p4c and mindset
TRANSCRIPT
P4C & MindsetBosse
Larssontankvidare.nu
James Nottingham
www.p4c.com
“Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and others have greatness thrust
upon them”
Malvolio, Twelfth Night
Francis Galton was the first to use the term “Nature vs. Nurture”
In 1854, he published an article exploring whether social behaviour was a result of genetics or environment (eg. are criminals born or created?)
Galton was a cousin of Charles Darwin
Nature vs Nurture
What has made these two people successful?
Oscar Pistorius Usain Bolt
Did they develop their genius or were they born with it?
Leonardo da Vinci Steve Jobs
Their writing talent – innate or incremental?
Joanne Kathleen Rowling Astrid Lindgren
Bobby Charlton – “the most gifted player of a generation” ?
Bobby’s unclesAll professional footballers• Jack (Leeds & Bradford)• George (Leeds &
Chesterfield)• Jim (Leeds & Bradford)• Stan (Chesterfield &
Leicester)
Mother’s (Cisse) cousinWor Jackie Milburn177 goals NUFC, 10 England
Mozart – a child prodigy?
Once upon a time, there were three babies
By the time they start school
Some children start school knowing 6,000 words.
Others, just 500 words.
Source: BBC 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8013859.stm
Number of words heard by children
A child in a welfare-dependent family hears on average 616 words an hour
A child in a working-class home hears on average 1,251 words an hour
A child in a professional home hears on average 2,153 words an hour
Number of words spoken by the time children are 3
500
700
1100
Hart & Risley, 1995
But in school, we use terms such as …
Gifted, Bright
Average
Special Needs
Can we predict intelligence?
Intelligence – nature or nurture?
Alfred Binet1857 - 1911
In 1904, the French government asked Binet to create a mechanism for identifying students in need of alternative education
Binet created a scale of 30 tasks for 6 – 14 year olds, ranging from easy to complex ones
He stated his test showed what a child had learnt to that point, and nothing else
Self-fulfilling prophecies
Why does it matter where we think intelligence comes from?
Dweck identifies different attitudes to learning based on Mindset
People who believe intelligence comes mainly from nature have a ‘fixed’ mindset
Professor Carol Dweck, Stanford
People who believe intelligence comes mainly from nurture have a ‘growth’ mindset
Fixed MindsetIntelligence and ability are fixedNature determines talentsI am naturally good at some thingsI’ll always struggle with some things
My prioritieso Prove myselfo Succeed easilyo Avoid failure of any sort
My mottoso No pain, no paino Only stupid people have to tryo Effortlessly superior
Growth Mindset Intelligence and ability can growNurture determines abilitiesI have developed my talentsPotential is there to be realised
My prioritieso Improve myselfo Take challengeso Learn from my mistakes
My mottoso No pain, no gaino Learners always try hardo There’s always room to improve
Carol Dweck’s theory of Fixed & Growth Mindsets
535 Columbia University (NY) students, aged 18 to 35 were given a test
Their brains were scanned as they took the test
Mangels, Butterfield, Lamb, Good & Dweck, 2006
These beliefs dramatically affect behaviour
Question: What is the capital of Australia?
Student types his or her answer
Student rates their confidence on a 7-point scale (1: sure wrong; 7: sure right)
2.5 secs
2.5 secs Answer (for 2 secs)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Proportion corrected at (surprise) re-test
We should focus on progress, not rank order
92
85
73
64
43
32
90
86
78
70
41
35
90
85
84
78
40
34
Rewards, rewards, rewards
10/10
Praise that discourages pupils getting in the pit
Clever girl!
Gifted musician
Brilliant mathematician
Bright boy
Top of the class!
By far the best
Mueller and Dweck, 1998
In six studies, 7th grade students were given a series of nonverbal IQ tests.
The effects of different types of praise
Intelligence praise“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must be smart at this.”
Process praise“Wow, that’s a really good score. You must have tried really hard.”
Control-group praise“Wow, that’s a really good score.”
Mueller and Dweck, 1998
Trial 1 Trial 34.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
Effort Praise
Control Praise
Intelligence Praise
Number of problems solved on a 3rd test
Boys get 8 times more criticism than girls
1. Duktig flicka; 2. Extremt bra; 3. Bra jobbat; 4. Enstående insats;
5. Vilken matematiker du är; 6.Otroligt jobb; 7.Du är ett geni; 8.Du
utvecklas; 9.Smart kille; 10.Du borde vara stolt; 11.Du har det;
12.Du är unik; 13. Mycket begåvat; 14. Du överträffar dig själv; 15.
Du lyssnar på ett bra sätt; 16. Du kämpade dig igenom; 17.Du är
mycket musikalisk; 18.Fortsätt med det goda jobbet; 19.Det är allt
jag hoppats du skulle göra; 20.Perfekt; 21.MVG+arbete; 22.Du är
en stjärna; 23.Bra att du arbetat med en svår uppgift; 24. Du är
#1; 25. Du tar bra ansvar; 26. Du har talang; 27.Spektakulärt; 28.
Bra val av strategi 29.Du är fantastisk; 30.What a great idea;
31.Väl genomarbetat; 32.Myckat tankvärt; 33.Du listade ut det till
slut; 34.Bäst I klassen; 35. Du får mig att bli glad
How philosophical are you?
10
0
The aim of a thinking skills programme such as P4C is not to turn
children into philosophers but to help them become
more thoughtful, more reflective, more
considerate and more reason-able individuals
P4C – Created by Matthew Lipman
Children are natural philosophers
However … this doesn’t mean adults
are able to spot when they are being
philosophical and when they’re just
being cute!
21
Not all of our questions answered …… but all of our answers questioned
Example question stems
What is (difference different from?)
What if (everyone was extraordinary?)
Always/never (know?)
How do we know (what love is?)
Why do we (say young people don’t know what love is?)
What is the difference (between ordinary & extraordinary?)
Is it possible (to always be happy?)
When (is happiness a bad thing?)
Who (decides what the natural way is?)
Can we (ever know for sure?)
Colliding concepts
Truth and Opinion
Biodegradable and Reusable
Hero and Villain
Happy and Content
Dreams and Daydreams
Decision and Order
Child and Youth
Lies and Make-believe
Toys and Books
Karma and Revenge
If A = B then
Does B = A?
Friend Trust
Trust Friend
For example …
Wobblers (If A = B)
54
How philosophical are you? 10
0