Lower School Back-to-School Night

Carol Dweck:

• Stanford University Psychology Professor• Author of Mindset

Fixed Mindset:• We believe intelligence and abilities are fixed traits

• We are born with them; they are innate • We believe we have a certain amount of intelligence,

and we can’t really do much to change that amount

Growth Mindset:• We believe intelligence and abilities can be

developed • We may be born with them or choose to develop

them sometime during our lives, but we can develop them further from the place where they start

• We believe no matter how much intelligence or talent we have, we can always learn new things, change and develop

Fixed Mindset Students:• Care first and foremost about how they'll be judged:

smart or not smart• Reject opportunities to learn if they might make

mistakes• Try to hide mistakes and deficiencies rather than

correct them• Believe that if you have the ability, you shouldn't

need effort; ability should bring success all by itself

The Effects of Fixed Mindset on Students:

• Become excessively concerned with how smart they are, seeking tasks that will prove their intelligence and avoiding ones that might not (Dweck, 1999, 2006). The desire to learn takes a backseat.

• Causes many bright students to stop working in school when the curriculum becomes challenging

• Don't recover well from setbacks; they decrease their efforts and consider cheating

• Idea of fixed intelligence does not offer them viable ways to improve

Growth Mindset Students:• Care about learning• Correct mistakes or deficiencies when they make them• View effort as a positive thing; it ignites their intelligence and

causes it to grow• Believe their intellectual ability is something they can develop

through effort and education• Understand that even Einstein and Mozart had to put in years

of effort to become who they were

The Effects of Growth Mindset on Students:

• In the face of failure, they escalate their efforts and look for new learning strategies

• Outperform their classmates with fixed mind-sets—even when they enter with equal skills and knowledge

• Don’t worry about how smart they will appear; they take on challenges and stick to them (Dweck, 1999, 2006)

The Effects of Praise:

“Many parents and teachers believe that:• praising students' intelligence builds their

confidence and motivation to learn (false)• students' inherent intelligence is the major

cause of their achievement in school (harmful)

The Effects of Praise (cont.):“Many parents and educators have hoped to:• maximize students' confidence in their abilities, their enjoyment of

learning, and their ability to thrive in school by praising their intelligence.”

Instead, Dweck found out that:• “Praising students' intelligence gives them a short burst of pride,

followed by a long string of negative consequences.” • Mothers’ praise to 1, 2 and 3 year-olds was predicting child’s

mindset and desire for challenge five years later, in second grade

Person Praise:• Adult tells child, 'You’re really smart. You’re talented. You are really

good at this.’ • When the child hits difficulty, he thinks, 'Oops! I’m not good at this.' • Child continues to seek and need that person praise to feel good

about him/herself to keep validating that she’s smart or talented. • Because they hear contradictions to the impressions their parents

have of them, may start withdrawing from challenges or not working hard.

Process Praise:• Creates more of a growth mindset and

resilience • Appreciates the child’s hard work, the

strategies they try, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement

• Tells them why they’re being successful and what they need to do in the future

The Value of Trying and Improving:• The learning feeds their self-esteem

• “The whole process of stretching and learning and improving makes you feel good. And that’s much easier to do than look perfect or brilliant all the time.”

Examples of Process Praise:• “I like the way you tried all kinds of strategies on that math

problem until you finally got it.”• “You really studied for your spelling test, and your

improvement shows it. You read the words over several times, put them in sentences, and asked me to test you on them. That really worked!”

• “It was a long, hard assignment, but you stuck to it and got it done. You stayed at your desk, kept up your concentration, and kept working. That's great!”

How to Deal with “Failure”• Parent’s reaction shapes a child’s mindset• If parents believe failure is a really bad thing,

the message to the child is to avoid it at all costs

• If parents perceive failure as a good thing, they send the message that it helps us learn, and it gives us information.

References:• NurtureShock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, 2009• New York Magazine; “How Not to Talk to Your Kids; The inverse power of praise”

by Po Bronson, August 2007• Make it Better; “The Perils of Praise: A Discussion on Mindset with Carol Dweck” by

Coco Keevan, May 2014• Mindset by Carol Dweck, 2007• Carol Dweck: “The Effect of Praise on Mindsets;” http://youtu.be/TTXrV0_3UjY• Carol Dweck: “Parenting a Perfectionist Child;” http://youtu.be/FMxS3vh0Vuw• “The Key to Success? Grit” by Angela Duckworth; http://www.ted.com/talks

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