Since working at IFS, I have listened to a lot of great advice about life and learning and I am constantly experimenting with my own children. I can honestly say, the number one piece of advice I have been given, is how best to teach a growth mindset. As previously discussed, teaching our children to have a growth mindset is about encouraging a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, but how do we do this as parents?
We can engender a growth mindset by praising our children for their effort or persistence, by telling success stories that emphasise hard work and a love of learning, and by teaching them about the brain as a learning machine. Personally, this has changed how I speak to my own children each and every day and I believe I am making inroads already. My focus has been taken, almost completely, away from WHAT they are doing and now I am totally focussed on HOW I RESPOND to what they are doing. As an example, whenever they come home from college or sport with a positive result, I now NEVER say, “Well done, fantastic result in tennis today” or “Congratulations, you are really good at Maths” or even “You have always been good a reader”. I NOW say, “You have been putting in a lot of effort with your tennis” or ” You have worked really hard on solving those Maths problems” or “You have read every night this week and it’s paying off”. It may be only a slight difference in phrasing, but I believe it will make a huge difference in the long run.
Our brains are constantly remodelling, remapping and rewiring, their plasticity allows us to learn new skills and abilities. It is so important for our children to remember that intelligence is not fixed. Children need to view challenges as opportunities to learn. They need to view their challenges as energising rather than intimidating. All this needs to be remembered within the context of our brain that changes itself.
How does a student achieve? Through the product of practise – purposeful deliberate practise. Often this practise is not enjoyable, but the high achievers in this world did not just grab an instrument and play or jump into a pool and break records. Success is ninety nine percent failure. The sooner we can learn how to teach a growth mindset, the more chance we have of instilling in our children a work ethic that produces higher achievers in college and in life.
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