1. Shifting Mindsets for Greater Resiliency and Better Problem Solving
“When children have episodes of successful learning and of overcoming challenges, they gather evidence that they have the power to influence the outcome of a situation.”
“Children don’t have a lot of experience solving problems independently, so their toolbox isn’t particularly well stocked; with practice and support, their inventory grows.”
Here is an excellent article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) which gives rationales and strategies for supporting a growth mindset, as well as a problem-solving routine for young children.
2. The importance of Mindset!
“Carol Dweck researches “growth mindset” — the idea that we can grow our brain’s capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that’s slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet? A great introduction to this influential field.”
Carol Dweck is a professor at Stanford and the author of Mindset, a classic work on motivation and “growth mindset.” “Her work is influential among educators and increasingly among business leaders as well.”
Carol Dweck says: “My work bridges developmental psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology, and examines the self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior. My research looks at the origins of these mindsets, their role in motivation and self-regulation, and their impact on achievement and interpersonal processes.”
Here is Carol Dweck’s website on Mindset, which contains many resources on this subject: http://mindsetonline.com/
3. Building Resiliency!
Here is an online resilience game to build your skills in promoting resilience, developed by the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard. This game gives us valuable ways in which we can help children, families, and communities become more resilient and therefore better able to handle challenges. You can access this game at: http://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/resilience-game/
Tipping the Scales: The Resilience Game