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6. Manage Setbacks
Section 6
Manage Setbacks
Plutarch
In this section, you will find more information about:
• Building Resilience • Adopting a ‘Growth Mindset’ • Effective Study Groups and Peer Mentoring.
Build Resilience
Resilience is the ability to be happy and successful again after something difficult or bad has happened. It is cultivated through dealing with setbacks. In order to improve as learners, you need to continually make mistakes, not avoid making them!
Resilience is something that you can build – to help improve your resilience and your ability to manage setbacks remember to try to engage with the following strategies.
Resilience SAVES
S is for Social connection
Try to do something for others as this releases dopamine. You should also try surrounding yourself with other resilient individuals and people you can rely on.
A is for Attitude
You are able to alter life by altering attitude. Below are two attitudes to consider:
Personalisation – When you get something wrong, consider broader context, i.e., have you been able to revise as effectively as you would have liked? Was the test particularly challenging, were you suitably prepared? Considering different variables will enable you to personalise the problem at hand.
Permanence – Remember bad things aren’t permanent – circumstances can and do change.
V is for Values
It is important that you pursue what matters to you but remember that hard work is the key ingredient to success.
E is for Emotions
When studying, revising or preparing for an assessment, it is important to manage your emotions.
Practice resilience by having a ‘creative hopelessness’, i.e., consider why you are feeling the way you are. Don’t try to banish feelings of doubt/negativity, try to rationalise instead.
S is for Silliness
It is important not to take yourself too seriously.
7 ways to improve resilience
1. Active choices – view decisions as active choices and not as sacrifices.
2. The right people – surround yourself by people who make you feel good and further your development.
3. Believe in your ability to overcome hardships and guide your own destiny.
4. Fail better – take time to reflect on setbacks.
5. Welcome some stress – a little stress can be helpful.
6. Flexibility and adaptation – be flexible and adaptable so that you can respond well in challenging situations.
7. Perspective – maintain a measured outlook and keep an eye on the bigger picture.
Adopt a Growth Mindset
Growth mindset refers to a learning theory developed by Dr Carol Dweck. It revolves around the belief that you can improve intelligence, ability and performance. The opposite, a fixed mindset, refers to the belief that a person’s talents are set in stone. Years of research have shown that mindset is malleable. This means that if you develop a growth mindset, your learning will be more effective and efficient. Take control!
5 ways to develop a growth mindset
1. Don’t rush to ‘I can’t’. With a bit of effort, you might surprise yourself by how well you can do a task.
2. The power of ‘yet’. This simple word can have a big impact. There is a huge difference between saying ‘I am not good at this’ and ‘I am not good at this yet’. The ‘yet’ suggests you may get there with hard work and resilience.
3. Ask yourself: ‘What would I do differently next time?’ This stops you fixating on what you haven’t done and gets you to focus on what you need to do to improve in the future.
4. Fail better. Ask for feedback on what you could have done better and act on that feedback.
5. Try new things. Having a sense of curiosity and courage can be really helpful. Learning new things can make you realise how much you are capable of doing.
Effective Study Groups and Peer Mentoring
If you have had a setback with your work or you feel working alone is not helping, why not try and harness the support of others with effective study groups?
Could effective study groups and peer mentoring be for me?
When revising, are you able effectively share your wisdom and knowledge with others? Are you able to help your peers improve in their subject knowledge? Effective study groups and peer mentoring will enable you to engage in revision as an active process with your friends, support those who are struggling and ‘share the load’ of learning.
Teaching somebody else is a sure-fire way to improve your academic success. But it is not just about exam success, when working in an effective group with your peers, it also helps to improve your:
• Altruism
• Empathy
• Trust
• Sense of belonging
What does an effective study group look like?
Create a group of like-minded learners. They don’t have to be your friends, but just supportive peers.
Allocate topics and share ideas. Split up your subject specifications between yourselves and share your notes/Quizlets with each other.
Have a plan. Create a plan of what you want to cover each week, so that your group knows what they have to prepare in advance.
Share your top revision sources. Do you follow revision experts on Youtube/ IG, etc? Are you amazing at creating Quizlets? Could you teach people how to use the Anki method?
Become the teacher. Create presentations on your allocated specification area and teach your friends; why not create your own Kahoot or Quizlet to make it more entertaining? Create your own revision video: voice over a PPT, etc!
Keep each other in check. Ask your group how they are doing – maybe set up a WhatsApp group.
Set deadlines.
Make sure your group have mini deadlines of when you want to ‘check-off’ each specification point.
Notes
The ideas and concepts in this workbook have been drawn from a variety of published educational sources. We have tried to reference those sources where we can. This workbook is intended purely for our pupils and staff and is not for external or commercial distribution.
Marlborough College, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1PA Telephone: +44 (0)1672 892200 email: BN@marlboroughcollege.org Registered Charity number: 309486
