Growth: A tale of two mindsets
If there is something I remember from my student years, was that I always put teachers in two types of groups: the supporters and the detractors. Or, as a young-me would say: the ones that believe in me and the ones that think that I am not good enough and will never be. At first, I did not understand what it meant, but it certainly had an impact on how I learned and stayed motivated throughout my studies (and life). Why would there be a professional in Education telling me that I can do better next time, while there were others telling me that I should give up on this or that?
On the first day of primary school, my teacher of mathematics told us: “The brain is like a muscle, and you can practice it to become smarter, as you can train your body to become stronger”. That message remained throughout time, and later on, was able to understand that he did not teach me content or knowledge, but an attitude and mindset on how to consider the learning process.
I was still doing my bachelor when the first papers on growth mindset were published (J. M. Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003) (Blackwell et al., 2007). The Education field was in the midst of incorporating the ICT as a part of its core; and new theories, best practices, insights and resources popped up in the industry. With little experience and such an overwhelming number of things happening in the field, it was difficult to discern and forecast what was going to be a game-changer and what not.
The psychological component of those new proposals was the key to identify the potential positive impact on the learning process of students. In fact, the learning period of an individual, independently of its stage, is filled with many changes, being this process a psychologically intriguing stage of development. Throughout this process, we can observe rapid maturational changes, shifting societal demands, conflicting role demands, increasingly complex social relations, and new educational expectations (e.g., Montemayor, Adams, & Gullotta, 1990, Wigfield, Byrnes, & Eccles, 2006).
My memories started resurfacing the more I dug into the subject. The two types of teachers that I encountered were a reflection of two different frameworks of implicit theories of intelligence (see Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Dweck, 1999). On one hand, some people believe that intelligence is more of an unchangeable and fixed thing; while on the other hand, there are people who consider intelligence as a flexible entity, something that can be further developed.
According to Dweck (2019), when a student has a fixed mindset, they believe that their basic abilities, intelligence, and talents are fixed traits. In a growth mindset, however, students believe their abilities and intelligence can be developed with effort, learning, and persistence.
It’s a little bit like “nature vs nurture” (Sivers, 2014)
Students with a fixed mindset, believe either they are or are not good at something, based on their inherent nature. Why? Because that is just who they are. However, those with a growth mindset believe anyone can be good at anything since the abilities are entirely related to the work you put into something.
As Sivers (2014) mentions, this might sound simple but it is surprisingly deep. The fixed mindset is the most common, but also the most harmful, so it’s worth understanding and considering how it can affect an individual.
For example:
In a fixed mindset, you believe “He is a natural-born painter” or “I am just not good at languages.”
In a growth mindset, you believe “Anyone can be good at anything. Skill comes only from practice.”
The fixed mindset can doom you, putting you in a box and limiting yourself. If you believe, “You are either naturally great or will never be great,” then whenever you experience any trouble with something new, your mind thinks, “See? I’ll never be great at this. I should give up already.”
Istrongly believe that my Maths teacher changed me, enabled me to grow and helped me take every step as a challenge. But, how does that work for others? And, what impact could this have in those who need to work on intrinsic motivation? Especially, those who are at risk to fall out of the system (e.g.: racial, ethnic and sexual minority groups, children with dysfunctional families, among others.)
Good et al. (2003) and Blackwell et al. (2007,) designed and carried out growth-mindset interventions for students in secondary school. The sessions were around the mantra “the brain is like a muscle”, introducing the concept of a brain that grows new and stronger connections with the persistent effort. These workshops were delivered to a group of students in the risk of dropping out, with sensitive backgrounds and low academic performance. It was not surprising to me that, as I experienced in the past, the results of the students in this growth-mindset group earned higher achievement exam scores than students in the control group.
And, how about the top performers? Would a growth-mindset intervention have any value for them? Dweck (2019) learned that those who already have high results can also change their mindsets in response to the workshop. They feel empowered, and their benefit is shown differently. I share some observations observed in the literature (Dweck, 2019) (Yeager, Romero, et al., 2016) about how top performers increase their willingness to take on challenges or take advanced classes pro-actively. Such challenge-seeking behaviours might push them to develop higher-level skills, which could benefit them in terms of lifelong health and work outcomes (Carroll, Muller, Grodsky, & Warren, 2017).
Wrapping up
We have a choice.
A choice on deciding how to define our learning path, a mindset for all aspects of our life.
We either choose for a fixed mindset and believe that our qualities are carved in stone, or choose a growth mindset and believe that our base qualities can be cultivated through effort.
One limit us, the other opens an infinite number of doors.
We also have a choice on how to educate our students. Positive language, empowering attitude, constructive feedback; it is in our hands to show the inner light our students have when they are not able to find it themselves. The top performers can also benefit from it. They will find in our words more reasons to pursue their dreams and further challenge themselves.
And you, what do you choose? What is your mindset? How do you reflect back when you were in school and how does it compare to the “today-you”?
I would love to hear more from you in the comments below.
