The A Level Mindset: 40 activities for transforming student commitment, motivation and productivity

by Steve Oakes, Martin Griffin

In The A Level Mindset, Steve Oakes and Martin Griffin share the secrets of coaching students to develop the characteristics, habits and mindsets which will help them realise their potential. Those students who make real and sustained progress at A level aren't necessarily the ones with superb GCSEs. Some students leap from average results aged 16 to outstanding results aged 18. Others seem to hit a ceiling. But why? It was in trying to answer this question that the VESPA system emerged. Steve and Martin have cut through the noise surrounding character development and identified five key characteristics that all students need to be vision, effort, systems, practice and attitude. These characteristics beat cognition hands down. Successful students approach their studies with the right behaviours, skills and they understand how to learn and revise effectively, they're determined and organised, they give more discretionary effort and they get top results. Success at A level is a result of character, not intelligence. Much has been written about growth mindsets and character development in recent years, but teachers are still left wondering how to apply these ideas in their how can these theories help learners in practice? Taking cues from the work of Peter Clough, Carol Dweck and Angela Lee Duckworth, and informed by their collective 30 plus years of teaching and coaching, Steve and Martin have spent years researching how character and behaviours affect student outcomes in their sixth form. After identifying the core traits that contributed to student success, they developed practical activities to help every student develop the A Level Mindset. Discover 40 concrete, practical and applicable tools and strategies that will supercharge learners' ambition, organisation, productivity, persistence and determination. Suitable for teachers, tutors, heads of sixth form or anyone else who wants to help A level students achieve their potential, The A Level Mindset offers 40 easy-to-use activities to develop students' resilience, commitment, buoyancy, motivation and determination. It could be your key to transforming student outcomes.

Genres: Education

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2016

Reviews

[Richard Anafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many good ideas

My Sixth Form tried to implement this several years ago with no success. Now that I have read the book a few things have become apparent.
1. Some of the ideas are really obvious, but until you stop to think about it you don't realise how much of an impact they can have.
2. It's full of useful ideas and activities to help change the mindset of an entire cohort that I will definitely use.
3. I really wish my Sixth Form was successful at introducing this, as I feel I'm now a few years behind the curve.
Even if you don't teach at Key Stage 5 this book features a lot of useful ideas that can help you take a student from underperforming to excelling in their field.