WRPPA Conference: James Anderson – Putting the growth back into Growth mindset

www.jamesanderson.com.au

www.MindfulByDesign.com

What are you going to do to ensure all kids in your sechool become more intelligent this year?

Reference to Carol Dweck’s work - carol didn't invent - she put a name to it
The difference is choice...

Fixed mindset don’t see a choice in the first place. Avoids a challenge. If I fail – everyone will know that’s my limit. Gives up easily. Sees effort as fruitless or worse. Sees effort as bad. Ignores useful negative feedback (see as list of deficits – there is nothing they can do). Feels threatened by the success of others. Being comes before doing. Learning is about discovering your abilities. No risk involved – already have the ability.

Growth Mindset embraces challenges, persists n the face of setbacks. See effort path to mastery. Learns from criticsim. Find lessons and inspiration from the success of others. Effort is good. Learn from feedback – knocking on your door to ask. Becoming comes before being. I want to be a leader – where do I get leadership skills from? Learning is about creating their abilities. Don’t see the gap – see a pathway.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself” – George Bernard Shaw

 

Who is someone you consider Characteristically successful?

Why not you?

Why are successful people so often “other people”?

 

 

“A Growth Mindset is not growth. It’s the invitation to grow.” James Anderson.

 

Motivation Calibration – I can always improve – in order to improve I can do... (a much better calibration of success)

 

Understandning that you are capable of growth – and how you can get there.

 

Changing your words doesn’t change your mindset – changing your mindset changes your words.

 

Instead of	Try saying	But then...
I’m not good at this	What am I missing	I don’t kno what I’m missing
I give up	I’ll use a different strategy	If I had a different strategy, I would n’t have given up
It’s good enough	Is this really my best work?	Yep I can’t make this any better

 

Rather than Mistakes are good – Mistakes are good only if they help us learn. I’ve made a mistake, how can I fix it?

 

Free will

We have the ability to choose our action

Belief – choice – action

Learning Agility

None of them are good ideas – these people observed the human condition – documented behaviour and belief that got these poeple there?

Agile Learner – 5 truths about talent 

If you want to get better, practise more

1.      Not any sort of practice will do (virtuous practice = talent). If you don’t stretch yourself beyond your best, you will never get better. That’s where you find the snakes.

2.      Time and energy spent on the right sort of effort – effective effort = growth.

3.      Unlimited potential – learning is a way of developing potential (not reaching it) – create new potential (brain plasticity) – teaching = rewiring children’s brains: neuroengineers instead of teachers.

4.      No naturals

5.      Innate abilities are limited

 

Talent is not the cause of something, but the end result. Anders Ericsson.

 

 

Backstories:

Make sure students understand the process that led to success

 

Analogy of successful people’s backsoties of having to face challenges to get where they are. Found wasy to stretch and get there. The standard of sports so much higher now. The standard isn’t what makes you good – it is the relativity that makes you the champion. Standards – comparing to others. Take out everyone in the room – do you treat the learning different.

 

It’s about increasing agency - Becoming a better learner and taking this journey

 

It takes time, energy, effort and resources to become...

Analogy - Picture taking picasso 2 minutes to draw and requiring $000s – took a lifetime to develop the talent to draw that picture.

 

Most overnight successes take a long time. Sudden recognition of all those years of hard work.

 

More often than not we regret our inaction – not taking care to build our backstories. Spend time stretching, growing just a little bit so that you don’t stagnate.  

Teach learning agility = confidence, achievement, satisfaction, progress, courage = authentic growth mindset (versus learned growth mindset)

Should we teach growth mindset? – probably not, but we might learn metacognition, but it could become “one of those things” – teach ABOUT a growth mindset – rather than FOR a growth mindset.

You will see them changing their words becuase they have changed their mindset. Not until you act effectively that you will achieve.

False Mindset: Schools who have adopted praise effort – you will get there eventually if you work hard enough

John Hattie: “Adults have a fixed mindset and keep treating students accordingly”. Does the problem lie wth the student that can’t learn, or the teacher who can’t make a difference for the student.

“I might not be doing it right and I don’t want to be judged” – mindset

IN reality  - mindset somewhere in the middle between growth and fixed. Helps us address false mindset.

Success as a teacher is measured by how much more growth-minded the children have become.

“A growth mindset is not a declaration, it’s a journey.” Carol Dweck.