Growth Mindset
Growth Mindset, what a wonderful concept. It is the idea that our minds are continuously growing and able to learn new skills.
When passed on to students Growth Mindset can do great things. Students feel comfortable making mistakes and learning from them, challenges become opportunities, and feedback is just another way to grow. Truthfully it sounds like a fairy tale. This fairy tale though, is very real and is on the rise in schools today.
The rival of a Growth Mindset is a Fixed Mindset. Those with a fixed mindset are transfixed by failures, challenges appear difficult and frightening and feedback is taken as harsh criticism.
Implementation is where this fairy tale gets tricky. Many teachers try in good faith to do this correctly in their classroom, and some do succeed. Although at the same time many do not. Carol Dweck, the pioneer of Growth Mindset, has coined the term False Growth Mindset. A False Growth Mindset is essentially doing it wrong, and therefore not really having a Growth Mindset at all.
Take this scenario for example: A student has failed an assignment, per “Growth Mindset” the teacher says, “Wow! You tried really hard.” The student knows they have failed and also now thinks that their teacher doesn’t believe they can do better. Growth Mindset, or lack thereof, doesn’t accomplish anything in this situation. Thus creating the False Growth Mindset. In this situation, to correctly use Growth Mindset, the teacher should have said “How can we do this differently to score better?” Giving the student an opportunity to grow from the mistake or failure.
Growth Mindset, fairy tale and all, is truly an asset in the classroom. But, teachers need to be mindful of how they are implementing it. I’m not sure False Growth Mindset is better than no Growth Mindset. Sounds a lot like getting a last place ribbon.
