Changing Mindsets teacher INSET intervention¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 against) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

A professional development course of two half-days of training in which University of Portsmouth staff trained teachers to teach pupils that intelligence is not fixed and to reinforce this through classroom communication. The first session introduced Dweck's mindset concept, US evidence of impact, and reconsidering whole-school and classroom culture regarding teacher expectation, use of language, reward systems and valuing learning from mistakes; the second, 6–8 weeks later, reviewed teachers' experiences and helped resolve challenges. The report notes it "was not therefore a manualised approach".

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Teachers apply the general approach and specific techniques at their own discretion in teaching and learning

Constraints¶

The report notes the intervention and control groups had different levels of FSM eligibility and prior attainment, risking compositional confounding

Target Learners¶

Year 5 pupils taught by trained teachers

Learning Goals¶

Teacher practices that encourage growth mindsets
Pupil attainment in English and maths

Claims¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

Cinzia Rienzo, Heather Rolfe and David Wilkinson (NIESR). (2015). Changing Mindsets: Evaluation report and Executive summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`changing-mindsets-teacher-inset`
`title`	`Changing Mindsets teacher INSET intervention`
`description`	`A professional development course of two half-days of training in which University of Portsmouth staff trained teachers to teach pupils that intelligence is not fixed and to reinforce this through classroom communicat...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-02`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `cinzia-rienzo-2015`

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