How does this learning activity develop this particular skill?

This learning activity is an important growth mindset development activity and provides a basis for children to think about their own and their peers’ performance in an open and developable way. In the long term, this develops children’s problem-solving skills, creativity, cognitive flexibility, and in total, their resilience, i.e., their ability to “bounce back” in the face of failure (academic or otherwise) and other difficulties. In the process, children regularly praise each other’s work in terms of effort and process and offer suggestions for improvement. In the process, children regularly praise each other’s work in terms of effort and process and offer suggestions for improvement. Praising their own and others’ work and efforts develops a mindset (themselves and others) that they are capable of progressing, adapting, and successfully managing unexpected circumstances, setbacks, and difficulties. This learning activity helps children in a safe, guided way to:

  • experience, learn, and practice evaluating and “praising” the efforts, specific work strategies (“process praise”) and results of others and themselves, rather than praising their good qualities (“person praise”);
  • see the success in the work process and not in their personal qualities and skills.
  • develop the awareness that they can directly influence their successes and failures through their own efforts, and that they are able to overcome problems in the case of failure;
  • develop an understanding that failures arise from the process/activity and can be corrected
  • experience that difficulties and failings are opportunities for development, and react flexibly to supportive criticism;
  • develop their perseverance, cognitive flexibility, and resilience, and learn that challenges and failures are learning opportunities, not a personal failure.

All of these contribute to the development of resilient individual characteristics: children will be able to cope with stress, conflicts, and changes in later life with greater confidence, balance, and flexibility.