How MTQ48 develops resilience for transition from primary to secondary school

1. Serena Bradshaw
Katie Lowe
Goddards
Coaching Practice
The soft skills
specialists
www.achieve.uk.com
www.goddardconsultants.com

2. Mental toughness and transition
1. The concept of Mental Toughness
2. How it’s developed
3. How can you and your pupils benefit, in practice

3. “A personality trait which determines
how we deal with challenge, stressors
and pressure ....”
Mental toughness—a definition:

4. • The measure was first used to in education in
2008 to look at Performance, Behaviour and
Career Aspirations. It is now used widely in
secondary, further and higher education in the
UK and overseas
• Research and development at Hull University
• It’s measured via a questionnaire
• Mental Sensitivity is the opposite of Mental
Toughness
Some background to Mental Toughness

5. Mental toughness scores can predict:
Performance – Mental Toughness measure explains
up to 25% of the variation in attainment
Behaviour – more engaged, more positive, more “can
do”
Wellbeing – more contentment, better stress
management , less bullying

6. Challenge
Do you look forward to change; or
Is it a threat?
Control
How much do you control what happens to you; and
How do you control your emotions?
Confidence
Do you have confidence in your abilities; and
Do you have confidence to handle difficult situations?
Commitment
Do you keep going when the going gets tough; or
Do you give up through fear of failure?
Mental toughness has 4 ingredients

7. .
“I am capable of
achieving anything
I set my mind to”

8. Mental toughness and current thinking—eg Dweck
Fixed mindset
• Avoid risk
• Focus on ability not
effort
• Effort is disagreeable
• Failure is attributed to
others (blame)
• Avoid mistakes and
setbacks
Growth mindset
• Challenge is good
• Learn form mistakes
• Hard work is more
important than ability
• If one person can
learn, I can learn
• Only the Growth
Mindset delivers
sustainable success
Growth Mindset =
Mental Toughness
k

10. Next section:
• Do we agree that Mental Toughness is
essential for successful transition?
• How can we develop Mental
Toughness?

11. Mental toughness development:
3 step process:

13. Diagnosis
• Paper or online questionnaire: only 10 minutes
• Scores are reported on a 1 – 10 Sten Scale:
– Stens 1, 2 & 3 – “Low” scores – 16% of population
– Stens 8, 9 & 10 – “High” Scores– 16% of population
– Stens 4 – 7 – Typical or normal scores – 68% of population
• MT is normally distributed
• This diagnostic is more accurate than tutor assessment alone

14. Introduce and embed targeted interventions
6 areas of intervention to improve mental toughness
1. Positive thinking – affirmations, self talk etc
2. Visualisation – guided imagery, seeing success
3. Anxiety Control – relaxation, breathing, etc
4. Attentional Control – focus, dealing with interruptions
5. Goal achievement – SMART, balancing goals, chunking
6. The test itself + feedback – people respond to the
feedback

15. Confidence
• Talent match
• Positive thinking
• Role models
In practice activities relating to the 4 C’s could include …
Commitment
• Positive affirmations
• Treasure mapping
Challenge
• SMART goals
• Planning
Control
• Colour stroop
• STOP

16. Summary
Mental Toughness
– Control, Commitment, Challenge, Confidence
3 Steps to developing mental toughness
– Diagnosis, Embed targeted activities*, Evaluation
*Activities / intervention
– 7 Broad areas of intervention

18. Purpose of a pilot
Demonstrate:
• The value of Mental Toughness diagnostic in
itself
• How teachers can use and embed targeted
activities to develop mental toughness
• Apply lessons learned prior to full roll- out in
2013-14

19. What would a pilot look like in practice?
1. Staff presentation / cascade?
2. Pencil and paper assessment or on line
3. Results: feedback with key staff / parents: does this ring
true?
4. Agree specific activities / interventions:
• Delivered by your staff after training
• Resource availability online
5. Evaluation

20. Next steps
Q&A
Who, What, When, Where, How …

21. Thank you!

22. Stroop test:
Say the colours of the words as quickly as you can