The more I learn about the growth mindset the more I understand more and more how important it is. However, a growth mindset alone isn’t enough. Even Dweck revisits the growth mindset and says, “The growth mindset was intended to help close achievement gaps, not hide them.” She goes on to say that she fears that many teachers are using the growth mindset inappropriately, using it as a crutch as to why students are not learning. However, if students are not learning it is not necessarily because of their mindset. Is the teacher who “preaches” growth mindset really practicing it in her classroom? If so, then she would come to the student who isn’t learning and find out what they have tried and what steps they can take next. Furthermore, it seems that many times instead of following up with the student when they “fail”, we praise them for their good effort and for “trying their best” and then move on. Yes, good effort and trying is part of the growth mindset, however, without following it with “what have you tried and what should we do next” there really is no growth happening.
Dweck also worries that teachers are fostering a “false growth mindset”. Meaning that teachers claimed to foster this but didn’t reflect it in their words or actions. These teachers react to mistakes as problematic rather than a means to learn. Unfortunately, when the growth mindset isn’t followed through students adopt even more of a fixed mindset and adverse reaction occurs. Students are even less willing to try and feel stuck like they will not be able to learn.
I know I have been guilty of this myself. Especially, in the beginning of my learning journey about the growth mindset. Without full understanding what it was I blindly told my students “good job for trying”, “don’t give up”, “mistakes are okay”. And yes, all those things are great things to tell students to foster growth mindset IF they are followed up with conversation that leads to students continuing to try new strategies and input from others. I have also been guilty of reacting to mistakes harshly, instead of taking time to understand and discuss what happened and where to go next.
I think that it is important going forward and knowing what I know now to see that we are all a mixture of growth and fixed mindset. There is no way that a person is fully growth mindset. Instead, I would like to pursue and instill a learner’s mindset into myself and students. Instead of just tacking “yet” to the end of sentence that they can’t do, I want them to tell me what they will continue to do to get there. We cannot just adopt a new way of thinking; we must adopt a new way of doing too. If we are going to talk the talk, we must also walk the walk. The way we plan lessons, design our classroom and other factors must be addressed to fully embrace a learner’s mindset.
To do this we must be watchful, watch for where we as educators have a fixed mindset when we face challenges or when we experience setbacks with students learning or behaviors. We must watch where we are looking for excuses or have increased negative emotions, and then acknowledge them and work through them. And continue to work through them. Developing a learner’s mindset is not a cure all and it most certainly will not happen overnight. Like most good things, it takes time. A lot of time. This is not something that you or I will have mastered, it will be something that we will continue to learn, develop, modify, and learn some more. It is a never-ending process; learning never ends.
When creating the environment of our home away from home, that is our classroom, we need to keep these things in mind. Just as we experience all these feelings and emotions and challenges, so do our learners. Young and old, failures come, emotions run high, and we are all faced with a choice: how will we react? This is where the learner’s mindset comes into play. We must choose to react in a way that furthers our learning, we must choose to react in a way that fosters a culture that says that risk taking is good, we must choose to react in a way that fosters an environment that promotes learning from mistakes and setbacks. And when we choose to react adversely and become defensive or defeated, we must choose to come back, acknowledge, and accept our wrongdoings and then work through them to course correct.
See how my growth mindset plan previously has shifted to this way of thinking and how I can still use it to begin the shift in my classroom. However, instead of leaving it at that I will proceed to foster the learning culture in my classroom as stated above. When we model these behaviors and foster this climate in our classrooms, we acknowledge that we are not the sole keeper of the knowledge, but we are working together to learn and grow.
References
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House
Dweck, C. (2015, September 22). Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’ . Education Week. December 3, 2023, https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset/2015/09
Gerstein, J. (2015, September 4). Is “Have a Growth Mindset” the New “Just Say No.” User Generated Education. December 3, 2023, https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/is-have-a-growth-mindset-the-new-just-say-no/
Harapnuik, D. (2021, February 9). Learner’s Mindset Explained. It’s About the Learning. December 3, 2023, https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8705
photo: Media by Wix: kids in vegetable garden
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