A growth mindset is, "a belief system that suggests that one's intelligence can be grown or developed with persistence, effort, and a focus on learning" (Ricci 3). Clearly, a growth mindset helps students achieve growth with any skill.
Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, says, "...students' mindsets--how they perceive their abilities--played a key role in their motivation and achievement, and we found that if we changed students' mindsets, we could boost their achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset). And when students learned through a structured program that they could 'grow their brains' and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. Finally, we found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset...".
Take this Mindset Self-assessment to find out if you have more of a fixed or a growth mindset.
As secondary teachers, it's important to help student understand and believe that they can grow and improve their skills, but teachers must also acknowledge that there are limits. We can all improve our basketball skills, but we can't all be Michael Jordan.
To learn more about growth mindset, check out these videos made available by the psychology department at Stanford University.
You can also join the book study that will be offered in the spring on Mary Cay Ricci's book:
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