The Friyay Mindset - Issue #1

January 08, 2021

What a start to the New Year this week has been.

We've been meaning to get a weekly newsletter out for some time but it's been one of those things that's never quite happened.... but with everything that's going on in the world at the moment, the VESPA mindset is probably more relevant to our students that it's ever been. We're finding that the students who are managing to thrive during lockdown are often high on vision, effort, systems, practice and attitude.

So each week we're going to (try to!) bring some positivity into your inbox by sending you three snippets. We'll include an activity that you might be able to try with your students (most you won't have seen before), something that we've been reading/watching and finally an offer or update from us.

It might have been sometime since you signed-up to this newsletter via the website, so if you're no longer interested in hearing from us, just click the unsubscribe at the bottom of the page and carry on with your weekend unencumbered. Bet there's a spring in your step already!

If you're sticking around - and we hope you are - that's great. Hope you enjoy the bits and pieces we send your way. Have a very well-deserved and hopefully restful weekend!

Steve & Martin

Here's something to try...

We always used to start the year with a vision activity to refocus and energise our students. Here's a new one to explore:

Vision Activity – Be, Have and Do Goals

Three researchers (from the Universities of Pittsburgh in the US, and Toronto in Canada[1]) worked together to find out what made students in their first year of university particularly successful or unsuccessful. They got 3000 students in the first two-weeks of their university courses to fill out a questionnaire.

The questions asked them about how hard they planned to work, what their typical study routines were, and most importantly asked them to outline their hopes and dreams. 

It’s this last section of the study that’s particularly relevant to us in this activity. The questions the students had to answer were:

·       What are your two most inspiring goals?

·       What kind of person do you want to be later in life? 

·       What qualities do you admire in others?

A year later, the researchers took the students who’d ended up in the top 10% of their year group, and compared them to the students in the bottom 10%. 

There seemed to be some superficial differences at first, but what struck the researchers was the nature of the goals students had set. Students at the top and the bottom had both set goals, but the goals were expressed very differently. 

Here’s a summary:

Bottom 10% - 7 examples

‘be rich’, ‘get rich quickly’, ‘being successful’ ‘having so many successful businesses’, ‘Have my own company have my own house and car’ ‘receive a high level of education’ ‘be an actuary’

Top 10% - 7 examples

‘build something’ ‘I can contribute to the human advancement of…’ ‘I want to try something different’ ‘…fix people’s problems’ ‘independent person who can deal with problems’ ‘working in the field of Computer Science’ ‘build a strong foundation to succeed’

Be and Have Goals: One group of students – the bottom 10%ers – had ‘be’ and ‘have’ goals. These focussed on ‘being’ or ‘becoming’ something – usually ‘rich’, or having/receiving something – money, a house, a particular job, status or power. These were goals about an outcome, not a journey.

Do Goals: The other group had ‘do’ goals. These placed emphasis on activity and a sense of purpose – building, contributing, trying, fixing, or dealing with problems. These were goals that didn’t specify an outcome, but gave detail about a process or a journey.

And the outcomes were clear. Those students with do goals were significantly more successful. They’d avoided procrastination and worked harder. 

Here’s list of ten other goals set by the same students. Can you guess which were top 10% students, and which were bottom 10% students? It’s pretty easy once you see the patterns but in case you need them, we’ve snuck the answers in below...

1.     ‘to enjoy working hard and working smart’ 

2.     ‘to own a big company’

3.     ‘to build my network, name and career’ 

4.     ‘become a very rich guy’

5.     ‘helping tackle space research to deal with overpopulation’

6.     ‘be rich where I do not have to worry about running out of money’

7.     ‘a person who changes the whole goddamn world and also can contribute to the whole society…’ 

8.     ‘to be a person like Bill Gates’

9.     ‘to provide assistance to others in need of help and support’

10.  ‘to be a successful business man’[2]

What goals do you have?

There’s nothing wrong with wanting wealth and riches. The problem comes where your goal is just about wealth and riches, and doesn’t emphasise action. As if the wealth and riches are a magical outcome that just happens. This study showed that students in the bottom 10% actually spent longer thinking about their futures than top 10% students did – but they were just dreaming about what it might be like to be a millionaires. They did less work than their peers.

So instead, frame your goal in terms of what you might want to do. Emphasise action – the journey, the process.

Try these starters to help:

·       I want to build…

·       I want to help solve the problem of…

·       I want to tackle the issue of…

·       I want to work everyday in the ----------------------- industry…

·       I want to deal with the issue of…

·       I want to help people…

Remember, if you set goals like this, you’ve still every chance you’ll end up very wealthy and successful.  And you’ll also have the advantage of knowing a little about how you’re going to make a change in the world. It’s a win-win situation.

[1] Beattie, Laliberte, Oreopoulos, Universities of Pittsburgh and Toronto, 2016 Economics of Education Review, Volume 62, February 2018, Pages 170-182

[2] The odd-numbered goals were set by top 10% students. The even-numbered goals were set by bottom 10% students.

Here's something we've been reading...

Follow the link above.

There are lots of books on the theory of mindsets, but this book is different. It combines both research and practice and takes you through their implementation process. The book provides a powerful argument on the importance of teaching metacognition and self-regulation and might be a timely read as students enter another lockdown.

The book comes 'highly recommend' from Dylan Wiliam, which is carries way more weight than a recommendation from us...

Here's our latest offer...

Our publishers are now providing a digital licence for both the GCSE and A Level Mindset Workbooks. These writable PDFs contain all 40 activities from each of the workbooks. This could be a fantastic resource to use in lockdown and for the remainder of the year. You can view a sample here:

Includes all 40 activities.

The good news is that these can be purchased for only 60p per pupil and can be added to your school or college platform or emailed to students.

Get in touch at [email protected] if you'd like to know more or if you have any questions about anything you've read. Finally if you want to send any feedback - let us know what's been useful, what you'd like to see more of, what's been a hit...or what's been a complete waste of your precious time - let us know. You can always say hello at [email protected], or on social at @vespamindset on Twitter.

Stay safe!

P.S. If you're struggling to get to sleep one night, you could always have a listen to our podcast from Naylor's Natter Podcast here:

This week I am joined by Steve Oakes and Martin Griffin and we are discussing their VESPA system looking at the importance of non-cognitive skills in educational success . This episode really helped m... – Listen to VESPA mindset with Steve Oakes and Martin Griffin by Naylor's Natter Podcast instantly on your tablet, phone or browser - no downloads needed.