ABSTRACT
Many psychologists have rubbished the term 'non-cognitive skills', describing it as nonsensical at best and dangerously misleading at worst. There is simply no such thing as a 'non-cognitive skill'; all of the skills are the product of cognition. One of the chief criticisms of the character and non-cognitive skills debate is how narrow, mechanistic, even self-centred, outcomes like confidence, independence and resilience can seem. The flowchart in the chapter includes the different outcomes for pupils at each of these three stages, showing how they seem to interact and the sequence in which they seem to develop. The outcomes are grouped into mindsets, habits and metacognitive strategies. Confidence is to do with trust and reliance. In the classroom context, it's about the pupils' faith in themselves - how they perceive themselves and their abilities - and it affects their willingness to participate or make an effort.
