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)

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How philosophical are you? 10

0