Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is powerful and essential and will help our kids not only during this school year, but will lay a great foundation for the rest of their lives.

The concept of "growth mindset” was introduced by psychologist Carol Dweck and her team. It’s become a buzzword in recent times, but what does it mean?

A growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and intelligence are malleable. They can be improved over time with effort, learning, and persistence. A growth mindset means that challenges are viewed as opportunities, rather than setbacks.

Contrarily there is the fixed mindset. A fixed mindset assumes that intelligence and abilities are fixed, and cannot be developed or changed. This a belief that denies the existence of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to develop, change and adapt in response to experiences throughout our lives.

But here’s the good news: Our brains CAN change! This means we possess the potential to learn, grow and triumph.

How do we know if we have a growth mindset?

A good question to ask yourself is, do I believe that I have a limited amount of intelligence and ability, and it won’t change? If the answer is yes, you may have a fixed mindset. The amazing news is that you can develop a growth mindset at any age or stage of life!

How do we help our students (or ourselves)?

Encouraging a growth mindset is more than just having a positive attitude. There are specific strategies we can use to train ourselves to think this way.

• Model Failure

One of the first things we can do for our students is modeling failure. Often while working at the chalkboard with a student, I will intentionally make an error. I won’t rush to erase it, but rather I will take a moment and out loud, share my thinking. I will evaluate what I’ve done and state what I have done correctly, then come up with strategies for next time to help with the problem areas. This allows the student to see that making errors is okay and is an opportunity to think of ways to become successful, by trying new strategies. A growth mindset involves flexible thinking.

• Specific Praise

When working with students, it is important to give specific praise. For example, I might say

“I really like how you formed the letter ‘c’. It has a nice curve.” Or, “Your attitude toward this taskwas great! I could see that it was difficult, but you persevered.”

This shows that you are really paying attention and notice even the seemingly small successes. This has an impact on the student’s view of themselves.

• Self-advocacy

We can help children learn to advocate for themselves and teach them the vocabulary that is required in order for them to ask for specific support. For example, we may teach them to ask for a break before they become totally overwhelmed. This may include defining what the term self-regulation means, so that they can use it to state the specific help that they need, or what they are struggling with.

• Goal setting and Constructive Criticism

We need to teach students how to set measurable goals. An important part of goal setting and the process of reaching goals, is understanding the definition of constructive criticism and its purpose in achieving our goals. This will be helpful in regulating their emotions around feedback. They will be able to strategize ways to reach their goal when challenges arise.

Those who give constructive criticism are like coaches. They are not just telling you to work harder, but are providing feedback that is specific and gives actionable suggestions. For the student, it is an opportunity to receive advice on how to make positive improvements. Constructive criticism must be clear and easy to put into action.

When a student understands what constructive criticism is, they won’t feel threatened or defeated, but they will feel encouraged.

• Self-talk

We can change the way we talk about ourselves. With growth mindset, we often talk about turning negative statements into ‘yet’ statements. We also want to avoid using absolutes like ‘never’ and ‘always’. Here are some examples.

• I Wonder…

We can also turn negative statements into ‘I wonder’ questions or statements.

For example:

I will never be able to drive a car. I wonder what I can learn about driving a car, which will help me learn to drive.

I can’t learn to play the piano. I wonder what other strategies I can use to learn to play the piano.

We can all improve our mindset. There are times when we may feel stuck in a fixed mindset. This is normal! But there is a way out! Our friends, coaches, teachers and families can be a great source of encouragement as well as making use of these tips above. I know that I will be using them for my students and myself.

Let’s keep growing!