Creating a culture of growth mindset in the next generation of teachers
In 2019/20, nine maths education students from Edinburgh Napier University became the first cohort of student teachers in Scotland to participate in the Mindset Champions course.
Peter Early was one of the first students to take part. His study took place with a large S2 class, over a period of four weeks during his student placement.
In his previous observational placement, he’d noticed pupils being encouraged to ‘show your working’ in every lesson, yet not always understanding why or how to do that.
He decided to explore this in his Professional Enquiry, using the language of growth mindset to support pupils’ learning. In this way, he could complete the practical investigations for both courses at the same time.
Peter hoped that showing working and discussing mistakes openly would help pupils feel comfortable asking questions, accept constructive feedback and view failure as a tool for learning.
You can view or download the full case study below (5 minute read).
In his previous observational placement, he’d noticed pupils being encouraged to ‘show your working’ in every lesson, yet not always understanding why or how to do that.
He decided to explore this in his Professional Enquiry, using the language of growth mindset to support pupils’ learning. In this way, he could complete the practical investigations for both courses at the same time.
Peter hoped that showing working and discussing mistakes openly would help pupils feel comfortable asking questions, accept constructive feedback and view failure as a tool for learning.
You can view or download the full case study below (5 minute read).
Edinburgh Napier case study