Slides used by Bosse Larsson and James Nottingham in Varberg, Sweden on 3rd Nov 2011

1. P4C & Mindset
Bosse
Larsson
tankvidare.nu
James
Nottingham
www.p4c.com

2. “Some men are born great, some achieve
greatness and others have greatness thrust upon
them”
Malvolio, Twelfth Night

3. 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

4. What has made these two people successful?
Oscar Pistorius Usain Bolt

5. Did they develop their genius or were they born with it?
Leonardo da Vinci Steve Jobs

6. Their writing talent – innate or incremental?
Joanne Kathleen Rowling Astrid Lindgren

7. Bobby Charlton – “the most gifted player of a generation” ?
Bobby’s uncles
All professional footballers
• Jack (Leeds & Bradford)
• George (Leeds & Chesterfield)
• Jim (Leeds & Bradford)
• Stan (Chesterfield & Leicester)
Mother’s (Cisse) cousin
Wor Jackie Milburn
177 goals NUFC, 10 England

8. Mozart – a child prodigy?

9. Once upon a time, there were three babies

10. 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

11. 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

12. But in school, we use terms such as …
Gifted, Bright
Average
Special Needs

13. Can we predict intelligence?

14. Intelligence – nature or nurture?
Alfred Binet
1857 - 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

15. Self-fulfilling prophecies

16. Why does it matter where we think intelligence comes from?

17. 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

18. Fixed Mindset
Intelligence and ability are fixed
Nature determines talents
I am naturally good at some things
I’ll always struggle with some things
My priorities
o Prove myself
o Succeed easily
o Avoid failure of any sort
My mottos
o No pain, no pain
o Only stupid people have to try
o Effortlessly superior
Growth Mindset
Intelligence and ability can grow
Nurture determines abilities
I have developed my talents
Potential is there to be realised
My priorities
o Improve myself
o Take challenges
o Learn from my mistakes
My mottos
o No pain, no gain
o Learners always try hard
o There’s always room to improve
Carol Dweck’s theory of Fixed & Growth Mindsets

19. 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

20. 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

21. Proportion corrected at (surprise) re-test

22. 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

23. Rewards, rewards, rewards
10/10

24. Praise that discourages pupils getting in the pit
Clever girl!
Gifted musician
Brilliant
mathematician
Bright boy
Top of the class!
By far the best

25. 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

26. 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

27. 4.5
5
5.5
6
6.5
Trial 1 Trial 3
Effort Praise
Control Praise
Intelligence Praise
Number of problems solved on a 3rd test

28. Boys get 8 times more criticism than girls

29. 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

30. How philosophical are you?
10
0

31. 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

32. 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!

34. Not all of our questions answered …
… but all of our answers questioned

36. 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?)

37. 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

38. If A = B then
Does B = A?
Friend Trust
Trust Friend
For example …
Wobblers (If A = B)

39. How philosophical
are you?
10
0