Importance of a Growth Mindset

We all have beliefs about our own abilities and potential. Mindset is our attitude towards those beliefs...our mindset helps us look at problems and mistakes in a positive or negative way.

In her research at Stanford University, Dr. Carol Dweck identified two different types of mindsets. Growth mindset occurs when we believe our intelligence and abilities can be improved by deliberate practice (Dweck, 2007).

In contrast, a fixed mindset is one that believes intelligence and abilities cannot be changed in a positive way - they believe they were either born with "it" or they weren't. As a result, mistakes are often seen as failures rather than opportunities to grow and learn (Dweck, 2007).

Growth means to develop, change, mature, evolve. Neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to learn new skills, and improve old ones - has shown us that the brain is like a muscle. With practice, we can grow our neural connections with the actions we take throughout our entire life (Banks, 2016).

A growth mindset is when we know, through practice and the use of good strategies, we will get better at something.

Dweck found that people’s attitudes towards their own intelligence had a significant impact on their motivation, effort, and approach to challenges. Those who believe they can improve their abilities are more likely to embrace challenges and persevere through failures (Dweck, 1988).

Learning something new is hardest the first time, but your brain develops like a muscle and gets stronger every time you try.

But it's not just about belief and effort alone. A growth mindset must be practiced, and it must be nourished with effective strategies. As educators, we can harness the power of a growth mindset to motivate student behavior and help students take ownership of their own learning (Briceno, 2014).

Our high schoolers know when we're being disingenuous, and if we expect them to take the difficult journey of learning, then we need to be there right beside them. We need to be aware of the false growth mindset, learn to identify our triggers, and take the necessary steps to change our own mindset.

We can build a foundation for a growth mindset culture by educating ourselves with the following resources:

Books

Mindset:The New Psychology of Success Carol Dweck (2016)

The Growth Mindset Coach:A Teacher's Month to Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve by Annie Brock (2016)

Websites

Teachers Need a Growth Mindset Too: https://www.edutopia.org/article/teachers-need-growth-mindset-christina-gil

The Mindset Kit: https://www.mindsetkit.org/topics/teaching-growth-mindset

Incorporating a Growth Mindset into Your Teaching:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/incorporating-growth-mindset-into-teaching-practice-donna-wilson-marcus-conyers

How will we incorporate a growth mindset in our own lives and in our classrooms?

Think about where you can apply a growth mindset in your work - technology, professional development, PLCs, evaluations...

There are many opportunities to teach and model the growth mindset at school. During morning restorative circles, PBIS activities, individual student/parent conferences.

Learn the language of the growth mindset and begin to use it every day with yourself and your students.

There are steps we can take to successfully develop a growth mindset. Outwardly practicing these steps can serve as a model for students that we are all works in progress and change requires effort.

• Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice.

• Recognize that you have a choice.

• Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.

• Take the growth mindset action

(Scott, 2020 )

When I first heard of the growth mindset several years ago, I admit I was skeptical. I thought it was just more lip-service to the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps and try harder” mentality. More motivational buzzwords. However, after reading the book and taking a deep-dive into the research, I see the true value in developing and teaching a growth mindset that goes far beyond the mass-marketed classroom décor. Student motivation, accountability, and success are all connected to a growth mindset. I’ve always felt that learning is a process and mastery is a journey of trial and error. The growth mindset provides the concrete tools and strategies to teach students how to learn for a lifetime.

Banks, D. (2020, March 10). What is brain plasticity and why is it so important? Retrieved November 25, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/what-is-brain-plasticity-and-why-is-it-so-important-55967

Briceno, E. (2014, July 28). Mindsets and Student Agency. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://aurora-institute.org/cw_post/mindsets-and-student-agency/

Dweck, C. (2007). Mindset The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.

Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). A Social-Cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality. Psychological Review, 95(2), 256-273. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.95.2.256

Jeffrey, S. (2020, June 23). Change Your Fixed Mindset into a Growth Mindset [Complete Guide]. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/