Do you think your child is bad at Maths? - you need to read on.......

Do you believe that you are born either good at Maths or you're not? Black and white - straightforward - simple as that! You either have ‘the gift’ or you don't? Do you believe that your child  just isn't gifted when it comes to Maths? In my long experience as a Maths tutor I have found that this way of thinking or mindset is more common when applied to Maths than any other subject area and it is so limiting and damaging and may stop your child from reaching their true potential.

Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset?

As you can see - a Fixed Mindset is a belief that intelligence, talent and other qualities are fixed  - unchangeable - no matter how hard you try - so why bother you say! But what if this just simply isn't true? Think about what you could achieve if you believed that you were just as good as everyone else - if not better. On the other hand, a Growth Mindset sees failure as a challenge - an opportunity to grow - rather than see it as a limit on what you can achieve.

Think of a number of famous entrepreneurs; Jeff Bezos - founder of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg - founder of Facebook, Alan Sugar, JK Rowling, Richard Branson….the list goes on and on. Do you think they gave up at the first hurdle? Of course not, because they believed in themselves - they believed they could achieve what they had created in their minds and are now among the most successful people on the planet - they have a Growth Mindset.

What's this got to do with Maths you ask?

The answer is everything -  there is no special gene that sifts some of you into one pile who ‘can do’ Maths and the others into a pile who ‘can’t do' Maths- if you put in the hard work and embrace the mistakes that you make - you can be good at Maths. This is based on the theories and research of Carol Dweck, an American psychologist  and Jo Boaler - a mathematics professor at Stanford University who have both conducted numerous research studies that show that those students with a Growth Mindset progress further than those with a Fixed mindset.

When we learn - our brain makes more new connections - more connections means we have more routes to solve the problem and ultimately become more successful.

How do we change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset?

First you need to identify those areas that might keep you (or your child) in a Fixed Mindset

1. Being out of your comfort zone

We are all human beings and crave the familiar - exactly because it doesn't challenge us - whether it's friends, food, a journey we make regularly, where we sit on the bus or train - we feel ‘in our comfort zone’ but we don't grow. 

   2. Seeing others' success

This can invoke feelings of jealousy, inadequacy, pessimism - in fact negative feelings that somehow they have achieved something that seems impossible for us - so why bother to try! It's all right for them - you say because they have this or that or the other that helps them to become successful.

   3. Having setbacks

Perhaps you failed an exam, an interview or maybe you were ill and didn't get selected for the team or group event and that means to you there will be no more chances

  4. Negative feedback

Bad marks in a test? Maybe you didn't do enough work? Maybe you didn't understand what was being asked of you. Maybe you were distracted - any number of reasons but this doesn't define you forever - you try again!

  5. The thought of hard work

Growth mindset is a state of mind -it's a way of thinking which will propel you towards success - but it not a magic formula - you won't get an A in Maths without hard work - if you do - then you are not challenging yourself and could achieve far more and grow…

All these so called ‘obstacles’ can be overcome- with a little focus, a little hard work and a great deal of self- belief.

Look out for my next blog and how to start living with a Growth Mindset

Rowena Hawtin

MSc,BSC, PGCE

#growthmindset #fixedmindset