Dr. Sarah McElwee is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, where she conducts research on identifying able children who underachieve, and the effect of mentorship on raising aspirations in able children. In this presentation (first broadcast on May 19th 2010 at a Giftedkids.ie webinar) Dr. McElwee focuses on the following topics: The link between motivation and challenge Orientations to learning, specifically "performance" approaches versus "mastery" approaches. How beliefs about the nature of intelligence can impact upon motivation. Socio-emotional aspects of underachievement and motivation. Ideas for parents and teachers on building motivation.

1. Supporting exceptionally able
children’s motivation for learning
Sarah McElwee
University of Oxford
Giftedkids.ie webinar
19th May 2010
© Sarah McElwee

2. A conundrum….
• Why do some very bright children underachieve in school,
despite their many gifts? Why do others, who seem “less
bright”, thrive and accomplish far more than anyone ever
expected?
• Beliefs, motivation and how they are inter-linked
© Sarah McElwee

3. An overview of what’s coming up...
• More than one type of underachievement?
• How beliefs about what it means to be
intelligent affect motivation
• Praise and motivation
• Linking challenge and Assessment for Learning
for motivation
• Extrinsic and intrinsic motivators and when to
use them
© Sarah McElwee

4. Lack of motivation in gifted children
often sparks
Anger
Confusion
Frustration
in parents and teachers
Gifted but not motivated?
That’s just LAZY
© Sarah McElwee

5. Underachievement – effort and outcomes
+ Effort -
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter
++ +-
+ Achievers Underachievers
Outcome
3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
- -+ --
Underachievers Underachievers
© Sarah McElwee

6. Behind the scenes of underachievement...
• Lots of psychological factors at work within
the able child, based on their experiences of
learning and how they are defined by society
& education system
• Perfectionism
• Boredom
• Self-esteem
• Beliefs about intelligence
© Sarah McElwee

7. The role of motivation
• Key ingredient in outstanding achievement
• Extraordinary output stems from the ability to
sustain intense commitment for long periods in the
face of obstacles
• “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”
• 10,000 hours of practice
• Goes against our stereotypical beliefs of what it
means to be gifted
© Sarah McElwee

8. Students’ “theories of intelligence”
• Carol Dweck argues that children hold one of two
views or “mindsets” about intelligence
• Fixed Mind-set (Performance orientation)
“You have a certain amount of intelligence and you
can’t do anything to change it”
• Growth Mind-set (Mastery orientation)
“Anyone, no matter who they are, can increase their
intelligence & performance substantially”
© Sarah McElwee

9. Graphic by Nigel Holmes
© Sarah McElwee

10. Can theories of intelligence be changed?
We should praise children’s ability in order to
make them feel good about themselves and
bolster self-esteem
© Sarah McElwee

11. Can theories of intelligence be changed?
We should praise children’s ability in order to
make them feel good about themselves and
bolster self-esteem
• 80% of parents agree with this statement
• It’s not that simple. Let’s look at what praise
for intelligence really does….
© Sarah McElwee

12. Dweck’s experiment
• Children given puzzles to solve
• First set challenging but well
within their ability
• “you must be smart at these
problems” vs. “you must have
worked hard at these
problems”
• Second set of much more
difficult problems
• Huge differences between the
groups
Mueller & Dweck, (1998)
© Sarah McElwee

13. Intelligence Effort praise
praise
Student’s goal Look smart, no Learn new things
matter what even if risky
What does failure Low intelligence Low effort
mean?
Enjoyment after Low High
difficulty
Persistence after Low High
difficulty
Deception about High Low
performance
Performance after Impaired Improved
difficulty
© Sarah McElwee

14. Effects with younger children
• Ability praise : you’re really good at this
• Goodness praise: you’re a good girl
• General approval: I’m very proud of you
• Effort praise: You must have tried very hard
• Strategy praise: you found a good way to do it – can
you think of other ways?
Ability beliefs become more ingrained over time…
© Sarah McElwee

15. Relevance to highly able children
• Gifted children are among those most at risk of non-
contingent intelligence praise
• When tasks are easy, don’t have to expend effort
• Praise follows for “mysterious trait” of intelligence
• Need to learn that they can master challenging tasks
through effort over time, not that they are smart and
praiseworthy when they do things that are easy for
them
• Gifted girls especially at risk
• Feeds back into perfectionistic behaviour – chasing
the “intelligence” that wins praise
© Sarah McElwee

16. What can parents do?
• Be careful of how you praise
• Try not to praise for low-challenge, low-effort, no-
mistake success.
• Acknowledge effort & enjoyment.
• Ask questions that stimulate critical thinking.
• Demonstrate that you too find things hard sometimes
and have to work to find the solution.
© Sarah McElwee

17. What can teachers do?
• Change the perception of
“mistakes”
• Communicate aims clearly
• Encourage
– self-evaluation and
reflection on work.
– Pupils to identify who they
can ask for help
• Model excitement in
confronting a challenge
© Sarah McElwee

18. Encouraging able children to
embrace challenge
Why bother?
• Education as a journey vs. an endurance test
• Entitlement to an education that serves their needs
and stretches them to the limits of their capabilities,
while offering support to help them achieve this.
• The less effort pupils have to expend on work, the
more vulnerable they are to “fixed” theories of
intelligence
• Because challenge catches up with all of us
eventually!
© Sarah McElwee

19. When pupils are happy and
engaged...
....they are more likely to
1. Self-regulate their learning
2. Set realistic expectations
3. Apply appropriate strategies for academic
success
© Sarah McElwee

20. Assessment for Learning
© Sarah McElwee

21. What constitutes challenge?
• Opportunities for creativity, problem-solving,
independence
• Carefully pitched
– Avoidance of “coasting” BUT child must also be
reassured of their capabilities
– Activities just outside grasp
• Avoid situations where the child will either be
a winner or a loser but try to model dealing
with competition effectively
© Sarah McElwee

22. © Sarah McElwee

23. Helping pupils to overcome low
motivation...
“Why try?”
• Building value into
learning for the pupil
• Extrinsic and intrinsic
rewards
© Sarah McElwee

24. Extrinsic motivation
• Laying foundations
– Why is this useful?
– Setting short and long-
term goals
– Long-term perspective
– Community mentors?
© Sarah McElwee

25. • Help learners to plan &
organise
– Encourages mindset that
task is “doable”
– Minimises the unknown
• Performance- avoidant
pupils need detailed
instructions &
evaluation criteria
• A few attainable &
realistic goals are
infinitely better than a
“wish list”
© Sarah McElwee

26. Extrinsic motivation
• Demonstrate utility
– Why is this useful?
– Setting short and long-
term goals
– Long-term perspective
– Community mentors?
• Using rewards?
– Be careful!
– Extrinsic rewards can
demotivate if child
already motivated
© Sarah McElwee

27. Extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation
• Demonstrate utility • Tasks are moderately
– Why is this useful? novel, optimally
– Setting short and long- challenging, interesting.
term goals • Offer choices in
– Long-term perspective learning
– Community mentors?
• Tough but achievable
• Using rewards?
• Immediate feedback
– Be careful!
• Language is important
– Extrinsic rewards can
demotivate if child – Is a task “difficult” or
already motivated “intriguing”?
© Sarah McElwee

28. Thinking honestly about what motivates...
© Sarah McElwee

29. Building on growth mindsets
• Feedback should include
Recognition of talent
Attribution of its development to the pupil.
• Recognising growth
– Keep examples of work and build portfolios to
show progress
– Encourage pupils to compete with themselves
(not others! ) by keeping a tally of their own
progress
© Sarah McElwee

30. Closing remarks
• Gifted children, as individuals with different learning
needs, may need help to develop or maintain
motivation.
• Challenge is important but our conceptions of
intelligence affect our willingness to take it on board.
• Extrinsic and intrinsic motivators both have roles;
ultimately it’s about building interest and enjoyment.
• Be aware of what motivates you and how that may
differ from what motivates your child/pupil
© Sarah McElwee

31. Graphic by James Yang from Stanford Alumni Magazine
“Learning to embrace the occasional tumble can lead
you to achieve new heights”
© Sarah McElwee