1. Two groups of students started high school with the same results in maths. After two years, one group had improved significantly, while the other group got worse.

2. What was the difference between the students who improved, and those who got worse?

3. One simple difference: Growth Mindset

4. What is the difference between growth and fixed mindset?
What is Growth Mindset?
What is the difference between growth and fixed mindset?

6. This was the only difference between the two groups of students in the study!

7. People with a growth mindset recognise that you can make your brain grow bigger through effort.

8. Some examples of this…

9. Remarkable Rats
Experiments show that when rats engage in a variety of challenging activities, their brains get bigger.
Group One
Twin rats
Cage with just food and water
Group Two
Twin rats
Cage with puzzles, exercise equipment, etc.
Better at learning
10% heavier brains!

10. Does it work with humans, too?
A team of brain researchers took a group of Spanish-speaking guerrilla warriors who had never seen books and did not have any formal education. After the war, the scientists worked with them and taught them how to read. A couple of years after the classes, they measured their brains. Just like the rats, their brains grew in the “reading areas”, compared to the people who were not taught how to read.

11. Clever Cabbies
London cabbies have to learn the locations of many different places. Scientists measured these cabbies’ hippocampus - the area of the brain that remembers information about places. The scientists compared their brains to other people. The cabbies’ hippocampus area was bigger, and the longer the cabbies were on the job, the bigger this area of the brain became! This shows that learning and practicing this skill made that area of their brain grow.
What cabbies have to memorise…

12. Growth mindset students are different from fixed mindset students in three main ways…
In their attitude towards learning
In their attitude towards effort
In their attitude towards setbacks

13. 1. Their attitude towards learning

14. 2. Their attitude towards effort

15. Lifting light weights won’t make your muscles stronger
Lifting light weights won’t make your muscles stronger. You need to lift heavy weights.
Likewise, doing easy tasks won’t make your brain bigger. But doing tasks that require effort will!
If it requires effort, it’s good for your brain!!!

16. 3. Their attitude towards setbacks

17. The most successful people have experienced failure!

18. How can we develop growth mindset in ourselves?
What we say to ourselves has a huge impact.
I’m really bad at this.
This is too hard.
I can’t do maths.

19. Each group will receive a phrase that fosters a fixed mindset.
As a group, transform this phrase into one that fosters growth mindset.
For example:
This will need time and effort.
This is too hard!

20. I’ll never be as smart as her.
Instead of saying…
Try saying…
This is too hard.
This will need time and effort.
I’m not good at this. 
I haven’t mastered this yet.
I’m perfect at this.
 I can push myself further.
This is good enough.
 I can always improve.
I’m terrible at maths.
 I need to spend more time working on maths.
I did it wrong. 
 Mistakes are vital to help me learn.
I’ll never be as smart as her.
 I’ll talk to her and find out how she does it.
Plan A didn’t work.
 Luckily I have a Plan B!
I give up.
 I just need to keep persisting.

21. What can your teacher do to help you develop a growth mindset?

22. So remember, simply by having a growth mindset, you can be in that top group!