Unfortunately, the attitude some children have developed from their experiences is not 'can do', but 'I can't'. Researchers call this learned helplessness, first identified in animals who were put in unpleasant situations over which they had no control and then later made no attempts to help themselves even when they could have escaped.
Learned helplessness in people can begin very early in life if children cannot see any effect of their actions on their environment. An important aspect of the child's experiences - both with the physical world and with other people - is contingency, which is the child perceiving that things happen in direct relation to the child's actions. In extreme cases, learned helplessness results from neglect or caregivers who do not respond in a contingent way to a child's signals and activity. In effect, a child stops trying because experience has taught them that their actions will not be effective.
The effect of learned helplessness was shown in an experiment with young babies, where one group was placed in cots with sensory pillows connected to mobiles which the babies could control by turning their heads. The other group could not affect the movement of the mobile, but only look at it. When both groups were then put in cots that allowed babies to control the mobiles, only those whose movements had previously had an effect tried to use the pillow - the others had learned that there was no point1.
Toddlers are eager to make an impact on their world and they need experiences where their autonomy is clear to them. By age two, some children already show signs of helplessness, giving up easily and being reluctant to engage in new activities. Sensitive adults who support a child's autonomy have an important role in contributing to the child's perception that they are effective. Studies have found that children as young as 12 months show more mastery behaviour when their mothers show sensitivity and support for their child's autonomy in accomplishing what they wanted to do, while more controlling mothers who stopped the children's actions and controlled how they used things had children with less motivation toward mastery with toys2.
GROWTH OR FIXED
Carol Dweck has investigated the underlying thinking of people who show a mastery orientation compared with those with learned helplessness, and has identified the positive role of what she has called a 'growth mindset'. In studies with ten-year-olds, Ms Dweck and colleagues gave the children problems to work on and afterwards praised some of the children for their intelligence, and others for their effort. When offered the choice of more challenging tasks, those praised for effort chose the challenge, while those praised for their intelligence opted for an easy option.
Ms Dweck hypothesises that those praised for their intelligence were fixed on the successful outcome in order to maintain their image as intelligent and so avoided a risk of failure, while those praised for effort valued the chance to learn. When the researchers then gave the children much harder tasks, those praised for their intelligence thought that experiencing difficulty meant they were not intelligent, and said they no longer enjoyed the task and didn't want to practise at home. Those praised for effort, however, realised that a harder task required harder work, enjoyed the task and chose to practise3.
The link with learned helplessness lies in where people see the locus of control - either in themselves as something they can have an effect on, or as outside their control. When people have a growth mindset they see their ability as something over which they have control - they can try harder, and through doing more they will develop greater abilities. People who show learned helplessness, on the other hand, have a fixed mindset and think they have the level of ability or intelligence they were born with and cannot change it. They think there is nothing they can do about their performance, and whether they do well or not has nothing to do with them - it's a matter of luck, fate, or the control of others who have power over the situation.
In fact, while intelligence and talent do have some genetic basis, variability from experience and practice far outweighs inborn patterns in determining how far potential develops. As the American inventor Thomas Edison said, 'Genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.'
MESSAGES TO MINDSETS
Being a learner is not always easy, which is an important message for learners to hear. People with a fixed mindset, who believe that their ability level is set, tend to think that if something is difficult then it is because they simply aren't smart enough. They then avoid challenges because they don't want to risk finding something difficult, with the blow that brings to their self-esteem. This leads to a common picture of under-achievement of able people who give up readily rather than test themselves.
Having a growth mindset, on the other hand, leads to people enjoying challenges and valuing opportunities to stretch themselves. Carol Dweck's advice for supporting a mastery orientation and growth mindset in children is to focus on the goal of learning, rather than on the level of outcome of their performance.
She points out that each of our words and actions sends a message which tells children how to think about themselves. It can be a fixed mindset message saying 'You have permanent traits and I'm judging them,' or it can be a growth mindset message which says 'You are a developing person and I am interested in how you are developing'.
We can avoid telling children they are clever or good at painting as if that is a fixed attribute, and instead focus on the process of what they are thinking and expressing. We can avoid praising children for achievements which are easy for them, and instead encourage children to take up challenges, praise them for their efforts, and help them to think about what they can learn when things go wrong. By showing children that we value their learning processes, we help them to reach confidently for the opportunities to learn.
This an extract from 'How Children Learn - The characteristics of effective early learning' by Nancy Stewart (Early Education)
HOW CHILDREN LEARN
How Children Learn - The characteristics of effective early learning by Nancy Stewart (Early Education) picks up where the Tickell review of the EYFS left off in highlighting the importance of early years practitioners understanding how, rather than simply what, young children learn.
In the review, Dame Clare identified three key characteristics of effective learning - 'playing and exploring', 'active learning' and 'creating and thinking critically' - and these provide the main chapter headings of the book, which tracks a child's path to becoming a 'learner for life'.
Nancy Stewart, a teacher, consultant, trainer and associate of Early Education, was involved with the Every Child a Talker Programme and served as an expert adviser to the Tickell review.
How Children Learn (£17.50, including p&p) is available from Early Education at www.early-education.org.uk or by telephoning 020 7539 5400.
Discounts are available on orders of 100 copies or more.
REFERENCES
1. Watson, J, Ramey, C (1969) 'Reactions to response-contingent stimulation in early infancy'. Revision of paper presented at biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Santa Monica, California, March 1969
2. Grolnick, W, Frodi, A, Bridges, L (1984) 'Maternal Control Style and the Mastery Motivation of One-year-olds', Infant Mental Health Journal, Vol 5, No2, 72-82.
3. Dweck, C (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House: New York
NEW NW SERIES
We'll be taking a closer look at the key characteristics of young children's learning in a new three-part series, starting on 6 February. The series aims to explain what 'playing and exploring', 'active learning' and 'creating and thinking critically' look like in practice. The author is Jan Dubiel, national development manager, Early Excellence Training and Resource Centre.
