MINDSET
Meagan Bellan
School Psychologist
Solon City Schools
Presentation Outcomes
• Understand how growth and fixed mindsets
impact learning and personal growth.
• Understand some of the connections
between Mindsets and Neuroscience.
• Understand the kinds of praise that fosters
and limits a growth mindset.
Presentation Agenda
BIG IDEAS:
• Growth vs. Fixed Mindset & Connections
to Neuroscience
• Discuss Ways to Shift Mindsets
• The Power and Pitfalls of Giving Praise
• A Few Things to Try at Home
• Resources
Mindset
• Beliefs about yourself and your most
basic qualities
• Think about your intelligence, your
talents, your personality
• Are these qualities simply fixed traits, carved
in stone and that’s that? Or are they things
you can cultivate throughout your life?
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
Test Your Mindset
• Participants will complete an
assessment to learn more about their
thinking on this subject. The
assessment can be accessed at:
http://mindsetonline.com/testyourmi
ndset/step1.php
Fixed Mindset
• People with a fixed mindset believe that their
traits are pre-existing and unchanging
– Talents and intelligence are static
– Nothing can be done to improve these
characteristics
• Which can lead to...
– Feelings of inadequacy and inferiority
– Need to prove themselves
Growth Mindset
• People with a growth mindset see their
qualities as things that can be developed
through dedication and effort
– Have an understanding that hard work leads to
improvement
– Recognize that those that have accomplished
great things (e.g., Mozart, Darwin, Michael
Jordan) did so with years of passionate practice
and learning
Nature vs. Nurture
“A few modern philosophers assert that an
individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity, a
quantity which cannot be increased. We must
protest and react against this brutal
pessimism.... With practice, training, and above
all, method, we manage to increase our
attention, our memory, our judgment and
literally to become more intelligent than we
were before.”
Alfred Binet
Dweck’s Research
• Students were asked to complete an ageappropriate puzzle which would not be
especially challenging
– When finished, each student was praised
• Group 1: “You must be smart at this”
• Group 2: “You must have worked really hard”
– Then given a choice of what to complete next
• Choice 1: A test that was more difficult than
the first but would help them learn
• Choice 2: An easy test like the first puzzle
Findings from Research
Findings
Majority of those praised for effort chose harder
puzzle
Whereas…
Majority of those praised for intelligence chose
easy test
Fixed Mindset Thinking
Children/students who think this way tend to:
Care a lot about whether people think they are smart or not;
Avoid learning challenges where they might make mistakes;
Try to hide mistakes rather than trying to correct them;
Believe that if they have the ability, they shouldn’t have to try
hard;
– Not deal well with frustration and setbacks, sometimes giving
up or cheating.
–
–
–
–
Growth Mindset Thinking
Children/students with the growth mindset
tend to:
– Care about and invest themselves in learning;
– Believe that effort is a positive thing, causing
their intelligence to grow;
– Try hard in the face of frustration and
failure;
– Look for new learning strategies.
Growth Mindset Across Grade
Levels
Grade
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
K
0%
100%
1
10%
90%
2
18%
82%
3
42%
58%
*From the text, Mindset in the Classroom.
Connections to Neuroscience
 The brain transfers information through
connections of neurons (brain cells)
 When you try new things that are challenging,
the brain makes new connections to transfer
information better and faster
 The brain is like a muscle; it grows through
effort, practice, and challenging exercise
 A GROWTH MINDSET works the MUSCLE!
Fixed vs. Growth
Review Results of SelfAssessment
• Were the items you selected more
indicative of a fixed or growth
mindset? Where do you think your
child would fall on this scale?
Power and Pitfalls of Praise
“The impact of praise is closely linked to
how students view intellectual ability.
The way adults praise children’s
successes and failures has a direct impact
on the mindset children develop.”
Carol Dweck
How to Praise
What to praise:
 Specific effort
 Persistent struggle
 Use of strategies
 Learning something new
 Improving on something
 Taking on difficult and/or complex tasks
Praise Process, Avoid Labeling Intellect
Strategies to Foster a
Growth Mindset
Dweck’s tips from Mindset:
 Listen to what you say to your kids, with an ear toward the
messages you’re sending about mind-set.
 Instead of praising children’s intelligence or talent, focus on
the processes they used.
Example: “That homework was so long and involved. I really
admire the way you concentrated and finished it.”
Example: “That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me
about them.”
Example: “You put so much thought into that essay. It really
makes me think about Shakespeare in a new way.”
Strategies Continued
 When a child makes a mistake…
 Give constructive criticism—feedback that helps the child
understand how to fix the problem, rather than labeling or
excusing the child.
 Pay attention to the goals you set for children
 Having innate talent is not a goal, but expanding skills and
knowledge is.
 Don’t concentrate on praising children for their inherent
goodness
It is important for children to learn they’re basically good and
that they are loved unconditionally.
 The problem arises when children are praised in a way that makes
them feel that they’re good and love-worthy only when they
behave in particular ways that are pleasing to their parents

More Tips
 Ask open-ended questions to solve a problem
or achieve a goal.
 Use specific feedback that identifies what
the child accomplished.
 Encourage kids to take a risk.
 Be persistent and growth-orientated
yourself.
 Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Strategies for building
resilience
Tips from the book, Mindsets in the
Classroom:
• Use growth minded praise
• Model flexibility
• Adopt a “glass half full” mentality
• Help children find their own niche
Resources
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Children’s Books
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Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak, PH.D.
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein
Think, Think, Think: Learning About Your Brain by Pamela Hill
Nettleton
Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman
by Kathleen Krull
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Gregg Lewis and Deborah Shaw
Lewis
Resources Continued
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Books for Adults
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck, PH.D.
Brain Rules by John Medina
Getting to “Got It” by Betty Garner
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of
Character by Paul Tough
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and
Ashley Merryman
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Train Your Brain to Get Happy: The Simple Program That Primes
Your Gray Cells for Joy, Optimism, and Serenity by Teresa Aubele,
Stan Wenck, and Susan Reynolds
Online Resources
• NeuroScience for Kids:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
• BrainChild Blog:
http://brainchildblog.com/category/mindup
• How Stuff Works:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-themind/human-brain/brain.htm
• BrainFacts: http://www.brainfacts.org