PMP420: Mentoring Mindset with David Yeager

Principal Matters: The School Leader's Podcast with William D. Parker

A quick note to listeners:

Before this week’s interview, Jen Schwanke and Will Parker answered a listener question in a 5-minute response.

The question is: How do you help teachers keep their ‘Why’ in the forefront of their minds?

Listen in for our response and thank you for doing what matters!

David Yeager, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors.

He has consulted for Google, Microsoft, Disney, and the World Bank, as well as for the White House and the governments in California, Texas, and Norway. His research has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and more.

Clarivate Web of Science ranks Yeager as one of the top 0.1% most influential psychologists in the world over the past decade. Before his career as a scientist, he was a middle school teacher and a basketball coach in Tulsa, OK. Now, he coaches his kids’ baseball team. He earned his PhD and MA at Stanford University and his BA and MEd at the University of Notre Dame. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their four children.

He is also the author of the bestselling book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People.

Below is a summary of the questions and responses between Will Parker and Dr. Yeager. Listen to the entire interview for even more takeaways!

Adopting a ‘Mentor mindset’:

David’s research is based on research that has been available for decades, but he uses this research to call on educators to adopt a ‘mentor mindset’ in their classrooms. The mentor mindset is grounded in the belief that mistakes are the root to growth. He states that some teachers adopt an “enforcer” mindset, having high expectations but little support for students. Conversely, some teachers have a “protector” mindset, having low expectations and high support for students. Finding the sweet spot between those two mindsets is where students excel. According to David’s research, when teachers have high expectations and high support for their students (mentor mindset), 95-100% of their students meet the expectations of the classroom.

Communicating with Young People:

Throughout the book, David pushes back on some misapplications in brain science and child development. One such misapplication is the fact that children’s brains are not fully developed can translate into the argument that children are not capable of making decisions that can be trusted. He also offers up some science-backed solutions to communicating with children in a way that their brains can understand. Young people want to have status and respect, and their goals have their emotions at heart, while social rewards drive the way they rationalize behaviors.

‘Mentoring Mindset’ Approaches:

Among the many topics covered in 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, David Yeager discusses approaches like the ‘4 Principles for Respectful Instructions’ or ‘Transparency Statements’ to help educators wanting to use a Mentoring Mindset. As an example of how to use these approaches, David uses the example of how telling kids to eat their broccoli is a stereotype of bad teaching or ‘grownsplaining’. More explaining is not going to fix the problem; kids need to have agency and ownership over their decisions. David suggests that instead of ‘grownsplaining’ healthy eating to kids, healthy behavior should be aligned with what motivates their status and respect. This approach will often lead to them making healthier choices in the future. David also emphasizes the power of asking questions to kids rather than just talking at them. Kids just want to be heard, he says, so they will eventually come up with their own solutions and do better on their own in the future.

Wrapping Up and Staying Connected:

David says that wants people to have a sense of hope and optimism when it comes to young people. He wrote this book because he wanted to share the secrets of people who have figured out how to truly have hope in young people, and he wanted to share stories of actual change in young people’s lives.

If you would like to stay connected with David Yeager you can reach out to him on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/david-yeager-3713905, via email: [e-mail], or schedule a time for him to come speak at https://thelavinagency.com/speakers/david-yeager/.

Thank you for listening and for doing what matters! ~ William D. Parker

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