Growth Mindset
For Students and Teachers
What is the Growth Mindset?
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
What a Growth Mindset Isn't
- I already have it, and I always have. People often confuse a growth mindset with being flexible or open-minded or with having a positive outlook — qualities they believe they’ve simply always had. My colleagues and I call this a false growth mindset. Everyone is actually a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, and that mixture continually evolves with experience. A “pure” growth mindset doesn’t exist, which we have to acknowledge in order to attain the benefits we seek.
- A growth mindset is just about praising and rewarding effort. This isn’t true for students in schools, and it’s not true for employees in organizations. In both settings, outcomes matter. Unproductive effort is never a good thing. It’s critical to reward not just effort but learning and progress, and to emphasize the processes that yield these things, such as seeking help from others, trying new strategies, and capitalizing on setbacks to move forward effectively. In all of our research, the outcome — the bottom line — follows from deeply engaging in these processes.
- Just espouse a growth mindset, and good things will happen. Mission statements are wonderful things. You can’t argue with lofty values like growth, empowerment, or innovation. But what do they mean to students if the school doesn’t implement policies that make them real and attainable? They just amount to lip service. Schools that embody a growth mindset encourage appropriate risk-taking, knowing that some risks won’t work out. They reward students for important and useful lessons learned. They support collaboration across organizational boundaries rather than competition among employees or units. They are committed to the growth of every student, not just in words but in deeds.
Adapted from Carol Dweck, Harvard Business Review: What Having a Growth Mindset Actually Means.
Encouraging a Growth Mindset
Positive Classroom Norms for Math Growth Mindset
There is a really damaging myth that pervades the US– the idea that some people are born with a “math brain” and some are not. This has been resoundingly disproved by research but many students and parents believe this. It is really important to communicate “growth mindset” messages to students. Help them know that everyone is a math person and that the latest research is telling us that students can reach any levels in math because of the incredible plasticity of the brain.
Positive Norms for ELA Growth Mindset
Advantages to a Growth Mindset
Jaye Parks-Blended Learning Instructional Facilitator
Troutman Middle School
Iredell Statesville Schools
Email: parksj@iss.k12.nc.us
Twitter: @JayeParks1