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2008 Day 1 findings:
1. Developing a ‘growth’ mindset (based on the work of Carol Dweck)
(People with a fixed mindset will only tackle anything which they are fairly certain they will succeed at. People with a growth mindset will not only tackle any task, regardless of whether they believe they will succeed or not, but will feel excited by the challenge.)
The following list of ‘growth mindset’ language has been drawn from the 6 teams:
Foundation Stage/Year 1
Essex Teachers found it difficult to quantify which mindsets pupils had. Teachers were showing pupils that they make mistakes and that this is part of learning. Teachers felt that to a certain extent they were already talking to children using a growth mindset. Two teachers in this group had stopped using stickers and found that pupils had more pride in their work and wanted to show it to the rest of the class.
Introducing the growth mindset to classes had resulted in noticeable independence in some activities. Pupils were using the language of a growth mindset themselves and there were more contributions from quiet children. Pupils were now more honest about their own work and could more tactfully comment on someone else’s work. One child said ‘My brain is getting bigger because I’m doing more maths!’
Some teachers wondered what more they could do for the small number of children who still had a fixed mindset and low self esteem.
Cowes Initial findings from this group showed that many groups of boys have a fixed mindset for Literacy. Two teachers said that they can prove, via their data, that the impact of introducing the growth mindset took groups of boys up one level in half a term.
Teachers talk to pupils about how they are going to learn and that when things are difficult the best learning takes place and informs the teacher what needs to be taught. One teacher was tearful about how her group had approached a SAT task in a ‘can do’ way.
One teacher found that the high achieving Year 1s had been hard to move out of a fixed mindset, getting them to take chances and challenges. They have a fear of failure because of their association with success and being ‘clever’ (and therefore not being clever when things are hard). Teachers have tried to encourage these children to take small steps and to not be afraid of making mistakes. Generally teachers have been praising effort rather than ability and encouraging pupils to set themselves further challenges. One teacher asks pupils to traffic light their efforts as a self evaluation activity.
One school introduced the growth mindset to teaching assistants. The outcome was greater understanding of how or why their lives had taken a certain path. At the end, 2 of the TAs decided to embark on degree or further qualification courses.
Herts Teachers asked children question to establish a baseline, such as ‘Can everyone learn?’ In one Reception class 17 children said no and 13 said yes to this question. Teachers felt that language and maturity affected how much the subject could be explored. The early years environment supports the notion that all children are clever and for them to feel good and be able to take risks. Teachers found this a difficult area.
One Y1 class now has ability grouping only for guided reading.
Teachers felt that their language was key to the success of developing a growth mindset. For example, teachers’ language should be encouraging:
One teacher had told the pupils about her own new learning, in using a lawnmower and fixing the phone line. One of the children then wrote her a letter, which said ‘Dear Mrs. K. Don’t stop learning.’
Hull One school used jigsaws to establish a mindset baseline (i.e. seeing which children would tackle a hard jigsaw). Opinions were mixed between the teachers in the group as to which children had the fixed mindset, but most children had a growth mindset.
Introducing the mindsets and changing teacher language had led to a change in children’s vocabulary. Children are now more self-motivated. Teachers were no longer using stickers and star charts but were saying that their reward is that they have worked well. Some teachers felt they were in conflict with whole school rewards and felt they lacked power to make big changes.
Nantwich Teachers agree that children are more motivated as a result of this focus. They want to learn more and there has been positive feedback from parents. They are no longer using stickers and children instead have verbal praise for their achievements. This has given children more responsibility for their learning. They are working with pride rather than for a reward and have not complained about the loss of stickers. Children have told other staff about how they don’t need stickers and this has led to increased interest from staff. One teacher did a whole school assembly on the growth mindset, not putting a ceiling on learning, which led to positive feedback from the staff. One teacher discussed intelligence with the class and the children said they felt clever when they came first, they were in the gold book, were doing numeracy, had neat writing and when their brain ‘freezes’ (overload). The teacher realised from this that she needed to address the children’s idea of what was ‘clever’.
Tameside Children were first identified as having a fixed or growth mindset. One child in KS2 had written ‘I don’t want to do this’ across all his tests. Teachers believe that it is a whole school issue and that praising effort leads to a growth mindset. Teachers informed children about the importance of focusing on effort and children could be heard praising each other for effort. They were also better able to accept their partner’s feedback about their work. This has led to a ‘have a go’ culture with no fear of making mistakes.
Year 1/2
Essex Teachers found this aspect the hardest to tackle and the least successful. They wondered whether the fixed mindset is subject specific, as their observation led them to believe this.
Teachers were encouraging children to discuss mistakes and how they had worked something out. Changes in the classroom environment had led to more pupils volunteering to talk.
One teacher had introduced a cartoon character called ‘Max Effort’. They discussed what effort meant and their self evaluation improved. However, pupils tended to say they had used ‘max effort’ only when they had attained something successfully, when the emphasis should be on using max effort regardless of the final outcome. Teachers were now marking work for effort and making a comment on this. Key language after success was ‘You are learning to…’ rather than commenting on intelligence.
Cowes Three teachers had used the Dweck survey, given verbally. Questions were asked like ‘What makes you feel clever?’ and ‘What does intelligence mean?’ Children’s perceptions of intelligence were mixed. Teachers were unsure about how to develop a growth mindset. They changed their teaching by emphasising and praising effort rather than achievement and saying why something is successful. There is more emphasis now on ‘keep trying’ and marking reflects this.
Children are able to give praise to each other willingly although they found being critical of their own learning more difficult. Teachers believed this was either a result of their immaturity or a fixed mindset.
One teacher introduced a traffic light pupil self assessment system for how much effort had been used, followed up by her own evaluation. She said the impact had been ‘amazing’ with children now having a go instead of avoiding work.
Teachers felt it was important to try to define exactly what effort meant, to avoid pupils linking it with positive attainment only or evaluating themselves negatively when they did not have effective strategies to be able to apply effort etc.
Herts One school asked pupils to first put themselves on a graph of intelligence of where they thought they were. Teachers then gave input about the mindsets, had interactive displays and began learning logs. The impact has been that the teachers now use growth mindset language, which has become the norm in their classrooms. Most children’s mindset has moved significantly towards a growth mindset. Pupils now rise to a challenge more easily and tackle new tasks with more confidence and encourage each other to keep going.
Hull Teachers believed that children can have subject specific fixed mindsets.
Since introducing the growth mindset, children are now more enthusiastic about trying tougher challenges. There is now more emphasis on how hard children have worked rather than their final outcomes.
Children are visibly more comfortable about asking questions when they don’t understand something.
One teacher’s pupils were now saying ‘This could be difficult – bring it on!!’
Nantwich These teachers gave stickers now only for effort, attitude and behaviour, not for achievement. Children felt that stickers were unfair and came up with reasons for gaining them. Teachers are giving children more praise for trying, for ‘having a go’, not just for getting right answers, but teachers felt this did not have the same impact if parents were not on board. This approach has led to children doing things for themselves and a greater ‘have a go’ mindset. One child now gives herself more amber and green traffic lights.
Three of the teachers on this group were trying to remove the need for children to be rewarded with a sticker. Children are as a result more self motivated and developing a growth mindset. Children now get feedback on their effort rather than achievement. All teachers had worked hard at changing the language they used when children achieved, avoiding ‘That’s clever’ or any other reference to ability. ‘Well done, you are learning to…’ works well. Children are able to say how they are doing well without reference to stickers. One teacher described how autistic children often have a fixed mindset. She created a ‘social story’ in which the growth mindset was described in one child’s context. Autistic children do not always know if someone is pleased so the story has told the child. This has led to the child no longer saying he can’t do the homework.
Tameside Teachers are trying to instil a growth mindset attitude to learning. They have used role models who have said trying hard matters more. Children constantly need reassurance so teachers are now praising effort rather than attainment. This was difficult at first because telling children at KS1 they are clever comes naturally. Changing the language was a common commitment. One teacher looked up the word ‘clever’ in a dictionary and found a range of examples such as knowledge, skills and attitude. The word ‘clever’ has been banned in one school which led to parents wanting to know why! Teachers had used circle time to find out when children felt clever and discovered that many higher achievers had a fixed mindset and would give up and cry in the face of difficulty. Children were asked ‘What do you want to hear that will make you happy?’ Answers given were ‘I’m clever’, ‘Good teamwork’, ‘Nice smile’, ‘Lovely dress’.
Higher achievers were better able to grasp the concept of a growth mindset. The word ‘success’ is being used widely and the greatest impact has been on children with a fixed mindset.
Year 3/4
Essex Teachers were pleasantly surprised that many of their pupils had a growth mindset. Some teachers had worked with parents to get them to help prepare their children for learning, not projecting their own experiences onto them. Many teachers felt that getting parents on board with this was critical, as they need to understand the importance of a growth mindset.
‘I am learning to…..’ is working successfully with children with a fixed mindset and making them want to keep working at a challenging task.
Teachers felt that the language they use in the classroom is key and were now emphasising effort rather than ability. When praise is based only on the outcome children are not inspired to work hard because they feel they already know what the outcome will be.
One child who had initially been worried about getting things wrong tried and tried at a maths problem, eventually taking it home and getting it right.
Cowes Teachers said that this was the aspect they had focused on the least. Two teachers had given pupils the Dweck questionnaire but generally found it difficult to use the right language to assess pupils’ mindset.
Teachers had reduced the numbers of stickers and certificates. They felt that children who put a great deal of effort in don’t necessarily get recognition.
‘No hands up’ has contributed to more focused listening and children are supported by their talk partner, so this has led to a greater willingness to put more effort in and tackle more challenging tasks.
Teachers said it was important to make sure that quiet children are praised to the same extent for their effort as the more dominant children.
One child asked ‘Have I worked hard to day, because this is my best effort?’ There is now more of an ‘I can’ culture rather then ‘I can’t’.
Herts(+ Special) Teachers in this group had stopped using the word ‘clever’. They found that it is more effective to use the language ‘You are learning to…’ and to say that it is good to find something tricky because it is an indicator of new learning. Teachers are emphasising that children are self evaluating in order to improve their own work rather than to compare it to someone else’s.
The language used by teachers has led to a great impact on children’s mindset. Children’s language has also changed along with their attitudes. One boy, finding sewing difficult said ‘It’s that fixed thing again isn’t it Miss? I’ve got to try.’ Two children were overheard at sports day talking to each other. One said ‘Remember the growth mindset. It’s the effort we put in that matters.’
Hull Teachers agreed that they are using different language, emphasising what will be learnt and what has been learnt. This has led to a calm learning atmosphere, more self belief and children being more independent.
Modelling something the teacher has found difficult has been used successfully, with children more likely to take on a new challenge.
One girl felt that she couldn’t achieve anything and made a small achievement in one lesson. The teacher made a point of saying to her ‘Look at what you’ve achieved’. The child pulled her shoulders back and was really pleased, changing her mindset straight away. The teacher realised that in the past she might have said ‘Go and try again’ without praising the small things that had been achieved.
Some teachers had removed reward systems and had seen a noticeable impact. There was now a calmer more purposeful approach to learning, children were not sitting up straight all the time to get a sticker, children were more focused on effort and lower achievers were achieving more and demonstrating higher self esteem.
Nantwich From giving children the Dweck questionnaire, teachers are now more aware of how attitude to their ‘ability’ had affected their learning. One teacher gave the children the questionnaire at a later date and said they could change their answers to reflect their new views.
One teacher talked about conversations with a lower achiever, explaining that no matter where he is now he can still make progress in small steps. He is working with small achievable steps. He is now more confident and the parents have said that he is so much happier and confident as a result of the teacher talking to him in ‘growth mindset’ language.
Another teacher had stopped hands up and adopted ‘thumbs on knees’ as a less intrusive approach.
Tameside Teachers used the Dweck child questionnaire and found that more boys had a fixed mindset and more girls had a growth mindset.
Rewards were being given out less frequently and for effort but teachers felt that it was difficult to move against a whole school system. Teachers felt that messages from home had a great impact on children’s mindset. One high achieving child did not like being told that effort was more important and wanted to hold on to being ‘the best’. Teachers said that talking to individuals about the growth mindset was helpful but it was slow to change.
One school had ‘What is a good learner’ now displayed so that children were creating their own expectations, and felt that it was an ongoing process which needs reinforcing with some children.
Children are saying that they now want more challenges, because challenges develops the mind. Given the choice, children are now more likely to go for a harder problem.
Year 5/6
Essex Initial surveys showed that low achieving girls have a very fixed mindset. Teachers’ strategies have led to them now thinking more positively, with some making at least one level’s progress. High achieving children at PE seem to more clearly see the link between effort and success.
Many children believed that intelligence is predetermined. Teachers discussed phrases linked to the fixed and growth mindsets and tried to encourage children to understand their possibilities. They were inspired by stories of famous people’s successes against the odds.
The impact on learning had been very successful for a few weeks, but teachers realised that the growth mindset needs to be constantly reiterated. Children now understand that they can have a go at anything in life and are now saying to each other ‘Well done – you’re learning to….’ Children are being challenged to recognize that failure is positive. One low achieving boy in a lower set for literacy has come out at Level 5c because he has not been put off by other children who appear to know all the answers.
Cowes Initial surveys led to mixed results. Teachers believe that some children have a fixed mindset for only certain subjects and that success criteria encourage a growth mindset.
Herts Initial survey results led to mixed findings. After teacher input about the growth and fixed mindsets children changed their ideas and became more ‘growth’ minded. The strategies used to encourage a growth mindset have led to children being more aware of learning rather than work. Lower achievers identified as having a fixed mindset are showing particular improvement, having greater confidence and being more willing to take risks.
Hull One school used the questionnaires with both staff and pupils. Ethos statements were displayed and examples were given of famous people who had tried hard and struggled with their learning. Learning journeys were displayed as well as attitudes to learning.
The impact of these approaches has been that there is greater confidence to have a go. Pupils have raised expectations. The culture of classes has changed to a more ‘can do’ environment and pupils are now not so worried about failing.
One child had always struggled at woodwork but now wanted to make a model of Big Ben. The parent worked with the boy at home and successfully they completed the model. This has led to the boy wanting to make a fence with his granddad.
Nantwich Teachers had used the questionnaire and follow up sessions in circle time to discuss children’s attitudes. Most agreed that the highest achievers amongst the boys had the most fixed mindset. Talk partners had been used for children evaluating and recognising each other’s strengths. One teacher asked children to identify a strength in their talk partner and try to imitate it, which had been successful.
Tameside Teachers found the Dweck questionnaire results difficult to analyse because many children ticked the middle band. When asked when they felt clever, children tended to say when they got a right answer or when they got a hard question right. Teachers looked at good role models which had successfully enabled children to link to their own experiences. Children now accept that the brain can be changed and improved.
One teacher took some difficult maths problems and gave them to his class at the beginning and end of term. They said the problems were ‘rock hard’ at the beginning but ‘well easy’ at the end. He helped them see that the problems had not changed, but they had changed.
It was seen as difficult to remove reward systems when they were whole school policy.
In one school setting children by ability had worked well when the groups were small.
Secondary
Essex One teacher introduced the mindsets to a Year 11 class and found that they were skeptical that intelligence is not fixed. Teachers felt that it was difficult to turn attitudes around when they only saw pupils for 3 hours a week. One teacher had tried to make changes by marking with pupils one to one and by writing ‘You are learning to…’ in their books. He found it difficult to tell them that they could move from Set 5 to Set 1.
It was seen as a problem that school language about learning in secondary schools is fixed, as it focuses around exam grades. Pupils know their predicted grades so parents and pupils know and set their expectations.
Cowes Teachers felt that many pupils come to school with a fixed mindset. One school had a Youth Enterprise Scheme in which students could have a go at anything in the real world. One high achieving boy with a fixed mindset saw it as a way out but could not get away from his own limited goals and chose something undemanding, whereas a girl with a growth mindset aimed for something much greater.
Teachers said that having a growth mindset is also about knowing how to get to the next level, measuring yourself against your previous score and finding out how to do better. Most importantly you need to enjoy the process! Rewarding effort rather than excellent work helps encourage a growth mindset.
It was agreed that the first step is that teachers must develop their own growth mindset. Teachers worried that exams and setting perpetuated a fixed mindset. They felt that their greatest challenge was to get students to accept a personal best system as opposed to constantly comparing their grades.
Herts Teachers in a special school said that most pupils have a fixed mindset and are insecure about their achievement potential. They lack natural curiosity and need to be motivated and shown where they need to go. Role play was used to try to change pupil mindset and pupils are now more enthusiastic to have a go and not be so disappointed when they don’t achieve every time. It was felt that mainstream students would find it easier to move towards a growth mindset.
Teacher said that students need to be convinced that it is possible for anyone to achieve and to be encouraged to take risks.
Teachers said that middle band students had taken to the growth mindset with the most energy and put effort into improving. They now see that they are on a path of learning rather than just seeing themselves as ‘rubbish’ at a subject.
One student talking about challenge said ‘You’re supposed to be challenging yourself.’
Hull Teachers saw that parents’ views were critical in developing a particular mindset (e.g. ‘I was never any good at maths’). One teacher worked with a parent to not tell her daughter she was clever in French but to use the ‘You are learning to..’ language. The mother was struggling to pronounce something when the girl said ‘Mum, you are now learning to read French!’
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