Growth Mindset at Village School

We have learnt the Milford on Sea Primary School are currently using a new approach to learning which the children have really taken to and it is something that can benefit adults and children alike. 

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For the past ten years Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, has researched the theory that pupils' mindsets (how they perceive their abilities) plays a key role in their motivation and achievement. 

Her team found that if they changed pupils' mindsets, they could boost their achievement. More precisely, pupils who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset) and when students learned through a structured program that they could “grow their brains” and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. 

Finally, they found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset and its benefits.

At Milford-on-Sea Primary School, a key element of the school improvement plan is to embed the use of growth mindest language and attitudes into the day-to-day work of the school. Children refer to displays in and out of the classroom to support their growth mindset thinking and the teachers are careful to use the language of growth in their lessons.

If you fancy trying a Growth mindset, you can start of by adapting your language from fixed to growth - the table above illustrates some basic examples of the approach that they are using at school.

Footnote:

How school has changed since I went to a North London Comprehensive, where the teachers threw the backboard rubber at you if you talked, and if you were chewing gum, the PE master would stick in the hair behind your ear - oh those happy days!