Carol Dweck’s research on students’ selftheories and how they affect motivation,
resilience and aspirations.
Their Role in Motivation, Personality &
Development (Psychology Press, 1999)
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Carol Dweck has done research over the last
30 years with children and young adults in
the USA
She is particularly interested in how students
view themselves as learners
Their self-theory is likely to have a major
effect on their self-belief, their motivation to
learn and their resilience
Logan – Y5
Bailey Green Primary School
Fixed Mindset – Entity Learner
• Growth Mindset – Incremental
Learner
•
Carol Dweck - Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality and
Development, Psychology Press, 1999
I believe that
intelligence is not fixed
M y intelligence can be
im proved through
learning
I thrive on challenge
I throw m yself into
difficult tasks
I am self-confident
Increm ental
I can ignore the
low aspirations of
m y peers
(G row th)
I react to failure
by trying harder
I engage in selfm onitoring
I have learning goals
I like feedback on
m y perform ance so I
can im prove
About 40% of US students hold an incremental theory of ability
Slide 7
Carol Dweck - Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality and Development,
Psychology Press, 1999
I d on ’t like ch allen g e
I d on ’t w ant to risk
look in g stup id
I a m v u ln erable
I b eliev e th at
intelligence is fix ed
I w as bo rn b right/no t
v ery b rig ht
E n tity
I tend to con fo rm
to the lo w
aspiration s o f m y
p eers
(F ixed )
I react to failure
b y sw itch in g o ff
and avo iding th e
issues
I lik e easy
p erfo rm an ce go als
and b eing told I’v e
d on e w ell
About 40% of US students hold an entity theory of ability
Easy praise is not the answer - it makes the situation worse
Slide 8
Discuss in pairs
OFSTED – outstanding grade descriptor
The pupils acquire knowledge, develop understanding and learn
and practise skills exceptionally well.
Pupils demonstrate excellent concentration and are rarely off
task, even during extended periods without direction from an
adult.
They have developed resilience when tackling challenging
activities in a range of subjects.
Their keenness and commitment to succeed in all aspects of
school life and abilities to grasp opportunities to extend and
improve their learning are exceptional.
Progress is at least good in each key stage, key subjects and
for different groups and is exemplary in some.
The hallmark of successful individuals is that
they love learning, they value effort and
they persist in the face of obstacles.
In her book “Self-theories”, Carol Dweck
presents research that explains why some
students (incremental learners) display this
growth mindset and others (entity learners)
do not.
She also shows how, in the right environment,
students can learn to become incremental
learners.
Four Beliefs and Four
Truths about Ability,
Success, Praise and
Confidence
(Carol Dweck – Self-Theories, 1999)
You might think that students who were
highly skilled would be the ones to relish a
challenge and persevere in the face of
setbacks. Instead, many of these students
are the most worried about failure, and
the most likely to question their ability and
to wilt when they hit obstacles
(Leggett, 1985)
You might also think that when students
succeed, they are emboldened and
energized to seek out more challenging
tasks. The truth is that success in itself
does little to boost students’ desire for
challenge or their ability to cope with
setbacks. In fact we can see that it can have
quite the opposite effect.
(Diener & Dweck, 1978, 1980)
This is a most cherished belief in our
society. One can hardly walk down the
street without hearing parents telling their
children how smart they are. The hope is
that such praise will instil confidence and
thereby promote a host of desirable
qualities. Far from promoting the hoped for
qualities, this type of praise can lead
students to fear failure, avoid risks, doubt
themselves when they fail and cope poorly
with setbacks.
(Mueller & Dweck, 1998)
In a way, it seems only logical to assume that
students who have confidence in their
intelligence – who clearly believe they are
smart – would have nothing to fear from
challenge and would be somehow inoculated
against the ravages of failure. But many of the
most confident individuals do not want their
intelligence too stringently tested, and their
high confidence is all too quickly shaken when
they are confronted with difficulty.
(Henderson & Dweck, 1990; Dweck & Lin, 1998)
•Work in pairs or threes.
•Take three cards from the
envelope: two horses and one card
with two jockeys.
•Position the three cards so that
each jockey is sitting on horseback.
•Do not fold the cards.
Discuss in pairs or threes for two or three
minutes –
Explain why you think you have this self-theory
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Teachers are incremental learners – good
role models
Essential that we show them we believe
their intelligence is not fixed
We need to make them believe they can
improve
We need to ensure they know how to
improve
Collaborative classroom environment where
pupils take responsibility for their own
learning
Pupils understand the Growth Mindset and
how it can help them
The origins of Growth Mindset
We need to praise:
 Effort
 Strategies that lead towards success
 Good learning processes (AfL strategies)
 Resilience
We should not praise:
 Intelligence, “cleverness” or talent
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Self-esteem for Entity Learners can be boosted
in the short term by easy success – but does
not last and is just as easily diminished by
failures
Self-esteem for Incremental Learners is much
more resilient and less likely to be affected by
failure
It is a positive way of experiencing yourself
when you are fully engaged and using all your
abilities in pursuit of something you value
True self-esteem is not something we give
people by telling them about their high
intelligence
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Y5 & Y6 students were given a series of
conceptual problems to solve
All children could solve the first eight
problems, with hints or training if needed
They could not solve the next four
problems as these were too difficult for
their age
What happened to their thoughts, feelings
and actions when confronted with this
failure?
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Quickly began to denigrate their abilities
and blame their intelligence for failures
(“I’m no good at this”)
Moments before they had been successful
and their performance was just as good as
Incremental Learners
Following failure, many now thought they
could not solve the problems they had just
got right!
They also thought they had got more
problems wrong than right! (in fact they had
got twice as many right)
Their fragile self-belief quickly disappeared
Did not blame their intelligence for failure, in
fact most did not even see themselves as
failing!
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Tended to issue instructions to themselves on
how to improve performance (eg “I should try
to slow down and figure this out”)
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Remained confident that they would succeed
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Retained the positive mood that they had
shown while solving the easier problems
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Retained their self-belief in the face of
difficulty
(Dweck – Self-Theories 1999)
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Discuss in pairs for two minutes
Y6 Shiremoor Primary School
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In Dweck’s research, students with the
most striking history of success were often
the most, rather than the least, vulnerable
when confronted with difficulties or failure.
These are the bright girls.
Bright girls were more vulnerable than
lower achieving girls (with boys it was the
opposite) and more concerned with looking
smart.
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There was no evidence that setting raised
achievement
But there was evidence that setting
diminished achievement for some students
There was much evidence that the students
who were disadvantaged by this system
were predominantly working class, female
or very able.
Jo Boaler, 1997
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“In set 1 for example, the students who
experienced the most difficulties in response to
setting were originally the highest attainers in
the group. At the end of Y8, immediately
before the students were setted, Carly & Lorna
attained the highest and second highest NFER
scores in the school. At the end of Y11 these
two students achieved the lowest GCSE grades
in set 1 (grade E)”
Setting, Social class & Survival of the Quickest,
Jo Boaler – British educational Research Journal,
1997
JB: Can you think of some good and bad things about
being in set 1?
L:
I can think of the bad things
C:
I agree.
JB: OK, what are the bad things?
L:
You’re expected to know everything, even if
you’re not sure about things
C: You’re pushed too hard.
L: He expects you to work all the time at a high
level.
C: It makes me do less work, they expect too much
of me and I can’t give it so I just give up.
(Carly & Lorna, Amber Hill, Year 11, Set 1)
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“I was surprised to find that two girls who
came out as clear entity learners from the
Carol Dweck Intelligence Theory
Questionnaire were the top two in the year
group in Midyis scores”
Louise Skinner, Longbenton College
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A level Maths requires students to fail
intelligently (and learn from their failure)
Many high achieving girls (and boys as well)
cannot cope with this unless they are
incremental learners or unless their teacher
promotes a Growth Mindset
Discuss with a partner for two minutes
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Be honest with students about where they
are and what they need to do to improve
High expectations for students in low
ability groupings
Collaborative learning
Leave space in top set for promotion
Make sure they have the chance to
progress to a higher set, so move between
sets twice a term
Avoid reinforcing the fixed mindset!
Ask children when they feel
smart……
Entity learners:
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“When I don’t make mistakes”
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“When I finish my work first”
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“When I get easy work
Incremental Learners:
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“When I don’t know how to do it and its
pretty hard and I figure it out without
anyone telling me”
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“When I’m doing school work because I
want to learn to get smart”
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“When I’m reading a hard book”
Ask students how they define intelligence…
Entity Learners:
 “How smart you are”
 “Inborn ability to learn complex ideas”
 “The ability to survive with the least effort
while still doing really well”
Incremental Learners:
 “Studying hard”
 “The amount of knowledge you possess
and how you use it”
 “How much effort you put into something”
Get Incremental Learners to give advice to
Entity Learners:
Q. “What advice would you give to a child in your
class who was having trouble with Math?
A. “Do you quit a lot? Do you think for a minute
and then stop? If you do, you should think for
a long time – two minutes maybe and if you
can’t get it you should read the problem
again. If you can’t get it then, you should raise
your hand and ask the teacher.” (second grade
child)
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Mindset by C Dweck
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Discuss the Incremental Learner & Entity Learner
Mindmap slides with children
Ask them when they feel smart & why
Discuss easy work and difficult work (which
helps you learn more?)
Discuss the importance of challenge and having
a go at difficult tasks
Why mistakes are good
Discuss sporting and other role-models
Discuss the Growth Mindset & Process Praise
with parents
Focus on Learning
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In Y7 the work may become harder in
some subjects (may be easier in others!)
Grading may become more stringent
Instruction may be less personalised
Students may initially be less clear about
what their teachers require of them
Classroom environment may seem less
safe
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Many showed a marked decline in their class standing
Those who had done poorly in Y6 tended to continue to
do poorly
Many who had been high achievers in Y6 were now
among the lower achievers
Many who showed this decline had held high
confidence in their intelligence
Were significantly more apprehensive about their
school work and tended to be more anxious about
school in general
Did show some recovery in their standing in Y8 but
were still clearly below where they had been in Primary
School
Henderson & Dweck 1990
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Many showed a clear improvement in their
class standing
Those who had done well in Y6 continued
to do well
Many of those who had been among the
lower achievers in Y6 were now doing
much better, often entering the ranks of
higher achievers
Many of those making the most impressive
gains were those with low confidence in
their intelligence
Henderson & Dweck 1990
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Growth
Borderline
t
Al
lm
in
d
se
hs
M
at
ce
ie
n
Sc
gl
is
h
Fixed
En
%
% students making expected
progress