papers to the class. You got a C+. You’re very disappointed. That evening on the way back home, you find that you’ve gotten a parking ticket. Being really frustrated, you call your best friend to share the experience but are sort of brushed off.”
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

16. Compare and Contrast
View the scenario from both a growth and fixed mindset, using your own words
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
Refer participants to the handout, “Mindset Compare Contrast Organizer.” Give them some time to individually fill in the organizer and respond to the scenario.
Think about someone you know who is steeped in the fixed mindset. Think about how they’re always trying to prove themselves and how they’re supersensitive about being wrong or making mistakes. Did you ever wonder why they were this way? Are you this way?
Think about someone you know who is skilled in the growth mindset – someone who understands that important qualities can be cultivated. Think about the ways they confront obstacles. Think about the things they do to stretch themselves. What are some ways you might like to change or stretch yourself?

17. Mindsets in Action
Here’s an example of a fixed and growth mindset in action
Calvin and Susie Derkins (Calvin’s classmate /neighbor)

18. Myth 1: The belief that students with high ability are more likely to display a growth mindset
You might think that students who were highly skilled would be the ones to relish a challenge and persevere in the face of setbacks. Instead, many of these students are the most worried about failure, and the most likely to question their ability and to wilt when they hit obstacles
(Leggett, 1985)
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

19. Myth 2: The belief that success in school directly fosters a growth mindset
You might also think that when students succeed, they are emboldened and energized to seek out more challenging tasks. The truth is that success in itself does little to boost students’ desire for challenge or their ability to cope with setbacks. In fact we can see that it can have quite the opposite effect. (Diener & Dweck, 1978, 1980)
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

20. Myth 3: The belief that praising ability, talent, intelligence and / or personal qualities encourages a growth mindset
This is a most cherished belief in our society. One can hardly walk down the street without hearing parents telling their children how smart they are. The hope is that such praise will instil confidence and thereby promote a host of desirable qualities. Far from promoting the hoped for qualities, this type of praise can lead students to fear failure, avoid risks, doubt themselves when they fail and cope poorly with setbacks.
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
Praise for ability leads to the belief that ability is all, and effort isn’t important. People who believe in fixed traits feel an urgency to succeed, and when they do, they may feel more than pride. They may feel a sense of superiority, since success means that their fixed traits are better than other people’s. However, lurking behind that self-esteem of the fixed mindset is a simple question: If you’re somebody when you’re successful, what are you when you’re unsuccessful?
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

21. California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

22. Myth 4: The belief that students’ confidence in their intelligence is the key to a growth mindset
In a way, it seems only logical to assume that students who have confidence in their intelligence – who clearly believe they are smart – would have nothing to fear from challenge and would be somehow inoculated against the ravages of failure. But many of the most confident individuals do not want their intelligence too stringently tested, and their high confidence is all too quickly shaken when they are confronted with difficulty.
(Henderson & Dweck, 1990; Dweck & Lin, 1998)
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

23. Prime Minister
Winston Churchill REPEATED a grade during elementary school
He was placed in the LOWEST division of the LOWEST class

24. Composer Beethoven’s teacher called him a HOPELESS composer
He wrote 5 of his greatest SYMPHONIES while DEAF

25. Leo Tolstoy was described as both “UNABLE and unwilling to LEARN"
Writer
Leo Tolstoy was described as both “UNABLE and unwilling to LEARN"

26. Role models talented than other people… ‘creative imagination’
….Einstein's teacher said that he was ‘academically subnormal’
….Michael Jordan's coach said that he wasn’t more
talented than other people…
…..Walt Disney was told that he lacked
‘creative imagination’

27. ‘People are made, not born’
The ‘Growth Mindset’

28. Mindsets are Learned and Can be Changed
Teach students about how their brain works
Praise carefully
Model a Growth Mindset and nurture a risk-tolerant environment
The upcoming slides will look at how to foster positive mindsets in the classroom.

29. Mindsets are Learned and Can be Changed
Treatment Group
Control Group
Study skills
How the brain works and growth mindset
How to apply growth mindset to schoolwork
Study skills
This is one of the research studies described in Carol Dweck’s book. Struggling middle school students were divided into two groups: the treatment group and the control group. Both groups received study skills, but the treatment group received additional interventions (see slide).
Source: Mindset by Carol Dweck

30. Math Grades (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck)
This slide shows the remarkable improvement in grades shown by the treatment group. The students in the control group showed declining grades despite receiving instruction in study skills.
Brainology®
Brainology®  is an online interactive program that teaches students how the brain functions, learns, and remembers, and how it changes in a physical way when we exercise it.
The Brainology® program teaches the growth mindset - the view of intelligence as malleable.  Students come to see effort as a positive quality needed for anyone to achieve his or her full potential.  They come to understand how to approach studying and learning in ways that make their brains smarter.  They learn how to approach success and learn from failure.
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

31. Percent Showing Increased Motivation
Significantly more of the treatment group students showed increased motivation than the control group students.
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

36. “Praising intelligence, talent, or ability harms kids because it puts them in a fixed mindset. It turns kids away from learning.”
-Carol Dweck, PhD
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

37. What should we praise? Not intelligence, talent or ability!
“Look, you got an A without really working. You’re really good at math!”
“You did that so quickly and easily. That’s impressive!”
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

38. What should we praise? Effort, struggle, persistence despite setbacks
Who had a terrific struggle?
Great persistence! There were so many hard things and you worked your way through them!
Strategies, choices, choosing different tasks
Wow, nice strategies. You kept trying different things until it worked!
You chose a nice hard task. You’ll learn a lot!
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

39. Model a Growth Mindset Can you hear yourself asking…
Did everyone see that interesting mistake I just made?
Who else has an interesting mistake to share?
Who experienced a terrific struggle?

40. Nurture a Risk-Tolerant Environment
Use growth-oriented praise and encourage others to do the same
Remind learners that faster isn’t always better
Discourage labels
Encourage learners to assess their own progress
Share and celebrate mistakes that move learning forward
normalize-mistake-making-and-struggle-in-class/
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

41. “I’m not good at math!” “I am not a good writer.” “I can’t do this!”
The Power of “YET”
“I’m not good at math!”
“I am not a good writer.”
“I can’t do this!”
As each statement clicks in, ask the group to read the statements chorally and add the word… yet.
For example, I am not good at math… yet!
Table group discussion, (as time allows)
What does the word YET do for your Mindset?
How can you develop a Growth Mindset for yourself and your students?

42. Mindsets in Action
As you watch the video, “Austin’s Butterfly,” look for evidence of Growth Mindsets.
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education

43. Follow-Up Reading Article: “Even Geniuses Work Hard.” Book: Mindset
Some of our picks from the book, Mindset, are
Chapter 3: The Truth about Ability and Accomplishment
Chapter 7: Parents, Teachers, and Coaches: Where do Mindsets Come From?
Chapter 8: Changing Mindsets
Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

44. Looking ahead… Continue work on Educational Philosophy
Turn in Site Placement forms if you haven’t done so already
Work on Understanding Mindsets reflections next week
California’s CCSS: Toolkit adapted by the Stanislaus County Office of Education