Background Research
Investigating the Psychology of mindsets
Background research for the Scottish Baccalaureate project by Laura Strzelak
About mindsets and the Psychological definition; Psychology Today
‘’A mindset is a belief that orients the way we handle situations — the way we sort out what is going on and what we should do.’’
This area of Psychology was popularised by the Stanford University researcher; Carol Dweck. She contrasted the different ideas of where our abilities come from and concluded that there are two types of mindsets; the fixed and growth. Mindsets are ‘beliefs that orient our reactions and tendencies’ and serve a variety of different cognitive functions. Such as;
Fixed and Growth mindsets
People with fixed mindsets tend to believe that their ability/knowledge/talent is innate, and
that failure means that they weren’t born to be good at that thing. They get defensive when someone points out that they have made a mistake because it makes them doubt how good they are. Similarly, they assume that success is the fruit of their inherent attributes and talents. They often avoid failure and are quick to give up in order to ‘maintain an aura of infallibility.’
In contrast, individuals with growth mindsets are more ‘malleable’ and believe that failure points out areas that need to be worked on.
Neuroplasticity
‘Neuroplasticity’ refers to the ‘brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.’ ‘Plasticity’ refers to the brain’s malleability and not the synthetic material.
There are generally two types of ‘neuroplasticity’
Attitudes towards education in Scotland
‘’I believe Dwecks ideas are of fundamental importance to us in Scotland. What Dweck describes as ‘the fixed mindset’, with its tendency to judge and condemns is in essence what I see as the main barrier to the growth of confidence in Scotland. If we can shift this then we have more opportunity to nurture self-efficacy and optimism: without a growth mindset we shall struggle to get many young people to the starting block.‘’ Source
Even though statistics for Scotland are limited; it is certain that the British government has recognised the importance of having a growth mindset in a classroom environment and made sure to implement activities promoting these mindsets into curriculums all over the United Kingdom.
A study by the University of Portsmouth and the Education Endowement Foundation conducted in June 2015 found that pupils that participated in growth mindset workshops were able to achieve a 2 month’s progress on average in English and Maths. The aim was to ‘provide a clearer picture about the process and its (the growth mindsets) impact.’ Source
In 2015/16, there were 235,565 enrolments at higher education institutions in Scotland out of which a total of 184,630 students came from the UK. Furthermore, UCAS released statistics showing that the number of Scottish 18-year olds going to university has increased by 23.3%.
Attitudes towards education in France
Not much data lies about attitudes towards education in France. However, in 2017 over 2.6 million students have enrolled into some form of higher education. The number of students enrolling have been rising since the year 2000.
However, studies reveal that French parents are the most laid-back when it comes to their child’s education. A study by HSBC found that only 17% of parents are daunted by the idea of planning their child’s education compared to 38% of UK parents. Moreover, only 14% of parents wished that they had started to plan way sooner compared to 84% of Malaysian parents. Thus, concluding that the French feel confident about their state’s public education system.
Glossary
Mindset - a belief that orients the way we handle situations — the way we sort out what is going on and what we should do.
Infallibility - the quality of being infallible; the inability to be wrong.
Malleable - the process of brain augmentation through "neuroplasticity." It is neuroplasticity that allows children to learn quickly through experiences.
Neuroplasticity - The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
Neurogenesis - is the process by which nervous system cells, known as neurons, are produced by neural stem cells (NSC)s, and it occurs in all species of animals except the porifera (sponges) and placozoans.
Bibliography
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets
https://www.sparringmind.com/growth-mindset/
https://www.mieuxpenser.com/articles/les-etats-d-esprit-carol-dweck
https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/neuroplasticity/
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40362
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886
https://www.verywellmind.com/adult-neurogenesis-can-we-grow-new-brain-cells-2794885
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbzrPX_Urb4
http://www.scottishschools.info/Websites/SchSecValeOfLeven/UserFiles/file/Whats%20on/Mindset/Mindsets%20VOLA.pdf
https://www.tes.com/news/we-should-look-french-when-it-comes-understanding-dwecks-growth-mindset
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38599150
https://www.tes.com/news/new-study-puts-growth-mindset-theory-test
https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/scottish-students-celebrate-university-places-are-confirmed
https://www.statista.com/statistics/779600/number-of-higher-education-students-schools-france/
https://www.thelocal.fr/20140416/french-parents-least-stressed-about-kids-education
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/10/growth-mindset-research-uk-schools-sats
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
ISBN067003830X (ISBN13: 9780670038305)
Background research for the Scottish Baccalaureate project by Laura Strzelak
About mindsets and the Psychological definition; Psychology Today
‘’A mindset is a belief that orients the way we handle situations — the way we sort out what is going on and what we should do.’’
This area of Psychology was popularised by the Stanford University researcher; Carol Dweck. She contrasted the different ideas of where our abilities come from and concluded that there are two types of mindsets; the fixed and growth. Mindsets are ‘beliefs that orient our reactions and tendencies’ and serve a variety of different cognitive functions. Such as;
- frame situations
- they direct attention to the most important cues so that we’re not overwhelmed with information
- they suggest sensible goals so that we know what we should be trying to achieve
- they prime us with reasonable courses of action so that we don’t have to puzzle out what to do
Fixed and Growth mindsets
People with fixed mindsets tend to believe that their ability/knowledge/talent is innate, and
that failure means that they weren’t born to be good at that thing. They get defensive when someone points out that they have made a mistake because it makes them doubt how good they are. Similarly, they assume that success is the fruit of their inherent attributes and talents. They often avoid failure and are quick to give up in order to ‘maintain an aura of infallibility.’
In contrast, individuals with growth mindsets are more ‘malleable’ and believe that failure points out areas that need to be worked on.
Neuroplasticity
‘Neuroplasticity’ refers to the ‘brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.’ ‘Plasticity’ refers to the brain’s malleability and not the synthetic material.
There are generally two types of ‘neuroplasticity’
- Functional plasticity – refers to the brain’s ability to move functions from a damaged area to other undamaged areas.
- Structural plasticity – the brain’s ability to change its physical structure due to learning.
- Neuroplasticity can vary by age. Changes in the brain are more predominant in the earlier stages of life.
- It not only involves neurons but other cells such as glial and vascular cells.
- It occurs either due to learning new/difficult information or due to damages to the brain.
- Environment plays the most part in the plasticity of the brain. Other factors involve genetics and the interaction between genes and environment.
- Psychoactive drugs and pathological behaviour badly affects plasticity and can lead to detrimental effects on the brain.
- The ancient belief that the brain was much like an extraordinary machine, capable of astonishing things yet incapable of growth and change.
- The observation that people who had suffered serious brain damage were often unable to recover.
- The inability to actually observe the microscopic activities of the brain played a role in the idea that the brain was relatively fixed.
Attitudes towards education in Scotland
‘’I believe Dwecks ideas are of fundamental importance to us in Scotland. What Dweck describes as ‘the fixed mindset’, with its tendency to judge and condemns is in essence what I see as the main barrier to the growth of confidence in Scotland. If we can shift this then we have more opportunity to nurture self-efficacy and optimism: without a growth mindset we shall struggle to get many young people to the starting block.‘’ Source
Even though statistics for Scotland are limited; it is certain that the British government has recognised the importance of having a growth mindset in a classroom environment and made sure to implement activities promoting these mindsets into curriculums all over the United Kingdom.
A study by the University of Portsmouth and the Education Endowement Foundation conducted in June 2015 found that pupils that participated in growth mindset workshops were able to achieve a 2 month’s progress on average in English and Maths. The aim was to ‘provide a clearer picture about the process and its (the growth mindsets) impact.’ Source
In 2015/16, there were 235,565 enrolments at higher education institutions in Scotland out of which a total of 184,630 students came from the UK. Furthermore, UCAS released statistics showing that the number of Scottish 18-year olds going to university has increased by 23.3%.
Attitudes towards education in France
Not much data lies about attitudes towards education in France. However, in 2017 over 2.6 million students have enrolled into some form of higher education. The number of students enrolling have been rising since the year 2000.
However, studies reveal that French parents are the most laid-back when it comes to their child’s education. A study by HSBC found that only 17% of parents are daunted by the idea of planning their child’s education compared to 38% of UK parents. Moreover, only 14% of parents wished that they had started to plan way sooner compared to 84% of Malaysian parents. Thus, concluding that the French feel confident about their state’s public education system.
Glossary
Mindset - a belief that orients the way we handle situations — the way we sort out what is going on and what we should do.
Infallibility - the quality of being infallible; the inability to be wrong.
Malleable - the process of brain augmentation through "neuroplasticity." It is neuroplasticity that allows children to learn quickly through experiences.
Neuroplasticity - The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
Neurogenesis - is the process by which nervous system cells, known as neurons, are produced by neural stem cells (NSC)s, and it occurs in all species of animals except the porifera (sponges) and placozoans.
Bibliography
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets
https://www.sparringmind.com/growth-mindset/
https://www.mieuxpenser.com/articles/les-etats-d-esprit-carol-dweck
https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/neuroplasticity/
https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=40362
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-2794886
https://www.verywellmind.com/adult-neurogenesis-can-we-grow-new-brain-cells-2794885
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbzrPX_Urb4
http://www.scottishschools.info/Websites/SchSecValeOfLeven/UserFiles/file/Whats%20on/Mindset/Mindsets%20VOLA.pdf
https://www.tes.com/news/we-should-look-french-when-it-comes-understanding-dwecks-growth-mindset
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-38599150
https://www.tes.com/news/new-study-puts-growth-mindset-theory-test
https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/scottish-students-celebrate-university-places-are-confirmed
https://www.statista.com/statistics/779600/number-of-higher-education-students-schools-france/
https://www.thelocal.fr/20140416/french-parents-least-stressed-about-kids-education
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/may/10/growth-mindset-research-uk-schools-sats
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
ISBN067003830X (ISBN13: 9780670038305)