The main aim of the project was for the class pupils to develop a strong understanding of growth mindset, which should positively impact their enthusiasm, participation and learning across all areas of the curriculum. The project centred on encouraging pupils to participate in maths challenges with a growth mindset approach. The pre data indicated that 50% of the focus children had a fixed mindset, with the remaining 50% only just on the cusp of a growth mindset. It also revealed that 87.5% of this group believed that people are either ‘born smart’ or not. The children in the target group had a strong belief that mistakes were ‘bad’ and some viewed themselves as not good at maths. Against this backdrop, we noticed that some children were rarely challenging themselves in maths, sticking to the easier problems in fear of making mistakes. The project aimed to tackle the children’s misconceptions about how we learn and to support them to challenge themselves, make mistakes and learn from them in a safe and nurturing environment.
The project was based on weekly growth mindset lessons to enable the children to develop their understanding of how we learn, as well as completing weekly Chilli Challenges. Growth mindset messages were also reinforced across all areas of the curriculum throughout the week. The weekly growth mindset lessons were quick to make an impact on the children’s understanding of how we learn and the significance of challenges and mistakes.
The children related well to the Dojo growth mindset videos used, since they use Dojo rewards in school. The songs we shared with the children had a significant impact, they were able to relate to the Sesame Street characters and the messages resonated with them. ‘Try Everything’ by Shakira became our motivational song, and the children loved hearing it before facing a new challenge. They could be heard singing parts of the song during class or to their peers as encouragement. After the project, upon hearing the song, the children got very excited that a Chilli Challenge was coming up!
Adapting the learning pit to have our school Warrior as the character on the display, was a great way to capture the interest of the children and ensure the mindset messages were appropriate and relevant to them. Regular use of the learning pit display helped the children to focus on where they were with their learning, and what they could do to make progress.
We believe that we have achieved the main aim of the project - for the children to develop a growth mindset and challenge themselves within maths - within a relatively short space of time. The children were able to identify fixed and growth mindset messages, as well as practise a growth mindset approach to their learning. We worked hard to eradicate the misconception that people are ‘born smart’ as well as the negative connotations that mistakes had. The children were using growth mindset messages independently and sharing these with their peers. In terms of the weekly Chilli Challenges, it was clear to see that the children were challenging themselves more. Considering the project only ran for six weeks, we believe it had a positive impact on the children and will continue to develop this throughout the year. This is confirmed by the data that show that the children have adapted their mindsets and are more willing and confident to challenge themselves within their own learning.
Despite being pleased with the outcome of the project, if repeated, we would take more time to help the children complete the mindset survey. If completed on a one to one basis, this might have helped the children better understand some of the questions. However, we did not want to unduly influence the children, so it might have been helpful to instead look at the wording of the questions and see if these could be changed to make the survey clearer.
The timeline for the project was six weeks and we were able to stay within this allotted time. The project began in November and was completed in December. There was not much scope for changing the timeline or extending the project given all the activities planned for the end of December. To adhere to the timeline, we had to carefully plan the weeks and ensure that growth mindset lessons were not missed and opportunities for weekly Chilli Challenges were provided. We also had to stick to the timeline to ensure that our student teacher could complete their planned lessons and fulfil the requirements of their placement.
A lot of thought went into planning, considering the needs of the class and how we felt we could gain the most from the project. We also consulted with colleagues who were implementing similar projects in Primary 1. By planning certain aspects collaboratively, we were able to ensure continuity within the school, as well as allowing for progression between the class stages.
The project plan was carried out efficiently and weekly monitoring of the tasks and the children’s level of engagement allowed us to see that the project was working well. Weekly monitoring also allowed us to identify how well the children coped with the maths concepts used within the Chilli Challenges. By observing how the children reacted to the challenge and how they solved it, this informed the maths teaching for the following week (e.g., did we have to revise a previous strategy or could we introduce a new strategy). Had the data shown that the project was not working or having the desired impact, we would have made changes.
The children’s attitude towards learning changed. They were more confident and motivated to do well. We now have children saying that they are going to choose the challenging aspects of tasks and asking to do activities to challenge themselves within tasks. For example, when we were creating a character description within literacy and the children were asked to write five adjectives for their character, one child said, “I’m going to think of seven, that’s my challenge.” The weekly spelling test scores also gradually improved and we believe the mindset project is a factor in this.
The children have become much more enthusiastic when completing Chilli Challenges. It is wonderful to hear the chorus of “yass,” when they hear our motivational song, and they know what’s coming next. Now when we ask the children if they’re ready for a challenge in any curricular area, we get responses such as, “absolutely” or “of course we are!” The positive impact of the project varies across the children and there are still children in the class that are less confident and less likely to challenge themselves. However, this project is only the beginning of our mindset journey and one that we will continue.
We also received messages from home expressing pride that their child has demonstrated a growth mindset. These messages indicate that the children have really taken on board growth mindset. They demonstrate the children’s increased confidence, motivation, and willingness to ‘Try Everything’ like our soundbite told them to. We were delighted that the children were transferring their learning within school to home and that this was noted. Some examples from the messages are:
The learning pit and the tools that the children produced to help them ‘in the pit’ really helped the children to become more independent when completing tasks. They were more resilient when they made a mistake, or they didn’t know what to do and many children referred to our learning pit display to find a ‘tool’ that they could use. Before, children would opt out of a task when they stumbled or say it’s too hard, now children are more willing to ‘try again.’
The attitude of teaching staff to challenge has also improved after taking part in the mindset course and completing this project. It has made us reflect on our own teaching and to seek to incorporate challenge across the curriculum wherever possible, raising our expectations of what children can try and achieve.
The pre data indicated that 50% of the focus children had a fixed mindset, with the remaining 50% only just on the cusp of a growth mindset. It also revealed that 87.5% of the target group believed that people are either ‘born smart’ or not. After the first week of the project, the data showed that children’s attitudes were changing. In week one, only 25% of the focus children challenged themselves to complete the ‘extra spicy’ Chilli Challenge, but in week two, 50% completed the ‘extra spicy’ challenge. The data each week showed a continual progression of children attempting more of the challenges and, by week four, 100% of children were tackling the ‘extra spicy’ challenge.
There was also a gradual increase in the number of strategies the children used for each challenge. In weeks one and two, each child used just one strategy to complete each challenge. By week six, 50% of children had tackled the ‘extra spicy’ challenge and found a different strategy to calculate it. This was a big turning point for the children, as they had progressed from using the strategy they were most comfortable with, to trying two strategies. The children realised that they could ‘grow their brain’ and that by challenging themselves and using different strategies, they were making themselves smarter.
The post-project data showed that 100% of the focus group had a growth mindset. One child did see a decline in their score by 0.25, but we believe this was due a lack of understanding some questions in the pre data survey. In hindsight, it may have been better to work with this child independently to complete the survey and ensure maximum understanding. Post data also showed that the focus group had eradicated the misconception that people are ‘born smart,’ with 100% of the children now firmly believing that everyone can get better. Our ‘practise makes progress’ message is now frequently used in class by teachers and the children.
The pre and post questionnaire used, and the results are shown below:
A record of the challenges taken on by the children and the number of strategies used was captured as shown.
Below is the learning pit created in the class:
The maths mindset questionnaire also used is below:
The Headteacher was delighted with the learning pit wall display and the use of the school Warrior, believing this made the pit accessible to all children in the school. Many adults and children within the school have commented positively about the learning pit display and asked for more information about it. The Acting Depute Head was covering our class after the project and spoke very highly about the children’s enthusiasm and excitement, when they were completing their Chilli Challenge. The children were very keen to share their strategies. Other staff members have also spoken about the children’s commitment to their learning and the growth mindset vocabulary they use.
The next steps will see a continuation of the mindset messages and ensuring that the children continue their mindset journey. We are looking to use the learning pit throughout the school and perhaps have it in each class or as a big display within the school hall. This will help to embedded growth mindset across the school and within each class. Our class will continue with the Chilli Challenges as these have been very successful with the children, incorporating them into literacy next. As we develop play-based learning within P2/3 this term, it will be beneficial to use this to encourage problem solving and for the children to put their growth mindset into practise. Another future development would be parental workshops or videos to explain growth mindset and encourage parents/carers to support their child in their mindset journey.