The Power of Yet: Carol Dweck

I know that I said that my psychology at Warwick post would be next, but considering that my last 2 posts were quite full on, I thought that it would be a good idea to take a break from the university posts.

(The psychology one will be up a week today, so please come back then!)

Around mid-way through Term 2, we were set a task in our tutor groups to select a psychology related TedTalk and provide a verbal presentation of the key concepts and points explored within it. The purpose of this was to explore what makes a good presentation, but I'm not going to talk about presentations today.

As someone who is interested in educational and developmental psychology, I found this so intriguing, so I thought I'd share it with you all. 

I suggest you give it a watch, but I know TedTalks aren't for everyone so I have also summarised each of the points the speaker mentions below. That way, you can choose your preference! Endless TedTalks can get a bit tedious when you're a student, but so can reading!


Who is Carol Dweck?

• She is an American professor of psychology with focus in social and developmental psychology.
• Key areas of study: personality, development and motivation.
• Known for her study in mindset, particularly regarding success and failure within education.

The Power of Yet - TedTalk by Carol Dweck:

Summary of the Talk:

• In a school in Chicago pupils were provided with the statement of "Not Yet" written on their papers, rather than being provided with an inadequate grade.
• This simple phrase essentially provided them with the knowledge that although they haven't met the required standards yet, they can by learning from their mistakes.
• Dweck conducted a study with 10-year-olds providing them with slightly challenging tasks.
• Some really embraced the challenge whilst others already set themselves up for failure. From this she coined the concepts of fixed mindset vs. growth mindset.
• Growth mindset refers to being able to engage with errors and see one's ability to learn from unsuccessful outcomes.
• Fixed mindset people tend to "run from the error" and criticisms, and don't give themselves the prospect of being able to challenge their abilities, which they deem to be established.
• One study showed that the brain activity of those with a growth mindset showed that those with a fixed mindset show greater electrical activity when presented with an error (see PET scans at point 2:33 of the video clip above), whilst those with a fixed mindset presented hardly any activity at all.
• Therefore, what we can learn from this is to praise pupils by the processes in which they undertake such as: strategies, progress and perseverance.
• She developed a maths game with some game scientists which did exactly that. Those who were assessed through strategies which promoted growth showed an increase in persistence, effort and engagement in different strategies.
• This study shows that growth mindset promoted increase in academic performance against controls.
• Combating Inequality: in one school Native Americans raised from the bottom of district to the top, beating schools with a high intake of pupils from affluent backgrounds. Another school in South Bronx, NY found their 4th graders (Year 5 in the UK) way behind, but having implemented the growth mindset strategies they became the top 4th grade class in New York on a state-wide math test.
• Knowing this, it should be a basic human right to facilitate children with the opportunity of growth.
 

Tumisu | Pixabay

I thought it was astounding how such basic changes can havee such a major impact on the mindsets and consequently the behaviours of these pupils.

What's also interesting to note is the power of language - how "not yet" can be perceived so much differently in comparison to an inadequate grade.

"Not yet" means that whilst they haven't met the adequate standard yet, they ARE capable of doing so if they reflect and evaluate on their current strategies and make necessary adjustments. 
  
Not only did this impact their academic achievement, but we can imagine that it would have a great impact on their emotional wellbeing to. 

In Context:
  
Dweck's theory makes complete sense. If you think about exams such as GCSE's and A-Levels: you either pass or fail, whether that be by government standards or your own standards.

There is a clear boundary between the two extremes of failure and success. Even a few marks below the boundary is a massive disappointment. Our mindset is fixed in that we think that this one result reflects the full capacity of our abilities, even though we know full well that that is not true!

This is also transferable in other contexts. It's about taking a step back from the initial reaction. This will allow us to regulate our thoughts and emotions within a given context, so instead of them controlling us, we are controlling them. 

So it's simple, right? 

via GIPHY

We need to adopt a growth mindset.
This means: encouraging ourselves to engage feedback and constructive criticism to aid in refine our techniques, and challenge ourselves beyond our capabilities instead of running away from them. 

Instead of looking at the overall result alone, we should take a more holistic approach by taking into account the intertwining factors which create the big picture. Kind of like looking at each individual puzzle piece and putting them together to create the whole picture.

Reverting back to the specific focus on education: this is not just as individuals, but also as educators who are assessing their pupils' / students' abilities. 

HOWEVER (because I'm a psychology student and critical thinking is important), this is quite a rose tinted view.

This is all easy to say, but with more rigorous testing being placed into education, and teachers having to teach much more complex material within such a short amount of time, this process is largely undermined.

• The results obtained by pupils not only reflects the performance of the individual, but also the teacher. This isn't exactly fair as a teacher can't control what a child does outside their classroom, but that's what happens. This pressure means that knowing as much information as possible becomes a central focus to getting as many marks as possible, and consequently...
  
  
• We are not taught how to implement effective strategies which promote qualities required for a growth mindset. Rote learning is seen as the most viable method for studying, which is hardly the ideal. On my course there's a whole module dedicated to academic skills. I was never taught how to properly revise until then (hint: retrieval is key NOT rote learning or pretty posters and highlighters).
  
  
• Class sizes are getting larger and workload is piling up onto educators. How can they find the time to provide such detailed feedback to each individual child?
  
  
• In addition, once an exam is done, it's done. The transcript only provides the marks, and unless we are planning to progressing into that subject (at the next stage of Education) it's pretty much a 'I just need to pass' situation rather than learning from the processes and skills involved within it.
  

• Assessments are supposed to be an objective measure of ones performance and/or progress. Whilst rewarding strategies, progress and perseverance is the Utopian ideal, how realistic is it? Can such qualities be measured and how?

Also consider this:

It MAY help or it WILL help?

Wouldn't one too many "not yet(s)" be just as detrimental as receiving an inadequate grade?

Nevertheless, there's still an important lesson to learn from Dweck's TedTalk, which we can all take away as individuals:

There is ALWAYS room for improvement and personal growth, but only IF we allow ourselves the opportunity to expand on what we can already do. Challenges are challenges for a reason. If we don't challenge ourselves we will never progress. You have overcome so many challenges which have enabled you to grow as an individual, so what's stopping you from doing so now?

Life is full of lessons, whether that be through making mistakes or exploring new ideas. By aoiding them, we are not giving ourselves the opportunity to embark on personal dvelopment.

Reflect. What kind of mindset are you engaging in?