Educational Leadership
What Is Growth Mindset And How Does It Differ From A Fixed Mindset?
An Overview Of A Success Mental Model
Let me tell you a story. Many years ago, a young student teacher faced a student twice her size who was refusing to do a journaling assignment.
“Why should I do this anyway? I’m not going to pass,” he spat out, sullenly.
Her heart beat quickly because this was a challenge that would affect the tone of her classroom. With other students closely monitoring, she gently explained the benefits of journaling to the young man.
She stressed that the consistent, daily practice would lead to clarity of thought. It would help him with later assignments. And she assured him that if he just put in the work, he would see the reward he sought — in this case, a passing grade.
He was dubious, but he trusted. And so he did.
Definition of Growth Mindset
This anecdote is true, and it happened many years before the term ‘growth mindset’ hit the field of education. Yet both the student and the student-teacher unknowingly were discussing growth mindset.
And the student adopted it and was successful, and the student-teacher continued…
