Child and family advisory service

18/05/2025

📚 Growth Mindset: Nurturing the Potential of Our Children

🧠 What is a growth mindset?

The term growth mindset was introduced by psychologist Carol Dweck to describe the belief that abilities can be developed through effort, perseverance and learning. In contrast, a fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence and talent are innate and unchangeable.

👧👦 Why is it important for children?

Promoting a growth mindset means helping children to:
• see mistakes as part of the learning process,
• face challenges with greater confidence,
• develop perseverance and autonomy in their educational journey.

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🧪 The Study by Mueller and Dweck (1998): How Praise Shapes Motivation

In a classic study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Mueller and Dweck (1998) examined how different types of praise influence children’s performance and motivation.

👉 Method:
Primary school children were asked to complete a problem-solving task. Afterwards, they were divided into three groups:
• one group received praise for intelligence (“You’re very smart!”),
• another was praised for effort (“You worked really hard!”),
• a third group received neutral feedback.

👉 Results:
Children who were praised for intelligence were more likely to avoid challenges, gave up more easily after mistakes, and were more prone to lie about their performance. In contrast, those praised for effort chose more difficult tasks, stayed motivated after failure, and had a more positive attitude towards learning.

🧩 Conclusion:
The kind of feedback we give children can significantly shape their attitude towards learning, their resilience, and their self-perception.

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🏫 Implications for Educational Settings

🔸 Praise the process, not the person: It is more effective to reinforce strategies, consistency, and progress rather than perceived innate qualities (“You organised the information well” instead of “You’re a genius!”).

🔸 Normalise mistakes as part of learning: Teachers can create a classroom environment where it is safe to make mistakes, reflect and try again.

🔸 Teach growth mindset explicitly: Through metacognitive activities and classroom discussions, pupils can become more aware of their thinking and learn to embrace a flexible approach.

🔸 Train key adults: Parents, educators, and teachers are instrumental in modelling positive attitudes towards learning. A growth mindset is transmitted through consistent behaviours and expectations.

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🌱 Nurturing a growth mindset in children means offering them a more flexible and developmental view of themselves. In a school system that often rewards outcomes over processes, it is a bold and transformative educational choice.

18/05/2025

📚 Mentalità di crescita: coltivare il potenziale dei nostri bambini

🧠 Che cos’è la mentalità di crescita?

Il termine mentalità di crescita (growth mindset) è stato introdotto dalla psicologa Carol Dweck per descrivere la convinzione che le proprie abilità possano essere sviluppate attraverso l’impegno, la costanza e l’apprendimento. In contrasto, una mentalità fissa porta a pensare che l’intelligenza e il talento siano doti innate e immodificabili.

👧👦 Perché è importante per i bambini?

Promuovere una mentalità di crescita significa aiutare i bambini a:
• vedere gli errori come parte del processo di apprendimento,
• affrontare le difficoltà con maggiore fiducia,
• sviluppare perseveranza e autonomia nel proprio percorso scolastico.

🧪 Lo studio di Mueller e Dweck (1998): quando il tipo di lode influenza la motivazione

In uno studio classico pubblicato sul Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Mueller e Dweck (1998) hanno esaminato gli effetti della lode sul rendimento e sulla motivazione degli studenti.

👉 Metodologia:
Bambini di scuola primaria hanno svolto un compito di problem-solving. Al termine, sono stati divisi in tre gruppi:
• un gruppo ha ricevuto lodi per l’intelligenza (“Sei molto intelligente!”),
• un altro gruppo è stato lodato per l’impegno (“Hai lavorato sodo!”),
• un terzo gruppo non ha ricevuto alcuna lode specifica.

👉 Risultati:
I bambini lodati per l’intelligenza hanno mostrato una maggiore tendenza ad evitare sfide, si sono scoraggiati più facilmente dopo un errore e hanno mentito più spesso sui propri risultati. Al contrario, i bambini lodati per l’impegno hanno scelto compiti più difficili, mantenuto la motivazione anche dopo insuccessi e mostrato un atteggiamento più positivo verso l’apprendimento.

🧩 Conclusione:
Il tipo di feedback che forniamo ai bambini può influenzare profondamente il loro atteggiamento verso l’apprendimento, la resilienza e la percezione di sé.

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🏫 Implicazioni per il contesto scolastico

🔸 Lodare il processo, non la persona: È più utile rinforzare strategie, costanza e progressi piuttosto che qualità percepite come innate (“Hai fatto un bel lavoro organizzando le informazioni” invece di “Sei un genio!”).

🔸 Valorizzare l’errore come parte dell’apprendimento: Gli insegnanti possono creare un clima in cui è sicuro sbagliare, riflettere e riprovare.

🔸 Insegnare esplicitamente la mentalità di crescita: Attraverso attività metacognitive e discussioni in classe, si possono rendere visibili i processi cognitivi e incoraggiare il pensiero flessibile.

🔸 Formare gli adulti di riferimento: Genitori, educatori e insegnanti sono fondamentali nel modellare atteggiamenti positivi verso l’apprendimento. Una mentalità di crescita si trasmette anche attraverso l’esempio.

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🌱 Coltivare una mentalità di crescita nei bambini significa offrire loro una visione del sé più flessibile e orientata allo sviluppo. In un sistema scolastico che spesso premia il risultato più del processo, è un atto educativo coraggioso e trasformativo.

08/03/2024

Very interesting and true.
https://giftedchallenges.blogspot.com/2024/03/what-giftedness-is-not-list-to-share.html?fbclid=IwAR0bbu4QW0Wab3AD3RBmjWNHJ9xVDt1lbpFg8wCUPMUM0pD4gIOH4xFSuh8&m=1

The myths and misconceptions about giftedness

15/01/2024

✨Support Sunday✨

For those who are new here, meet Bumper: A Whole Body Learner.

This is a long post, but we assure you it will be worth your while. Get comfy and get ready to Level UP! (excerpt from 9/22)

Whole Body Listening…we’re sure you’ve come into contact with the original pervasive concept:

Eyes for looking at the person talking to you, ears ready to hear, mouth quiet (no talking, humming, or making sounds), hands quiet in the lap or by the sides, feet quiet on the floor, body faces the speaker, brain thinking about what is being said and heart caring what the other person is saying. UGH. MAKE IT STOP!

(Yes, we are aware that Larry has gotten a makeover and we are thrilled that he has. Unfortunately, it will take awhile for Larry of yesteryear to really disappear and Bumper arrived on the scene to help in this quest before new Larry made his debut.)

The original concept of Whole Body Listening is so pervasive (and invasive) that we often see it in classrooms and schools even when the school and/or classroom culture does not mirror these expectations in any way! We have watched as teachers and staff reference and run through posters (not just OG Larry, there are lots of criss cross apple sauce renditions kicking around out there) and visuals of this concept with their class, and then proceed to use learning methods and activities that look nothing like Whole Body Listening (e.g., students can stand, sit, jump, spin, pace, rock, etc.). Of course, most unfortunately, we have definitely seen Whole Body Listening highly enforced as well, and merely the presence of these expectations is problematic for so many students that cannot possibly carry them out and/or cannot possibly listen and learn while forcing themselves and their ampy state of idle into stillness.

We will openly state that Jac has liberated classrooms of their Whole Body Listening posters (most of the time with full permission to do so from staff… most of the time). Jac has preached to staff that if this idea was ACTUALLY about listening with one’s WHOLE body, neurodivergent people would be the poster children for it, because we actually do use our entire bodies to listen and learn. To be fair, there are absolutely students and adults who listen and learn best using all or some of the ideas listed above, but there are many others who have different ways of listening and learning and that needs to be okay, too. Not to mention, we definitely think that most teachers would agree that a class full of students on the edge of their seats, coming over their desks with their knees on their chairs, creeping and bouncing forward, trying to get a better look, vocalizing excitedly and trying to touch and feel and do whatever the lesson or activity is would be a much better indicator of engagement than a room full of quiet, still students.

Propaganda removed and classrooms liberated is all well and good, but visual cues and ideas about active engagement are, indeed, a good idea, too. As is making it explicit to students that diverse learning styles are the expectation. So, we knew we needed to come up with something that could replace these super outdated, utterly ableist and maddeningly marginalizing posters, and thus, BUMPER (they/them/it) was born.
Bumper is a Whole Body Learner, and they use all of their tools, tricks, gears, and processing mechanisms to take in and analyze information. Bumper knows educators want engaged students in their classrooms and is on a mission to help achieve that goal. Bumper believes modeling is best when it comes to facilitating a classroom culture that supports active engagement. As such, they love to show students how they use a range of ways to learn and engage with materials. Check out Autism Level UP!’s Meet Bumper: A Whole Body Learner poster!

Bumper knows that not everyone uses their body to learn in the same way they do. And, they are quite interested in learning what you and/or your students look like when they’re learning! So, we’ve included an accompanying “What do YOU look like when you are learning?” Doodle Sheet! Encourage your students to sketch, type, write, scribble, color, or any other way they prefer to record information to start to create their own Whole Body Learning Profile! We say “start” because Bumper knows that while students likely already know some things that they do to detect, process, integrate, and accumulate knowledge, Bumper also knows that students are learning how to learn all the time. Bumper wants students to add to and edit their profiles all year long.

You might be questioning how you can help your students reflect on the tools, tricks, gears, and processing mechanisms they use to help them take in and analyze information. We’ve included one final page in this support, the Whole Body Learner Regulator. This is an adaptation of one of our core tools, The Regulator 2.0. Bumper’s version provides a framework for students to investigate how they use their mission control (aka head), tactile manipulators (aka hands and arms), mobility units (aka legs, feet, wheels), and inner mechanics (aka fuel and feelZzz) to learn. This format can also be used to help your students explore and discover new ways that support their active engagement and understanding.

Bumper has one other important thought. They think it would be amazing if students had a way to share their profiles with one another, so that students can start to appreciate that different tools, tricks, gears, and processing mechanisms work for different people! Bumper sees this as a basis for authentic peer education creating an equitable learning environment where unique learning profiles are validated and supported and simply expected to the norm. Imagine a room where you as a teacher can use Bumper’s language to help students understand and appreciate how they and others learn.

It's truly time to take the next step and Level UP! to Whole Body Learning with Bumper!

Image description: Schematic drawing of Bumper! A Whole Body Learner. They are a colorful adorable robot with - Mission Control for sensing, analyzing, processing and communicating. Tactile Manipulators for exploring, operating tools, building and communicating. Mobility units for moving, dancing, fidgeting, and bouncing. Inner Mechanics for charging, fueling, feeling, reacting. The introduction to the tool, a blank Bumper page and the regulator are also pictured in the image.

We have ideas and ArtsAflame brings them to life! So grateful and amazed by his talent!

We'll put information on how to access Bumper and the related tools for free below.

21/05/2023

08/12/2022

https://youtu.be/aISXCw0Pi94

"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. Breaki...

20/10/2022

No Excuses

When adults focus on children’s behaviour and ignore the reasons, they can do damage which lasts. Life isn’t a level playing field, and some children are pulling a much heavier load than others. Here’s how it works.

Behaviour is part of how humans (and all animals) communicate. With children, it’s the part we can see most clearly. They show us, rather than tell us, how they are feeling. Distressed behaviour is rarely calm and considered. The distressed child might scream and cry, they might break things, they might kick and hit. They might run away.

If we don’t ask why they are doing this, then the risk is that we’ll try to change the behaviour without taking into account of why it’s there. We’ll use behavioural methods such as rewards and punishment. Parents will be (and are) told to ignore a child who is clinging to them and crying, because it’s ‘behaviour’. Asking for reasons is derided as ‘making excuses’. I’ve talked to parents who have been told that if their (6-year-old) child kicks a teacher, the police will be called. They don’t see distress, they see bad behaviour.

Over time, some children whose distressed behaviour is ignored or punished will give up. They’ll stop clinging and crying, because there is no point. They are not heard. This will be seen as a ‘win’ – look, their behaviour has improved! We were right! But the reasons haven’t been resolved. The distress is still there, we just can’t see it.

For children who have had traumatic experiences, behaviour is even more significant. Children rarely rock up to adults saying ‘bad things have happened to me’. They may not even be aware that what happened is out of the ordinary. For children, their lives are ‘normality’. They don’t know that it isn’t the same for everyone else. They show the impact of their lives through their behaviour.

It’s up to the adults to be trustworthy enough that one day, those children might feel safe to talk about what has happened. This is how recovery starts, when a child has different experiences which help them feel safe. This isn’t necessarily therapy. It’s about experiences of feeling safe and heard. When children learn that adults can hear their distress without blaming or punishing them, this can be transformatory.

So when adults meet children, we need to consider that their behaviour might be about distress. If the adult response is to insist the children change their behaviour and pretend there’s nothing wrong, then that chance for recovery is lost. It squashes their feelings back down tight inside. They learn adults aren’t listening.

This teaches the child that their distress won’t be heard. The distress hasn’t gone away, because the reasons for it haven’t been addressed. Distress will come out in other ways, perhaps directed at themselves or in ways which adults don’t see. It might come up years in the future. It will damage their relationships with adults, because they will learn that adults can’t be trusted to see what’s going on.

Those children will make sense of what has happened in different ways. Some will decide they must be bad for feeling the way they do. Some will decide there is no point in anything. Some will think they aren’t good enough, because it’s so hard for them. Some will be angry with adults and will show this through anti-social behaviour.

Trauma-informed practice challenges adults to hear the distress and be compassionate. It means we consider the possibility that this child’s behaviour might be driven by factors which we can’t see right here in the room, and that these are reasons, not excuses. This requires courage. It’s easier to focus on controlling behaviour or berating them for poor decision making. It’s easier to impose sanctions than to ask what is happening. We might hear things that we don’t want to know.

To be trauma-informed means acknowledging that there might be real and important explanations for a child’s behaviour. We’d have to acknowledge the many ways in which it’s hard to be young in 2022, and that some children have it really tough. These are reasons, not excuses.

Illustration: Missing The Mark
Words: Dr Naomi Fisher

www.Naomicfisher.substack.com

08/09/2022

19/07/2022

21/05/2022

16/05/2022

1,251 signatures are still needed! Ban the outdated practice of ‘pen licenses’ in UK schools.

31/03/2022

Understanding that stimming can be a variety of unique movements or actions could be the first step to increasing awareness of neurodiversity. Stimming is an essential self-regulation tool for many children. After ensuring the child is safe, nobody should be prevented from stimming.

Thanks for this infographic!