Developing Growth Mindsets: How Praise Can Harm, and How To Use it Well

No parent or teachers thinks

'I wonder what I can do today to undermine my children, subvert their effort, turn them off learning, and limit their achievement.' Of course not. They think 'I would do anything, give anything, to make my children successful.'

Based on decades of research Professor Carol Dweck argues that many of the things teachers and parents do and say have exactly this kind of negative effect.

In fact, every word and action sends a message. It tells children – or students or athletes – how to think about themselves. It can be a fixed mindset message that says:

'You have permanent traits and I’m judging them.'

Or it can be a growth mindset message that says:

 'You are a developing person and I am interested in your development.' 

What can educational professionals in Scotland learn from these important insights?

Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of student motivation and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford. Her research highlights the critical role of mindsets in students’ achievement, and shows how praise for intelligence or talent can undermine motivation and learning.

She has also held professorships at Columbia and Harvard Universities and has lectured to education, business, and sports groups all over the world. In addition to the Klingenstein Award for Leadership in Education, she recently won the Ann Brown Award in developmental psychology, the Donald Campbell Award in social psychology, and the E.L. Thorndike Career Achievement Award in educational psychology.

Her work has been prominently featured in almost every major publication and she has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, 20/20 and Nightline. Her recent book 'Mindset' (published by Random House) has been widely acclaimed and is being translated into 17 languages.

For more information about Carol’s work check out the following;

• Mindset: The new psychology of success.  Have a look inside the book
• Carol Dweck's Brainology
• Carol Dweck's 'growth' versus 'fixed' minds interview