Today, I want to tell you about the power of yet. I learned of a high school in Chicago where students had to pass 84 units to graduate. And if they didn't pass, they got the grade not yet.
I thought, isn't that wonderful? Because if you... fail, you're nowhere. But if you get the grade not yet, you're on a learning curve. Not yet gave them a path into the future.
And not yet also helped me understand. critical experience early in my career. To figure out how kids coped with challenge, I gave 10-year-olds some problems that were a little too difficult for them. Some of them reacted in a shockingly positive way. They said things like, I love a challenge, or I was hoping this would be informative.
They understood that their abilities could grow through their hard work. They had what I call a growth mindset. But other children, for them it was tragic, catastrophic.
From their more fixed mindset perspective, their core intelligence had been tested and devastated. Instead of the power of yet, they were gripped by the tyranny of now. So, what did they do next?
In one study, after a failure on a test, they said they'd cheat. next time instead of study more. In another study, they found someone who did worse than they did so they could feel better. And in many studies, we found they run from difficulty.
Let's look at how that looks in the brain. Mosher and his colleagues measured from the brain as kids encountered errors. Processing the error shows up in red. If you look at the fixed mindset brain on the left, nothing is happening.
But if you look at the growth mindset brain on the right, it's on fire with yet. They're processing the error deeply, learning from it, and correcting. correcting it.
So how are we raising our kids? Are we raising them for now or for yet? Are they focused on the next A or test score instead of dreaming big, instead of thinking about what they want to be and how they want to contribute to society? And if they are too focused on A's and test scores, are they going to carry this with them?
with them into the future. Maybe because many employers are coming to me and saying, we've already created a generation of young workers who can't get through the day without an award. So, what can we do?
How can we build that bridge to yet? First, we can praise wisely. Our research shows that when we praise kids for the process, they engage in, their hard work, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, they learn that challenge-seeking, they learn that resilience. Praising talent, praising... intelligence makes them vulnerable.
There are other ways of rewarding yet. We teamed up with game scientists at the University of Washington to create a math game, Brain Points. The typical math game rewards right answers right now, but not brain points.
We rewarded process and the learning curve, so effort strategy and progress. The Brain Points game created more sustained learning and greater perseverance than the standard game. And just the words yet and not yet after a student has a setback where finding creates greater confidence and greater persistence. We also can change students mindsets directly. In one study we taught students that every time they pushed out of their comfort zone to learn something.
really, really hard and they stuck to it. The neurons in their brain could form new, stronger connections and over time they could become smarter. Those who learned this lesson showed a sharp increase in their grades. Those who did not showed a decrease. We have done this with...
Thousands of students now across the country with similar results, especially for struggling students. So let's talk about equality. In our country, there are groups of kids who chronically show poor performance, and many people think that's inevitable.
But when educators create... Growth mindset environments steeped in yet equality can happen. Let me just give you a few small examples. One teacher took her Harlem kindergarten class, many of whom could not hold a pencil for the first month, through daily tantrums. She took them to the 95th percentile.
on the National Achievement Test. That same teacher took a fourth grade class in the South Bronx, way behind. She took them to the top of New York State on the state math test. That teacher is a Stanford grad, and she's here today.
And another Stanford grad, a PhD student, Stephanie Freiberg, now a professor, went back to her Native American reservation in the state of Washington. She transformed the elementary school in terms of a growth mindset. That school had always been at the bottom of the district, at the bottom of the state.
Within a year to a year and a half, the kindergartners and first graders were at the top of the district in reading and reading readiness. That district contained affluent sections of Seattle, so the reservation kids outdid the Microsoft kids. And they did it because learning a growth mindset transformed the meaning of effort and difficulty. It used to mean they were dumb, and now it means they had a chance to get smarter. Difficulty just meant not yet.
Last year, I got a letter from a 13-year-old boy. He said, Dear Professor Dweck, I read your book. Already.
I like the fact that it was based on sound scientific research. That's why I decided to test out your growth mindset principles in three areas of my life. As a result, I'm earning higher grades.
I have a better relationship with my parents. I have a better relationship with the other kids at school. I realize I've wasted most of my life. life. Let's not waste any more lives because the more we know that basic human abilities can be grown, the more it becomes a basic human right.
for kids, all kids, all adults, to live in environments that create that growth, to live in environments filled, overflowing with yet. Thank you.