Mental contrasting is a technique that involves teaching learners a structure through which to think about the future.

It works as follows:

• If I want to play the piano, then I must practice every night.
• If I want to run faster, then I must do two sprint training sessions a week.
• If I want to get full marks on my spelling test, then I must practice my spellings once in the morning and once in the evening.

If … then …

That’s mental contrasting.

The contrast is drawn between what is desired and what needs to be done to make that desire a reality.

The technique helps learners make the connection between what they want and what they need to do to get the thing in question.

It ties achievement of desires to the targeting of effort in pursuit of those desires.

It makes goals a function of the processes that come before them.

It defines the aim and then sets out the path.

You can see how this promotes persistence and determination.

How it reflects the central tenets of a growth mindset.

One of the great benefits of this technique is that it helps learners to sketch a path between where they are now and where they want to be.

This path is often difficult for them to see.

Hence why cries of ‘I can’t do it’ or ‘I’ll never be any good at this’ frequently sound so plaintive – so definite in their confirmation of what cannot come to pass.

To find out more about mental contrasting, check out WOOP My Life, a website from the psychologist who developed the idea – Gabriele Oettingen.

You can train learners in how to use mental contrasting in several ways.

Here are three examples.

Make the technique a regular feature of your lesson starts.

Use it to frame what learners are going to do and then encourage them to make a note of this, discuss it, or speak it aloud to you in a game of call and response.

For example, you might start a lesson by introducing the topic and then saying: ‘If we’re going to challenge ourselves today, then we need to be ready to attempt every extension task we see.’

Show learners how the technique works and then ask them to use it as the basis of target-setting or target implementation.

In the first case, learners set their own targets, based on a self-assessment, and phrase these using the ‘If … then …’ mental contrasting approach.

In the second case, the teacher gives learners their targets, and learners use the ‘If … then …’ structure to rewrite their targets, with a focus on implementation.

(The target is the ‘if’ part of the statement; learners need to add in the ‘then’ bit, which is how they’re going to achieve their target.)

Give ‘If … then …’ feedback during the lesson.

During activities, circulate through the room.

Identify any learners who are stuck.

Help these learners by giving them feedback in the form of ‘If … then …’

For example: ‘If you want to improve your story, then you might think about looking at your use of adjectives’.

You might want to draw learners’ attention to the structure of your feedback as you give it.

Or you might want to make a point of this later – after they have successfully implemented your advice.

Metaphors and Similes

Mental contrasting is a language technique.

We use it to help learners change the way their language defines what is possible.

When considering language and growth mindsets, we can also think about the role of metaphors and similes.

To do so, let’s start with a question: How do you tell people about your internal world?

You cannot point to it. You cannot see it. Nor can anyone else.

You can’t jab your thumb in the direction of your feeling of happiness and say:

• ‘There it is. That’s what I’m talking about’.

We can do this, of course, when discussing the external world.

‘Look at this beautiful poppy,’ you might say, and your friend looks at the poppy to which your finger is pointing.

‘Smell these,’ you tell your partner, and they dutifully take a whiff of the bunch of roses you’ve bought.

But what do we do when the thing we’re talking about cannot be seen?

One of the ways we overcome the problem is by using figurative language to communicate information about our internal states.

This is not the only thing we do, but it is the one we will look at here.

• ‘I’ve a raging headache.’
• ‘You light me up.’
• ‘I feel like a million dollars.’

Each example demonstrates how metaphor, symbol, and simile act as a bridge.

A way to convey information about what other people cannot see and cannot feel.

(I can feel pain, but I cannot feel your pain. I can empathise with your pain, but I cannot feel the pain that you possess.)

This way of thinking plays a role in how we conceive of our subjective experience, including our minds, and our sense of self.

Nearly all of us use metaphor and simile to describe who we are, how we feel, and what we think is possible.

Maybe not all the time, but definitely some of the time.

For example:

• ‘My mind’s starting to melt.’
• ‘I’m like a robot when I’m in this place.’
• ‘Me doing that would be like a duck trying to drive a tractor!’

You can use metaphors and similes to change how your learners think about themselves as learners and what they perceive it is possible to achieve.

You can give them a different language with which to speak.

Here are some growth mindset metaphors and similes to illustrate the point:

• Your brain is like a muscle – it gets stronger the more you use it.
• Feedback is your friend; it’s there to help you.
• Effort is a vector – it needs direction as well as size.
• Challenges are brain food.
• Mistakes are our building blocks. Let’s see what we can create today.

You can use these or come up with your own.

Either way, you’ll be presenting your learners with a different way to think and talk about themselves and their learning.

You’ll be giving them growth mindset language to which they can return again and again.