Growth Mindset Workshop for Parents (and Children!) (PDF)

Growth Mindset Workshop for Parents (and Children!) Campie Primary School 6.00pm – 6.45pm 31st January 2018 Sarah Williams East Lothian Educational Psychology Service  Aims of the Session  What do we mean by  ‘GROWTH MINDSET’ ?  Why does it matter?  How can I help my Child?  Activity  Rate the following using the following scale: 1. You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it. 2. Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much. 3. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Strongly Agree Agree Mostly Agree Mostly Disagree Disagree Strongly Disagree  Carol Dweck: ★research into motivation and success ★Two kinds of belief systems which influence thoughts and actions  Fixed vs. Growth Fixed Growth  Skills can be improved with effort  Challenges are an opportunity to grow  Effort is essential  Feedback is useful  Setbacks are learning opportunities  Success shows mastery and is inspirational  Skills are fixed and unchanging  Challenge should be avoided  Effort is unnecessary  Feedback is just criticism  Setbacks are a result of some other factor  Success is a measure of amount of skill  Mindsets Continuum Intelligence is fixed so... “Effort is pointless!” “Why persist if you can’t already do it?” “You can’t change it so why bother with feedback?” Intelligence can grow so… “Challenges are learning opportunities” “Effort helps you get better” “Thinking about your own thinking helps you find ways to improve.”   Dweck’s Research - Puzzle Study  10 year olds  Items from non-verbal IQ test. Told either: ◦ ‘Wow you got x right. That’s a really good score. You must be smart at this’ ◦ ‘Wow you got x right. That’s a really good score. You must have worked really hard’  Ability praise fixed mindset  Effort praise growth mindset Puzzle Study video link  Dweck’s Research - Puzzle Study What happened next?  Students were given a choice about having harder problems  Ability praised students thought they weren’t so bright after all and stopped enjoying the task. Less overall performance.  Effort praised students thought it was simply an indication that they had to put in more effort and said the more challenging the questions the more fun. Better overall performance  The Brain  Brains are like Muscles brain as a muscle video Brains are like muscles:  Basic building blocks at birth  Connections form as we learn …and get stronger with practice  Brain Research “Your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ… in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests or temperaments – everyone can change and grow through application and experience.” Dweck, 2012: p.7    Parents and influence on learning?  Evidence shows that parental involvement in children’s education from an early age has a significant effect on educational achievement, and continues to do so into adolescence and adulthood.  The attitudes and aspirations of parents and children themselves predict later educational achievement.