About us Contact us Support us You are here ... Home > Evidence Home What is numeracy? What is the issue? What are we trying to achieve? How are we doing it? News and updates Evidence Back to resources Bounce: The myth of talent and the power of practice Added 16th September 2014 Matthew Syed Background to the book Three times Commonwealth table-tennis champion Matthew Syed explores the claim that talent is a myth and excellence is primarily down to sustained ‘purposeful practice’. The current strong cultural belief in talent creates problems, for example: the ‘gifted’ believe they do not need to work hard at something. Their abilities gradually decrease as a result of a lack of effort and practice. the 'non-gifted’ do not believe they have the talent and therefore do not bother to make the effort. Main arguments 10,000 hours of purposeful practice Syed supports Malcolm Gladwell’s assertion that a major component of success is many hours of sustained practice (cf 10,000 hours). However, the practice itself needs to be ‘purposeful’ with high standards and quality feedback. Syed gives examples, including Ericsson's (1991) study which looked at violinists at the Music Academy in West Berlin. They were assessed into three groups (from most able to least able). The only difference between the groups was the number of hours they had practiced – 10,000; 8,000 and 6,000 hours – and the rule was unbroken – all 10,000-hour students were in the top category (and nor were there any 6,000 hour students in this top category). They concluded, “The differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long persistence of deliberate effort to improve performance.” A growth mindset Syed supports Carol Dweck's argument that a growth mindset - the belief that with effort ability changes - rather than a fixed mindset - ability is fixed - is key to success. Read more about Mindset. Pushing past the comfort zone Excellence comes from constantly stretching to reach a much higher goal (often a goal that only the coach/manger thinks is possible). Challenging yourself is critical to driving up performance. For example, one of the reasons Brazil is so successful at soccer is because most of the footballers played futsal. The smaller, heavier ball demands greater precision and encourages more frequent passing. Belief Belief is a critical element to success. Often it’s the coach/mentor who has a greater belief than the individual, but eventually the performer needs to develop it as well. Arsene Wenger remarked, “To perform at your maximum, you have to teach yourself to believe with an intensity that goes way beyond logical justification. No top performer has lacked this capacity for irrational optimism. Quality feedback Feedback is key to learning. “If you don’t know what you are doing wrong, you can never know what you are doing right”. Learning from failure Failure is a key part of excellence, and successful performers have a positive attitude to failure. For example, Shizuka Arakawa, one of Japan’s greatest ice-skaters fell over more than 20,000 times in her progression to become the 2006 Olympic champion. Environment shapes Environmental factors can help shape (or destroy) the potential. For example, the high altitude Nandi area in Kenya has produced more marathon runners than anywhere else in the world. The area is so poor that children would regularly run to school (up to 20Km away). The expansive capacity of the brain Experiments have shown that the brain under constant stimulation can expand and develop. Purposeful practice builds new neural pathways. The brain is able to make sense of this wealth of data – accumulated over time and encode it into useful information that then drives precise refined action of the elite sportsperson. Luck & opportunity Often it’s a series of lucky events and circumstances (usually outside of one’s consciousness and control) that ‘conspire’ to make it possible for success (so maybe a bit more humility in one’s success would be more appropriate). Impact for National Numeracy We strongly believe that with practice, effort and support everyone in the UK can be numerate. Bounce brings together a selection of reseach and case studies can be easily applied to learning maths. Syed shows how it is culture and attitudes that are the issue rather than a lack of innate talent, and we apply this same ethos to all of our work and projects. Links to more information The National Numeracy Challenge Mindset: How you can achieve your potential More about Matthew Syed and Bounce Back to resources Other resources that may be of interest ACME Mathematical Needs Project (2011) Everyday Maths Project Does Introducing Parents to Learning to Learn Techniques have a Positive Effect on Pupils’ Achievement? (2004) The Intergenerational Transfer of Numeracy Skills (2013) Parental Engagement in Early Literacy and Numeracy Activities and Student Achievement in PIRLS/TIMSS Americans Grade Math as the Most Valuable School Subject, 2013 Mindset and Math/Science Achievement (2008) PISA 2012 Results Vol 3: Ready to Learn Young People’s Views on Literacy Skills and Employment (2013) The Elephant in the Classroom: Helping Children Learn and Love Maths (2009) Information for: Teachers/Tutors Parents/Carers Learners Employers Something to add? If you have a resource which you feel would be relevant for this site, please contact us on enquiries@nationalnumeracy.org.uk with a brief description. Get in touch +44 (0) 1273 915044 Email Us National Numeracy Phoenix House 32 – 33 North Street Lewes East Sussex, BN7 2QJ Find Us Share this on: ^ top Home News and updates Evidence About us Supported by Link to us Terms and conditions Follow us on What is numeracy? Why is numeracy important? 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