For the final Teach Meet of the academic year, we ended on a high, by welcoming James Nottingham as our guest speaker. I first came to know James’ work back in 2011 when I started my teacher training. The Learning Pit was used by one of the first schools I worked in, but this is only one of the many impactful initiatives that James Nottingham has been involved in. We are probably all familiar with P4C and in 1999, Nottingham appeared in a TV documentary about Philosophy for Children (P4C), which led him to being invited to set up a social regeneration project in North East England. This multi-million-pound initiative won many prestigious awards for strengthening young people’s lives, including “helping young people to become clearer, more accurate, less self-contradictory and more aware of other arguments and values before reaching a conclusion.” Skills which are still incredibly important today. In 2006, Nottingham co-founded Challenging Learning, an independent consultancy to share the best practices with a wider audience. This company is now supporting education on every continent (except Antarctica!). In a business sense, Nottingham continues as the CEO of the company; in education terms, he is the principal keynote speaker, author and innovator. And I was actually fortunate enough to see James when he was touring as a keynote speaker with Carol Dweck in 2019. That CPD sticks with me to this day and not simply because I got a selfie with Dweck, but actually because it was James’ session that has had the biggest impact on my teaching. I’ve also used this to not only blog about, but showcased key messages to our staff soon after and still use the practical advice given by Nottingham in our new staff training sessions at Northwood.
What is a Growth Mindset?
Essentially, this comes down to how we make sense of success and failure. A fixed mindset is the belief that our intelligence is fixed ‘no matter how hard I try, I will only ever be able to do X’ and a growth mindset is the belief that our intelligence can be developed, ‘if I work hard, practice and keep trying, I will be able to achieve Y’.
One of the ‘growth mindset’ myths that came out of Carol Dweck’s research was the idea that we are one or the other. In reality, we are constantly fluctuating in our mindset which is why it is better to recognise when we are ‘in’ a fixed mindset or ‘in’ a growth mindset. But, if you look at the characteristics of a growth mindset above, you’ve got to think that growth mindset is worth it. Imagine how much further we could go in education if we could consistently be in a growth mindset.
Growth Mindset and girls
Interestingly, the research suggests that girls are in fact more prone to getting into a ‘fixed mindset’ than boys are. Nottingham does acknowledge that this isn’t the biggest piece of research, and that there are multiple factors such as circumstances, upbringing and actually the biggest impact on students is parents’ perception and how they respond to failure. But from this research, it does suggest that girls are more likely to get into a fixed mindset. This research was conducted by S.J. Ceci and W. Williams (2006), this study gave students challenging tasks to solve: “We found that bright girls didn’t cope at all well with confusion. In fact, the higher the girl’s IQ, the worse she did. This didn’t happen to boys. For them, the higher their IQ, the better they learned. The confusion only energized them… What we’re looking at here isn’t a difference in ability, but a difference in how students cope with experiences that may call their ability into question. If they exhibit a fixed mindset, then they are more likely to be demoralised by challenges.” Nottingham suggests that this is because if a girl has a high IQ, they have been told that they are ‘brilliant and intelligent’, therefore, finding something challenging puts this reputation on the line and the fear of no longer being considered intelligent.
Growth mindset and attainment?
Once again, the evidence would suggest that helping students get into a growth mindset is incredibly positive for their learning and also their attainment. However, at the moment, there are only two meta-analyses of growth mindset. Jeni Burnette et al, 2013 included 85 studies, so is fairly well researched, but only found an ‘effect size of 0.19 and Yeager et al (2019) found the effect size to be even smaller at 0.11 which, when compared to the typical effect size of any intervention at school of 0.40 it means that growth mindset interventions are pretty low level compared to others.
This analysis comes from Visible Learning Plus, where John Hattie has pulled together all the meta-analyses of the studies he has examined. Here you can see that growth mindset interventions have a relatively low effect on student outcomes.
The list on the right of the diagram shows all of the studies that Nottingham offers training on through his consultancy. As you can see, everything that they offer training on has an above average impact on student success. Most impressive here is the Pygmalion effect which can improve student attainment by 1.46, there is also formative feedback at 0.92. So why then is Nottingham such an advocate for growth mindset when its effect size is only 0.11?
Dylan Wiliam, most notably known for his book ‘Assessment for Learning’, argues the case that small, well-established effects, such as growth mindset are meaningful given that this type of intervention typically takes less than an hour, therefore even just 0.08 effect size would be an increase in the rate of learning of at least 20%. So as far as a simple one hour intervention goes, this is worth doing. He then goes on to say that ‘Growth mindset is a means to an end, not an end in itself, as it makes learners more receptive to feedback, and feedback (formative), as shown above, can have an effect size of 0.92.
Is a Growth Mindset worth it?
This is where it comes down to us as professionals and whether we think the characteristics of being in a growth mindset is worth it. Do we want our students to seek challenges, examine mistakes and see them as opportunities? Do we want our students to see feedback as advice, and believe that their abilities can be developed over time?
Is it worth it? Like meta-cognition, you’ve got to actually apply it. If it becomes just a buzzword: ‘today we are doing Growth Mindset’. Therefore it is worth doing, but it’s about embedding it in a way that we as teachers create tasks that promote opportunities for developing a growth mindset.
For me, these are attributes that I want to encourage, as well as assuring my students that they will succeed. This is why, one of the key takeaways I took from Carol Dweck and James Nottingham back in 2019 was the idea that ‘We should never test… once!’ In fact we should test twice as much. Controversial, I know, but again the rationale makes so much sense when it comes to embedding a growth mindset. If we as teachers tell our students, “you have an end of unit test and this test is going to be recorded, sent home to parents and even determine your predicted grades, you have one week to revise”… students who value our subject will panic and spend that week fretting and revising none stop, those who do not, will do nothing and say that is why they won’t do well. However, for both types of students, we are telling them to have a fixed mindset of themselves. Rather, we should ‘surprise’ them, let them know it is low stakes and that this test is to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can revise for the real thing more effectively. Then, when they take the ‘real’ test, they will have made progress and most importantly, they will see that progress. Thus, their mindset will be more set for growth. 3 years on and I can really see this in my students, they know that it’s just another test and that they always have another opportunity. From a performance standpoint, my data sheets in which I use conditional formatting, is a very visual way for me to see that ‘yes, they are making progress’.
Nottingham also highlights how parents’ attitudes have the biggest impact on mindset, so we need to show parents that we also take a positive attitude towards failure too. But what about those who may never be able to do something, how do we manage that expectation? Especially for parents? This is where Nottingham talks about the importance of us as teachers setting appropriate targets. For example, flying. I am never going to be able to fly, without some sort of contraption to help. So don’t set a target of ‘learn to fly’ with the messaging of ‘you just can’t fly yet.’ The ‘yet’ only works well when it is in conjunction with expectations that are possible, but that there is also a clear roadmap of how we are going to get there. Strategy is important, so we as teachers can sit down with students and parents to explain how they can get to where is possible.
Will your context be helped by Growth Mindset interventions?
Controversially, Nottinghams’ conclusion here is that no, growth mindset interventions will not help us in the context in which we work. This is down to the fact that we are all having to fulfil curriculum demands and exam specifications in a very short period of time. So to really unpick why this is, Nottingham gives two very different school focuses. These are two polarised examples, and he acknowledges that most schools will have elements from both sides, but that one side will definitely resonate with your school more than the other.
| Performance Focus | Learning Focus |
| Grades are referred to frequently Will it be on the test? Is my child doing well? Prospectus emphasises grade success Avoid mistakes & failure Efficiency Get the points Beat others Prove Note taking Hide mistakes Summative feedback Finish it! | Grades are secondary to engagement What connections can I make to this? Is my child thriving? Prospectus emphasises experience Examine mistakes & failure Depth Get the point Personal bests Improve Questioning Examine mistakes Formative feedback Explore it! |
If the elements of performance focus are more true to you and your context, then ‘growth mindset’ is not for you. But if more elements of learning focus are true to you and your context, then ‘growth mindset’ is for you. Equally, if you recognise that you are too much on the performance focus and want to move to a learning focus, then you should embrace growth mindset interventions as a way to get there, however there will be resistance along the way. I think it is fair to say that there are elements of both sides which are necessary in our context, but that for us, the learning focus is certainly the most important.
A really interesting example Nottingham gave was on funding for reforestation and how this initiative has got it wrong. This currently works by funding being given for each tree that is planted, however this should be shifted to funding that is given to every tree that is flourishing 7 years later. This is because it is relatively easy to plant a tree, however to keep it thriving and to keep it alive, is a much bigger commitment and investment. This should be the approach of schooling too. It is relatively ‘easy’ to teach students the exam and how to ‘play the system’ of exams, but the question should be, how well are they thriving 3 or 4 years after they have left school? This is why a learning focus approach is more meaningful when considering the long term development of our students as opposed to the instant exam results, which we are inevitably measured against.
Conclusions
From this session, it felt clear that ‘growth mindset’ is worth it. Yes, on paper, it doesn’t appear to give the same ‘gains’ that other interventions might. However, it is not just an intervention, it is a pedagogy and a way of framing how we approach education. If we can use ‘growth mindset’ as a bedrock that underpins other aspects of teaching, then perhaps that will have the most impact. For Nottingham, this is why his latest book is called ‘Challenging Mindset’, growth mindset is not perhaps what we have thought it was in the past and lots of educationalists have got it wrong. Surface level interpretations of growth mindset do not go far enough. Having a ‘Growth Mindset’ display in the back of a classroom whilst simultaneously having a performance focused classroom is not going to add value to your students, your lesson or your school. Furthermore, misinterpretations of what growth mindset is doesn’t help either, for example, ‘try harder’ is not encouraging a growth mindset, what is important is supporting students in knowing what actual strategies they should try or need to adapt before they are able to try harder. Finally, in a performance focused environment, mindset doesn’t matter. But in a learning focused environment, mindset does matter. Mindset matters most in times of challenge, if things are easy then mindset doesn’t matter that much. These interventions will help us when we are struggling, that’s when mindset matters. And let’s face it, in the world of work, our students will be facing challenges and they will need the strategies to overcome them. For most, there will be no high stakes exams past A Levels or University, so only having ‘success’ at these levels as the goal, will not allow them success beyond. Perhaps this is why businesses and tech companies are heavily investing in ‘growth mindset’ professional development for their employees. This is why the quote “the one who plants trees, knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life” by Rabindranath Tagore resonates so much. As educators, we may never see the full impact of ‘growth mindset’ interventions on our students whilst we teach them, but we know that by embracing them, we will have equipped them for the future.
References
James Nottingham, (2018) Challenging Mindset: Why a Growth Mindset Makes a Difference in Learning – and What to Do When It Doesn’t
S.J. Ceci & W. Williams (2006), Why aren’t more women in science?
Jeni Burnette et al, (2013) Mind-sets matter: a meta-analytic review of implicit theories and self-regulation
Yeager et al (2019), A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement
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