Why is the Growth Mindset So Important?
“The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others.” (Dweck, 2016) This is important because in a world where society praises natural talent many students grow up believing that they are a lost cause if they are not “born with it.” Whether “it” is an affinity for athletics or academics many students and even many adults feel the need to quickly find what their talent is before they are left behind. The growth mindset is crucial to be fostered throughout the school setting and in parent workshops in order to ensure healthy social/emotional learning for our youth. The growth mindset allows students and even many adults know that failure is part of the learning process.
If a subject, sport, or hobby is important enough anyone can learn to do it well if they practice and adjust when they fail. Dweck states “although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.” (2016) In today’s test centered world students often feel that they are in a race to reach a specific score, so a growth mindset is important to keep students from getting derailed into a fixed mindset. In other words, a growth mindset keeps a student from thinking “oh well I did my best and I can’t do any better than this.”
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Incorporating Growth into an Existing Ecosystem
Often times when thinking of teaching, others think of the barriers outside of the classroom. However, one barrier I didn’t expect when I first started was how many students created a wall around their own growth. One of the biggest challenges plaguing my classroom is standardized testing and how many students use one number to solidify how much they learned in roughly nine months in my classroom. For me the biggest group of people I can impact with my mindset is my students. On a daily basis I hear them say, “Why does she have so much energy,” or they’ll walk up to me and say “Miss it’s too early for all this ‘Goooood morning’ stuff.” Little do they know is I’m often running on no sleep and coffee. But I am the first person they see, and they often leave the conversation with an unintended smile.
While reading Dweck’s book and Jeffrey’s plan, I noticed that I have a growth mindset with fixed mindset days. This made me think: I model reading concepts everyday; why not do the same with my growth mindset? My plan for the Scott Jeffrey’s four steps is outlined below.
| Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset voice | When it comes to hearing my fixed mindset, I have to admit that it is there. Many highschoolers will often listen to how they are feeling and even admit to it if they are given a classroom culture that allows them that ability. Jeffrey states, “Once you know you have a fixed mindset, you can anticipate this voice in advance.” (Jeffrey, 2024) As an English teacher I have the ability to use informational texts to my advantage. In the early stages of my class I can have the students read an article explaining the fixed vs. the growth mindset. Once most students know what this means, I can have some way students indicate whether they are having a fixed or growth mindset day. Over times students can start to journal about their fixed mindset days, and most importantly what put them into the fixed mindset. “But if we watch carefully for our fixed-mindset triggers, we can begin the true journey to a growth mindset. What are your triggers?“(Dweck,2015) Part of the journey in changing our mindsets is knowing what puts us in the fixed mindset. |
| Step 2: Recognize that you have a choice | Many students often jump at the idea of having a choice until they actually have to make the decision themselves, then they fear making the wrong decision. Throughout Dweck’s book fear is mentioned often and every time it is linked to the Fixed mindset. But even with step two students have to learn to take that leap because with every aspect of life we have a choice and each choice is often either a fixed option or growth option. According to the four step system, ”The key here is to shift out of the framework of judgment (fixed) and into the arena of development (growth).” (Jeffrey, 2024) Students have to see that they gain something out of their choices. “While trying COULD lead to failure you can LEARN from that failure. I as the teacher can use this process to TEACH you. But you you don’t try you WILL fail, and I have nothing to work with.” We may not have to word it as bluntly as that, but that is the basic concept. Even if it is as simple as starting with a student going from: “I don’t get any of this,” to “I don’t get this section of the problem.” |
| Step 3: Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice | This is where the modeling part of teaching comes in. Both Dweck and Jeffrey give scenarios in which we can practice switching our mindset. Students when in the fixed mindset will not reflect on in the moment scenarios. This is where we the teachers will step in and model how to talk to their fixed mindset voice for them. Dweck states, now give your fixed-mindset persona a name. (Dweck, 2016) Until our students are able to defend themselves against their fixed mindset, my plan is to defend those who need it. Those who’s fixed mindset is telling them that they are “not smart enough,” will have me in the classroom asking them to “explain their reasoning.” Those students who feel as though they don’t do well in English class because they “never did” will have me setting achievable expectations and giving them feedback on how to reach them. The students will also have to learn how to take feedback and criticism without falling back into the fixed mindset. “Just spend several weeks noticing when you enter a more threatened, defensive state. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t fight it. Just observe.”(Dweck,2016) Students will have to learn how to not let feedback ruin an entire day. If the teacher can model what the growth mindset voice looks like with out falling into the false growth mindset, the students can learn their own growth mindset. |
| Step 4: Take the growth mindset action | Finally, as the teacher my goal will be to challenge students. For many students challenges are different. One of their “grades” for each of the six weeks can be to set a different challenge for each six weeks based on what we’re learning (lead the group discussion, give an in class presentation, create a PowerPoint over the lesson, pitch an idea for the class fundraiser, etc.) and complete it a week before the grading cycle ends. Even if they don’t complete the challenge students can write about the process, the setbacks, any feedback they received, or what caused them to feel the need to not complete the challenge. The teacher will be in charge of checking in with the students once a week to ensure students are working on the challenge and giving feedback. |
The Power of Yet
Yet is such a great way to measure each individual student. In The Power of Yet TedTalk Dweck states, “don’t praise intelligence or talent don’t do that that has failed, instead praise the process their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement, this process praise creates kids that are hardy and resilient.” (2014) Dweck defines the word yet so easily for us, and still many of us fall into the pitfalls of wanting to praise the one that find our class the easiest. Often times the students who struggle with our assignments are the ones that stayed up studying all night and redid the questions during their lunch period. Unfortunately, because of how our reward systems have been set up those students are not used to receiving recognition for their efforts in order to get to where they are in the class.
This is the main reason I love the testing platform we use to measure student growth during the school year. From the moment the students enter our school district we use NWEA MAP to test their growth from year to year and through out the year. The testing website describes the test as “the most trusted and innovative assessment for measuring achievement and growth in K–12 math, reading, language usage, and science.” My reasoning for this test being such a great measurement for yet, is that it gives the students a “roadmap” based on their own learning. Their map is based on their previous test, not on their age, their grade level, or their peers. Essentially to me, this reads as here is were you are at and that is where you need to be you are just not there yet. The test does have a baseline for what is considered a low test score (meaning students need to be referred for intervention) and a high test score for which students are considered above grade level.
Every year before the students take the first map test of the year, I take the time to explain to the students what the MAP test is, what it measures, and how to read their maps. Then once they understand how to read their maps, each student gets a printed version of their map. If they have been at the district long enough, they are able to see how much they grew in their education. By the end of the year, students are requesting I reprint their map to see how much they “grew” in one year.
Because students knew there was a possible to see where their growth could be by the end of the year, they applied themselves. Some students maps grew quite a bit. Simply because they knew they just weren’t “there” yet.
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Books, Articles, and Videos to Grow Your Mind
Books
Dweck, Carol S.. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Ebook ISBN 9781588365231
Heath, Chip; Heath, Dan. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard Ebook ISBN 9780307590169
Articles
Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’
How to Change Your Mindset from Fixed to Growth: A Definitive Guide
Five Ways to Teach Students to Be Learning Centered, Too
Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset
Videos
The Growth Mindset is My Daily Mission
When reading Carl S. Moore’s, Fives Ways to Be More Learning Centered, Too, the very first sentence had me stop contemplate my daily interactions. It reads, “Have you ever wondered if your students are as concerned about their learning as you are?” (Moore, 2018) Just today as I walked into work students told statements such as ” miss you are too excited for the lesson,” “there’s no way you like this job that much,” and “how do you find this interesting everyday?”
Why would I be at a job that I didn’t like? They were the ones that were checked out of my lesson; the ones who feel like they can’t do my assignments or don’t need my assignments for their future jobs. Other students simply needed to move around or “work” through the concept, which took me years to figure out how to do as an English teacher.
Moore states that these are all necessary for a growth mindset classroom. To begin, students must be coached out of the fixed mindset when they fall into the usual patterns of “I can’t do this,” or “I am just not cut out for that.” As the teacher, we are there to watch for students falling into the usual cycles and coach them out of the fixed mindset as stated in my plan in an earlier section through modeling behaviors.
When students do come out of their fixed mindset and work hard, we as educators should reward them with praise. This is where we should remember not to fall into the false growth mindset and remember to praise the process, the hard-work, and the strategies not the end result. Part of this process is in the lesson planning phase according to Moore. We should build “learning how to learn” into our lesson for our students showing it in ways the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and read/write learners to have access to the materials. Monitoring progress while providing students structure allows them to fail and learn from their failures. These helps them learn and adjust as they go. Learning how to fail in school gives them a low stakes place to became growth minded learners.
My Growth During The Applied Technology Program
The growth mindset has already affected me during the first two weeks of the applied technology program. I am expecting the growth mindset to change the way I study and shift it away from “I just don’t study well if I study early.” “I’ll forget everything I do if I study too soon.” At the beginning of this school year (2023-2024), I told myself something was going to change. I started wearing my makeup, there was no “I need the extra 15 minutes of sleep.” I applied to college, there was no “I don’t have time.” Now I am in my second week of the applied technology program. I started feeling my usual fixed mindset excuses creeping back in.
But then I read the first few pages of Carol Dweck’s book. I took me two days to get through it, and I could feel the struggle of the homework being weighed down by my fixed mindset. I looked for anything else to do to use as a valid reason for why I wasn’t getting my homework done. But my kids are all on a set sleep and nap schedule, my oldest does her homework on her own, and I had all the house chores done. Dweck’s words repeated in my head the “fixed mindset fears failure.” In the first few pages of chapter one Dweck discusses how growth minded people and fixed minded people deal with failure. I love to learn, but this is my first time back at school since 2018. So that was my “first day of school jitters,” getting the best of me, but the growth mindset helped me snap out of it faster.
Thanks to the growth mindset I was able to find a solution to my lack of time to sit and read the book to to my current busy schedule. The Speechify app, has helped cut my reading time down and what took me days to get through is now taking me hours. I also was able to ask for assistance from my colleagues for suggestions when I hit a wall on some of my ideas which I would not have done before.
So in summary, the growth mindset has influenced my approach to my applied technology course work by admitting I was stuck and asking for help. It also helped me by finding a solution in speechify that is going to help me throughout the course, which in turn ,is going to encourage me to look for other apps that can help me in these courses and as a teacher.
References
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and overcoming false growth mindset. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck
Dweck, C. (2023, March 27). Carol Dweck revisits the “growth mindset” (opinion). Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset/2015/09
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.
Moore, C. S. (2018, November 7). Five ways to teach students to be learning centered, too. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/five-ways-to-teach-students-to-be-learning-centered-too/
Scott Jeffrey. (2024, January 3). How to change your mindset: A definitive guide (4 steps). https://scottjeffrey.com/how-to-change-your-mindset/
YouTube. (2014, September 12). The power of yet | carol S dweck | tedxnorrköping. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-swZaKN2Ic
YouTube. (2015, October 6). 3 tips to boost your confidence – ted-ed. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_NYrWqUR40
YouTube. (2023, October 19). How to overcome your mistakes. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBz7iUJu9UM
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