Habits of Mind
Habits of Mind – Tools for Getting out of a Challenge Pit
Finding yourself in a Challenge Pit is one thing. Succeeding at that challenge by successfully climbing out is something entirely different! Consider the challenges our students are facing at the moment. They might be the usual curriculum challenges. They could be adjusting to online learning environments, or perhaps adapting to life in lockdown. Some students […]
The Mindset Continuum: Get a Nudge in the Right Direction
Most of our attempts to change students’ Mindsets are failing. Why? Because: 1. We’ve been teaching about a Growth Mindset, instead of for a Growth Mindset We’ve treated Growth Mindset like a topic. We’ve taught people about what it is and why it’s important, and told them they should have one. But that hasn’t worked. […]
Mindset and the Learning Landscape
The Learning Landscape provides a way to recognise and develop a learner’s Mindset. In many ways, a learner’s Mindset is a reflection of how well they understand the Learning Landscape and their capacity to move through it. A learner with a Growth Mindset understands they are free to roam the Learning Landscape, exploring the furthest […]
Getting Out of the Challenge Pit!
Setting challenging tasks is not enough to ensure real learning. In the Learning Landscape, Pits represent challenges. But getting out of a Pit represents learning! Learning is an active, skilful process. In the Learning Landscape, the learners who reach the highest standards and ascend the mountains of expertise are the best climbers. They draw on […]
Challenge Pits: Four Different Types
The Learning Landscape makes learning more enjoyable. The sense of being on a learning journey – exploring the Learning Landscape, taking on Challenge Pits and climbing mountains of expertise – is engaging for learners.But the Learning Landscape is so much more than a tool to engage students. It is a metaphor for the learning process. It helps students understand how their […]
Challenge Pits – Which Zone Are You in Today?
True learning doesn’t happen without a challenge. We must stretch (not strain) ourselves to increase our standards and abilities. As Anders Ericson points out, if you never push yourself beyond your current best, you will never improve. When we challenge ourselves to achieve just beyond our current best, we go into what is sometimes referred […]
Becoming a Better Learner in the Learning Landscape
For many of us, learning is something we just do. It’s not something we learn to do well. Sure, we all understand that some people are better or faster at learning than others. But that’s often attributed (incorrectly) to “natural ability”. We think some people are just smarter than others. As teachers, our job is to […]
Has the tide turned on Growth Mindsets?
Most school-based Growth Mindset interventions don’t work! As schools struggle to find Growth Mindset interventions that work, a growing tide of criticism has forced psychologist Carol Dweck to defend her theories. A recent article in TES (“Carol Dweck: where growth mindset went wrong”) gives her response. I’ve been warning that the tide will turn on Growth […]
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should!
One of the most important lessons I learnt as an aspiring school leader was “just because you can doesn’t mean you should!” Like a lot of teachers, I found my first few years of teaching very challenging. The “bar” seemed to be set incredibly high, and I had to work hard to learn my craft. […]
Turia Pitt: A Growth Mindset in Action
Turia Pitt knows how to take on challenges and overcome adversity. Completing a double Bachelors degree in Engineering (Mining) and Science at the University of New South Wales in 2010, Turia went on to successfully apply her learning as a mining engineer at a prestigious diamond mining company in Western Australia. Not content with only […]
