The head of Greensprings School, Lekki campus, Lagos, Mrs. Feyisara Ojugo, has enjoined parents to instil a growth mindset in their children, using what she called “the power of yet.” She gave the advice during a presentation on the Thinking School philosophy held recently.
According to her, “the power of yet” is a growth mindset language that builds children’s confidence and motivates them to keep persisting in the face of challenges, while learning a new skill.
She said, “Children, and even adults, easily get discouraged when it appears they aren’t making meaningful progress towards learning a new skill. The majority of them would conclude that they can’t do it, and this saying stems from a fixed mindset, which demoralizes repeated trials until a skill is mastered.
“To inspire children to be confident in their ability to learn and acquire new skills, parents should encourage a growth mindset, using the ‘power of yet.’ Instead of watching children say they can’t do something, parents should ask their children to add the word ‘yet’ to the statement. For example, instead of allowing a child to conclude he or she can’t ride a bicycle after several trials, the child should be made to say he or she can’t ride a bicycle yet.”
Mrs. Ojugo emphasized that encouraging children to add the word “yet” to statements helps them imbibe a positive attitude towards learning, and basically helps them to become life-long learners. She also suggested that the growth mindset language should be adopted in Nigerian schools, as it would remind teachers that children are a work in progress.
“The power of yet isn’t only useful to parents at home. In fact, it should be used more in the school, as that is the place children learn new things and pick up new skills.
“In Greensprings School, the growth mindset is ingrained in our school’s culture, and the power of yet helps remind both our teachers and students that everyone is a life-long learner and work in progress.
“I believe that, by using the power of yet in our various homes and schools across the country, we would be raising children who understand that practice makes perfect and never doubt their ability to achieve anything,” she said.