Published 2017 Revised 2023
This page for teachers accompanies the Being Resilient Primary and Secondary resources, and the content formed the basis of the webinar that focused on developing students' resilience
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work - brains and talent are just the starting point." (Dweck, 2015)
Carol Dweck has provided evidence that students with a growth mindset are much more likely to succeed. How can we promote a growth mindset in our classrooms? How can we encourage students to keep going and work hard when faced with challenges?
A growth mindset classroom provides an environment in which:
Showing a potential map or route through the problem
5 by 5 Mathdokus
Product Sudoku
Latin Numbers
Showing some possible methods and encouraging students to build on them
Different Deductions
Three Neighbours
Odds, Evens and More Evens
What Numbers Can We Make?
Quadratic Patterns
Offering proof sorting activities
Strike It Out
Diagonally Square
Kite in a Square
Pythagoras Proofs
Using 'hide and reveal'
Questions to consider with your colleagues:
Where might your students get stuck?
What is the thinking that you will expect students to do for themselves?
What's non-negotiable?
Are we offering too much (or too little) scaffolding?
Does working in this way give students the sense of achievement we want them to feel?
Are students likely to "hang on in there" for longer than they otherwise would?
How can we nurture this habit of mind whenever students are confronted by new problems?
Models for Teaching Mathematics - article by Alan Wigley
What might a lesson look like, in which students work collaboratively, sharing insights and discoveries in a safe environment? Here is one possible example.
Peter Liljedahl's 14 Practices for Building Thinking Classrooms (numbers 5 & 8 in particular)
In Mindset Carol Dweck analyses how a growth mindset can boost achievement - here is a link to her TED talk
An interview with Dylan Wiliam, focusing on effective questioning in the classroom
In Getting into and staying in the Growth Zone Clare Lee and Sue Johnston-Wilder explain how the Growth Zone model can help develop resilience in learners of mathematics.
Anxiety and Recall - The Mathematical Association's Autumn 2017 edition of Equals
Matthew Syed's Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice