Encouraging Positive Attitudes Towards Math

Resources and Tips:

Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is a belief that one’s abilities can be developed and improved through effort, learning and perseverance. People with a growth mindset embrace challenges, see failures as an opportunity to learn, and understand that dedication and practice can lead to mastery in math. This mindset encourages a willingness to take on difficult math tasks and a belief that success is achievable with time and effort, rather than seeing math skills as fixed or innate. It promotes a positive attitude towards learning and math-related challenges.
The Fixed Mindset and The Growth Mindset Chart
The fixed Mindset chart

Source: Carol Dweck, 2006
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills
  • Identify and mange emotions
  • Recognize sources of stress and cope with challenges
  • Maintain positive motivation and perseverance
  • Build relationships and communicate effectively
  • Develop self-awareness and sense of identity
  • Think critically and creatively
  • Have the students identify how they are feeling as they are learning
Strategies for Parents by Jo Boaler
  • Encourage children to play math puzzles and games.
  • Always be encouraging and never tell kids they are wrong when they are working on math problems. Instead find the logic in their thinking – there is always some logic to what they say.
  • Never associate math with speed. It is not important to work quickly, and we now know that forcing kids to work quickly on math is the best way to start math anxiety for children, especially girls.
  • Never share with your children the idea that you were bad at math at school, or you dislike it – especially if you are a mother. Researchers found that as soon as mothers shared that idea with their daughters, their daughter’s achievement went down.
  • Encourage number sense. What separates high and low achievers is number sense
  • Perhaps most important of all – encourage a “growth mindset” let students know that they have unlimited math potential and that being good at math is all about working hard. When children have a growth mindset, they do well with challenges and do better in school overall. When children have a fixed mindset and they encounter difficult work, they often conclude that they are not “a math person”. One way in which parents encourage a fixed mindset is by telling their children they are “smart” when they do something well. That seems like a nice thing to do, but it sets children up for difficulties later, as when kids fail at something they will inevitably conclude that they aren’t smart after all.  Instead use growth praise such as “it is great that you have learned that”, “I really like your thinking about that”. When they tell you something is hard for them, or they have made a mistake, tell them: “That’s wonderful, your brain is growing!” (Source: Jo Boaler) 

 

Jo Boaler downloadable resources: