The aim of the project was to investigate the impact of a growth mindset on class engagement when the pupils were faced with different levels of starter difficulty. We had found in a previous school placement, that if a starter activity was too hard, the class seemed to disengage, and it was difficult to get the lesson back on track. We believed that if the pupils had a growth mindset, they would be more likely to work through a problem rather than giving up when it was too hard.
During the six week project, we set starter activities of easy, medium, or hard difficulty levels, at different times of the day. We talked to the class about growth mindset, focusing on the four types of mistakes students were likely to make. We re-enforced that teachers wanted to see mistakes like ‘eureka moments,’ ‘stretch moments’ and ‘big moments’ while minimising any sloppy mistakes. We also talked about speed versus ability, highlighting that if a peer finishes quicker, it does not make them better at maths. It was made clear that everyone should aim to finish the starter.
The project found that the time of day seemed to have more impact on class engagement, than the difficultly of the starter. The pupils seemed to engage less as you moved through the day. This may have been partly due to the school timetable which had only four long blocks per day, rather than seven or eight shorter blocks. A positive result from the questionnaire responses, was that more of the class believed they had a growth mindset by the end of the project compared to the start. The pupils were more likely to challenge themselves and not give up when something was hard, which should lead to better outcomes for them.
On reflection, we do not think the project fully met the aim, as we were not able to ascertain if starter difficulty affected class engagement. However, we do believe the project had a positive impact on the mindset of the class and their approach to difficult questions, which will be of benefit to them in the future. If we were to re-run this project, we would conduct it when a standard timetable was in place, as the long blocks might have skewed the results. It would be good to run it at a time when the whole school was placing greater emphasis on growth mindset too. It would also have been better to include more growth mindset specific questions, such as ‘How do you feel when you make a mistake?’, ‘Do you think mistakes are important?’, ‘Do you like to try new things?’, and ‘How do you feel receiving feedback?’ If we included observational evidence to see how pupils responded to challenge, we could test how this matched up with questionnaire responses.
On the whole, we were able to stay on track with the project timeline. This required strict adherence to ensuring all the observations were completed and written up after each class. We also input any data into a spreadsheet at the end of each week, so we were not left with a large amount of data to input at the end of the project. It took a lot of effort to ensure that the class teachers filled out the observation sheets for every lesson. By ensuring that the observation form was simple and straightforward to fill out, this helped get the necessary feedback from the observers.
The project took place in the first half of a 12 week placement, allowing us to see the impact on the class. We witnessed pupils who would previously have given up when something was difficult, being more resilient and trying harder questions. However, without regular reminders of growth mindset, the pupils were prone to regress into a fixed mindset for maths. To combat this, we mentioned growth mindset in lessons and regularly talked about mistakes being positive and an important part of learning. We also held a firm line with pupils who mocked others for making mistakes, to ensure that learners were confident to make a mistake in the classroom without the fear of being laughed at.
Unfortunately, the results did not match what we had expected to happen. We had hoped that as the class took on more of a growth mindset, engagement would increase regardless of starter difficulty. The actual results showed that time of day had more of an effect on class engagement. This may have been due to the four long blocks used in the school day. It would be interesting to re-run the project when the timetable had reverted to the standard seven block day.
The project did positively impact teaching practice. It was interesting to see how the children reacted to our discussions on growth mindset and celebrating getting something wrong. It has led to a better understanding that mistakes are good and not a reflection of the quality of teaching. It was also good for building resilience, being faced with colleagues who did not buy into growth mindset and working out the best way to handle these situations.
A questionnaire was completed by the class at the start of week two and the end of week six. The first question was a control question, to ensure that the pupils were noticing a difference in starter difficulty level, which they were. The questionnaire asked the pupils the following:
The main findings from the questionnaire were:
From the evidence collected, the level of starter difficulty did not seem to have an impact on class engagement, as we worked on our growth mindsets. The time of day was found to be a bigger driver of class engagement. The increase in the number of pupils who said they had a growth mindset was positive and if the pupils can continue with this, it will stand them in good stead in the future.
The feedback received from colleagues was positive overall. They expected the same results, that developing a growth mindset would make the pupils less likely to disengage following a harder starter activity. As the difficulty level did not seem to have much of an effect, the consensus was that a differentiated starter would probably work best rather than setting easy, medium, or hard starters. Colleagues did suggest that only having six weeks to carry out the project was quite short but understood that was due to the project parameters. The research showing that time of day had the biggest effect on engagement, did not surprise colleagues, as they were aware of student engagement levels throughout the day. Most colleagues were also not discussing growth mindset with their classes. There would need to be a whole school approach to fully re-introduce this concept.
During probation year, we will conduct a new project that builds upon this growth mindset work, having seen how the pupils reacted to it. This will give more time to build better relationships with pupils and to introduce growth mindset right from the start of the school year. By hopefully working with other colleagues, we will be able to discuss growth mindset on a bigger platform and try to involve the whole school, rather than just maths classes.