Mindset on My Mind: Chapter 7 Disco

Barb Novak contributed this post. She is reading Mindset by Carol Dweck and sharing her thinking about every chapter. Click here to read more of Barb's posts about mindset.

Click here to read Barb's notes from Chapter 7 as a PDF.

In Chapter 7, Dweck applied mindset to parents, teachers, and coaches - people who have great power to use their words and actions to develop growth mindset in children.

Basically, everything adults say in response to children carries a message. Our adult words tell young people how to understand the world around them. Our response to success, failure, and behavior can build a growth mindset or reinforce a fixed mindset.

Our adult words and actions can also tell other adults how to understand actions. I heard Joel Westheimer say, "Teacher working conditions are student learning conditions". In chapter 7, Dweck proposed that schools must be about teacher learning if they are ever to truly be about student learning.

It's not enough to develop a growth mindset in our students. We must also develop a growth mindset about ourselves and our profession.

What Students Need From a Secondary Reading Intervention Class...Unfortunately, It’s More Than Just Reading!

Carrie Sand contributed this post. Click here to read more of Carrie's thinking.

As a secondary interventionist in addition to my coaching role, I am always thinking about what works for struggling readers at the high school level. So...what does work? As evidenced by the lack of intervention options and resources available, no one really knows.  A post from a blog I subscribe to titled “When We Harm Rather Than Help-Some Thoughts on Reading Interventions” recently re-started my thinking on this topic.

In my experience, any intervention at the secondary level has its challenges. Assessment upon assessment has repeatedly reminded some students that they are “not proficient”, or in the “lowest percentile”, or not “college ready.” It is no wonder that as a result, many become disenfranchised with the experience of school. As a teacher working closely with high school students who struggle with reading, I’ve begun to think about the role of emotional intelligence within the secondary reading intervention classroom.

In recent years, terms like grit and perseverance have become popular in the world of education. I jumped on the bandwagon and started reading the books Mindset by Carol Dweck and Drive by Daniel Pink. Each of these books talked about totally different concepts, one about mindset, the other about motivation, but each made me think about the students sitting in my intervention classrooms. I especially thought about how the ideas I was reading about in these books were exactly the types of skills these students needed the most.

As I’ve done more exploration with emotional intelligence, I’ve come to learn that the traits often synonymous with success: conscientiousness, grit, perseverance growth mindset, are all malleable traits that respond to teaching. I wondered that if I could teach emotional intelligence within my classroom, in addition to the reading skills, what benefit would my students get?

So I tried it out throughout the first semester of this school year. I grounded my practice in the research of people like Dweck, Pink, and Angela Duckworth. As it is hard to determine exactly if teaching emotional intelligence was the cause, I will say that each of my students saw more growth than usual in standardized assessments and classroom grades. More importantly, students expressed through conferring that they often thought (in a variety of classrooms!) about certain strategies, such as positive self-talk and growth mindset approaches.

As a teacher working with high school readers who struggle, I think it is my duty to recognize the fact that students enter my classroom with more than just challenges in reading. While I know teaching emotional intelligence is not the magic answer to addressing students’ reading needs, by teaching these skills,I feel I am recognizing and responding to the needs of my student as person, not just a struggling reader.

Here are some resources that really helped shape some of my work in the classroom:

Growth Mindset Lesson Plan and Videos by Khan Academy:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/KA-share/Toolkit-photos/FINAL%20Growth%20Mindset%20Lesson%20Plan%20(April%202015).pdf

Grit in Education: http://gritineducation.com/the-power-of-not-yet/

The 12 item Grit Scale: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~duckwort/images/12-item%20Grit%20Scale.05312011.pdf

Ted Talks:

The Power of Yet by Carol Dweck:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

The Key to Success? Grit by Angela Duckworth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8

Mindset on My Mind: Chapter 6 Disco

Barb Novak contributed this post. She is reading Mindset by Carol Dweck and sharing her thinking about every chapter. Click here to read more of Barb's posts about mindset.

Chapter 4, applying mindset to sports, got me thinking about the differing ways mindset applies to my own life. As I already confessed, I have a very, very fixed mindset about sports and fitness. This chapter made me ask myself hard questions about whether I also have a fixed mindset about relationships and whether events in my life have led to that mindset. That, though, is a discussion better had over drinks or, perhaps, with a therapist.

The part of this chapter most applicable to education discussed the connection between mindset and bullying. 

Dweck suggested a bully most likely has a fixed mindset. The bully's actions are a way for the bully to exert power. He/she judges people to continue feeling good about him/herself. A "victim" of bullying who responds with a fixed mindset sees him/herself as a victim and may accept what the bully is saying as truth. In contrast, a "victim" with a growth mindset may want to help the bully change and works at forgiving the bully. Dweck suggests fostering growth mindset within the culture of a school will reduce bullying and develop how individuals respond to bullies.

Mindset on My Mind: Chapter 5 Disco

Barb Novak contributed this post. She is reading Mindset by Carol Dweck and sharing her thinking about every chapter. Click here to read more of Barb's posts about mindset.

Chapter 5 was about the impact of fixed and growth mindsets in business. The information wasn't surprising - a leader with a growth mindset created a business that was financial successful and an enjoyable place to work.

The examples that were most stunning to me were those where the leader actually changed, learned, and grew along with their business and employees. The best examples were Welch (GE) and Mulcahy (Xerox). The director of human resources once spoke against a promotion for Welch, say Welch ". . . was arrogant, couldn't take criticism, and depended too much on his talent instead of hard work and his knowledgeable staff" (p. 127). Welch used this feedback to grow and, eventually, was selected as the CEO of GE because he "promised to develop" (p. 128).

Mulcahy - the only female executive discussed in this chapter - demonstrated her growth mindset by going "into an incredible learning mode, making herself the CEO Xerox needed to survive" (p. 131). She learned answers but also learned exactly who could provide answers she could not.

The business leaders with a growth mindset demonstrated the same "growth", "passion", and "gratitude" they wanted to cultivate within their organization.

What does this mean for education? Or for me as a leader?

It reminds me that we (whether a principal or a coach or a teacher or a parent) serve as models. Those around us internalize and act upon what they see us doing. Every gesture, facial expression, conversation, email, and action reveal something about our mindset. . . and the mindset we would like to cultivate in those around us.

Mindset on My Mind - Chapter 4 Disco

Barb contributed this post. Click here to read more of Barb's thinking about mindset.

Chapter 4 - "Sports: The Mindset of a Champion" - gives examples of athletes with and without growth mindset.

Confession: I skipped this chapter the first time I read Mindset. Sports, athletics, and fitness are not things I feel confident about; they're not areas where I have much background knowledge. Examples from these areas don't resonate with me. (See my previous post about teaching aerobics.)

I read the chapter this time, though, and here's why. During a recent presentation about mindset (see "The Power of Yet: Improving Literacy Learning through Growth Mindset" for the slides), participants started talking about whether an individual is all fixed or all growth mindset. Lots of examples were shared, including mine.

I have a very, very fixed mindset about sports. I don't do them. I don't watch them. I actively avoid them. And, I'm starting to see that it's because of my fixed mindset about sports. I've never experienced any sports-related success. In fact, I sometimes think my family goes out of their way to tease me about not being athletic. I've never been on or coached any type of sports team. I don't have any favorite sports teams and don't own even a single piece of clothing with a team logo.

Actually reading - instead of skipping - this chapter is about the only step I'm willing to take in moving towards a having a growth mindset related to sports, but I have to start somewhere, right?

Updated to add:

I signed up for a yoga class for beginners. Baby steps, friends.

Mindset on My Mind - Chapter 3 Disco

Barb contributed today's post. Click here to read more of Barb's thinking about mindset.

Chapter 3 - "The Truth About Ability and Accomplishment" - provides examples of how mindset applies school and artistic achievement.

What I'm really still thinking about, though, is Dweck's application of mindset to praise and labels (both positive and negative). Specifically, how those with a fixed mindset approach stereotypes. Dweck writes, ". . . the growth mindset lets people - even those who are targets of negative labels - use and develop their minds fully. Their heads are not filled with limiting thoughts, a fragile sense of belonging, and a belief that other people can define them" (p. 80).

She provides examples of how individuals with growth and fixed mindsets are impacted by negative labels and stereotypes, including:

• how indicating race before an assessment impacts performance
• how African American college freshmen processed feedback from a member of "the white establishment"
• how women perform in a mathematics class
• how women with a fixed mindset process feedback from others

Individuals with a growth mindset were able to move forward in a positive way, despite negative labels or stereotypes.

All of this made me want to know more about the relationship between culturally responsive practice and mindset. It seems that fostering a growth mindset within our students may better prepare them to succeed despite negative labels or stereotypes.

Edited to add:

Right after this was posted, I came across an article about giving praise to girls, which makes a connection between praise, mindset, and gender.

Mindset On My Mind - Chapter 2 Disco

Barb Novak contributed today's thinking. She's re-reading Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and blogging about each chapter. Previous posts are available here.

Continuing what I started with chapter one, I again read and thought over breakfast. It felt good to give myself the time, space, and permission to linger over my reading and writing. I'm sharing the notes I took as part of this post.

Chapter 2 gives many, many examples of fixed and growth mindset and explores each mindset's approach to failure and effort. The chapter left me thinking about two big ideas:

• applying mindset to relationships - especially coaching relationships
• the relationship between mindset and assessment

Applying Mindset to Relationships

Dweck writes, "It's not just about intellectual tasks. . . People also have to decide what kinds of relationships they want: ones that bolster their egos or ones that challenge them to grow" (p. 18). Coaching relationships are ones that challenge both people - client and coach - to grow; growth mindset is a critical component of coaching.

It seems, then, that a school culture and climate that fosters growth mindset is an important component of the success of coaching. How can a school measure the growth mindset of its staff and students to determine readiness for coaching? How can growth mindset be encouraged among staff and students?

Mindset and Assessment

Dweck and her team did an experiment with a group of fifth graders. They placed a test in a box and asked each student questions about the test. Students were told the test "measured an important school ability" (p. 26) and then asked whether the test measures how smart they are now and how smart they could be in the future. Dweck writes,

"Students with the growth mindset had taken our word that the test measured an important ability, but they they think it measured how smart they were. And they certainly didn't think it would tell me how smart they'd be when they grew up. In fact, one of them told us, 'No way! Ain't no test can do that.'

But the students with fixed mindset didn't simply believe the test could measure an important ability. They also believed - just as strongly - that it could measure how smart they were. And how smart they'd be when they grew up.

They granted one test the power to measure their most basic intelligence now and forever. They gave this test the power to define them" (p. 27).

Dweck also applied mindset to educators, proposing that those with a fixed mindset believed they could understand a student and his/her capabilities from a single test score.

This combination - students and educators with a fixed mindset - makes assessment seem even more high stakes and dangerous than I've ever considered. A student with a fixed mindset sees his/her future in a single score. An educator with a fixed mindset makes judgments about a student from a single score.

How do we ensure our classrooms and systems approach assessment with a growth mindset? How do we communicate with families and community members to encourage viewing assessment through the lens of a growth mindset?

Use the comments to share your thinking about Chapter 2.

(Chapter 3 - The Truth about Ability and Accomplishment is next. Join the conversation in late December.)

Mindset On My Mind - Chapter 1 Disco

Barb contributed today's post. Her other thinking about mindset can be found here.

I'm re-reading Carol Dweck's Mindset and writing about my thinking. I encourage you to grab a copy and read and think along with me!

My notes from Chapter 1 - The Mindsets 

(reading and thinking done over breakfast)

A mindset is the mental frame one applies to life (learning, successes, challenges, etc.). Dweck suggests that although mindset is developed through an interaction of nature (genetics), nurture, and environment, one's mindset (and one's intelligence) is under constant development.

Dweck's research suggests two types of mindsets - fixed and growth. Those with a fixed mindset believe intelligence and other qualities are not malleable. They might avoid situations in which they would look less than smart or not experience success. They might surround themselves with people who build their self-esteem and do not challenge them.

In contrast, those with a growth mindset see challenge and failure as opportunities to learn and grow. They are able to accurately identify their strengths and weaknesses and seek feedback to continually improve. A growth mindset isn't necessarily a belief that anything is possible but more a belief that one's potential is unlimited through "passion, toil, and training" (p. 7).

This chapter left me thinking about:

• How do I cope with failure?
• How do I respond to those coping with failure?
• How do I respond to a bad day?
• How do I respond to those having a bad day?
• How are my responses the same and different in my personal and professional lives?

Use the comments to share your thinking about the first chapter of Mindset.

(Chapter 2 - Inside the Mindsets is next. Join that conversation in late November.)

Mindset Online:
"Why a Growth Mindset Won't Work"
"Studies Hit on Ways to Nuture Students' 'Growth Mindsets'"

Mindset On My Mind

Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success found its way to my pile of favorite professional books shortly after I read Peter Johnston's Choice Words. That was in 2006. Almost 10 years later, this is an idea that still seems to surround me.

Mindset is all over Pinterest and Facebook in fantastic infographics like this one:

Image from Jackie Gerstein

Mindset is all over the educational news:

• "100% is Overrated" from The Atlantic challenges us to stop referring to others as "smart", writing, "When people perform well (academically or otherwise) at early ages and are labeled smart or gifted, they become less likely to challenge themselves. They come less likely to make mistakes, because they stay in their comfortable zone and stop growing. And their fixed mindset persists through adulthood."  
• Dawn Wilson's blog post for Learning Forward reminds us, "Choose your words carefully. Once shared, they are irretrievable."
• A survey by the National Center for Learning Disabilities found that "strong support from parents, a strong connection to friends and community, and a strong sense of self-confidence" - not an IEP or a 504 plan - are the most important factors for predicting a success. Sounds like a growth mindset to me.
• In a recent article for EdWeek, Carol Dweck encourages each of us to "legitimize the fixed mindset". Basically, she suggests we view ourselves as a mix of fixed and growth mindset and that we recognize the triggers that make us move into a fixed mindset.
• This book, Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Change Your Teaching, is on my "To Read" list.

My most recent idea about mindset is its connection to formative practices (aka formative assessment). Formative practices cannot be truly successful within a school if students, families, and educators don't share a growth mindset. We use formative practices to gather information about where each student is in his/her journey to understanding. We use the information to inform our teaching. Sounds like a growth mindset for students and educators. 

I'm thinking about starting some new professional learning about formative practices with growth mindset. What do you think?

(I'm also thinking about blogging about each chapter of Mindset - one chapter per month. Would anyone want to read and write along with me?)