Growth Mindset

1. Promoting a growth mind-set
Classroom Strategies

2. ‘Set high standards & Expectations for all students, with the expectation &
belief that (with hard work and trying new strategies) every student will
reach them.’
Dr Dwecks’ research has proven that effort is more important than “talent” or “innate ability”.
Therefore, we must provide our students with sufficient challenge to push them beyond their
current limits and encourage them to move out of their comfort zone. Thus giving them
opportunities to reach their full potential.
We must have high expectations of all our students and must encourage them to
take a leap of faith, even if that means making mistakes and having to try again using
a different method.
Teachers’ attitudes directly affect their students’ learning and, ultimately, the grades
they get. A teacher who has high expectations of every student in his or her class will
reap the rewards: more students will rise to the challenge and succeed.
Many teachers think that lowering standards will give students a taste of success,
boost their self-esteem, and raise their achievement. But all the evidence suggests it
doesn’t work. Instead, it leads to poorly educated children.

3. Let students know that you are challenging them because you know that all of
them have the ability to meet those expectations. This will increase the motivation
of low attaining and low confidence students.
Examples:
- Use language that outlines high expectations. For example, when introducing a
new topic, you can tell your students, "This will be a challenging concept to
learn, but all of us can reach the goal. I want you to stretch yourself.”
- Write meaningful comments to your students containing very
specific feedback on ways in which their work can be improved.
Along with an explanation that you are providing it, because you
believe they have the capacity to develop a high level of skill in
that area.

4. During this module we have already explored the idea that the brain is malleable and that
through effort and learning it can develop and grow.
Introduce your students to the idea that the brain is malleable
and that intelligence is not fixed.
Sharing this idea with your students, opens up the possibility that with the
right attitude they can develop their own intelligence. This can have a very
positive impact on students developing a growth mind-set about their own
abilities.
Let your students read the article ‘You can grow your intelligence’. Discuss the article
together afterwards, let your students know that every time they work hard, try new
things and practice their brains are making new connections which make them smarter.
This is true even when students make mistakes.

5. “Praise, the chief weapon in their armory, is a powerful tool. Used correctly it can help
students become adults who delight in intellectual challenge, understand the value of effort,
and are able to deal with setbacks.” Dweck, C.S. (2000)
 Give effective praise to motivate your students to learn.
Dr Dweck conducted research with hundreds of students. She gave each student a set of 10 problems to solve
from a non-verbal IQ test. Most of the students did well and when they’d finished, she praised some of the
students for their ability (“you got a high score, you must be smart”) and some for their effort (“you got a high
score, you must have worked hard”).
Dr Dweck concluded that praising ability actually lowered students’ IQs whereas praising effort
raised them. She also said that praising children’s intelligence harmed their motivation because,
although children love to be praised, especially for their talents, as soon as they hit a snag their
confidence goes out of the window and their motivation hits rock bottom. If success means they’re
smart, then failure means they’re dumb.

7. There are no short cuts, hard work is the key to success. To grow and develop in your learning
you need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Students should be regularly
assessed and following this should be formative feedback. Thus enabling students to understand
where they are going wrong and the steps that they can take to make it right.
Use formative feedback: Tell children the truth, and give them the
tools to close any gaps.
Dedicate quality time in your lessons for students to act on this
feedback and to redraft work in order to improve upon it.
“If you believe you can develop yourself, then you’re open to accurate
information about your current abilities, even if it’s unflattering. What’s more, if
you’re oriented towards learning, you need accurate information about your
current abilities in order to learn effectively.”
Carol Dweck (2006)

8. Teachers must actively encourage their students to make mistakes, they must foster a safe and
secure environment in which making mistakes is not only accepted without criticism or humiliation,
but in which it is actively encouraged as evidence of effective learning and of getting better at
something.
Actively encourage your students to make mistakes.
We all have students that we know do not like to put up their hands to answer questions. They
have low confidence and are fearful of getting the wrong answer. We need to encourage these
students to let go of this fear and create a classroom where by students are eager to raise their
hands.
Develop an understanding with your students, that it is ok to make mistakes and that making mistakes is a
key part of learning and isn’t a sign of weakness. Furthermore, encourage students to raise their hand and
ask if they do not understand something.

9. Making mistakes can be a disheartening and painful experience. But mistakes do not define
you; They are problems to be faced and learnt from. We teach this by modelling it, by publicly
making mistakes and by making explicit our own implicit learning.
Don’t be afraid to point out you own mistakes. This shows that you
are emotionally intelligent and that even ‘intelligent’ adults make
mistakes.
When you introduce a new topic or assignment, tell students they should expect to
find some things confusing and to make initial errors. Ask student’s to share their
"best" mistake of the week with you, and what they learned from it (and do the same
yourself).
Students need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they’re stuck

10. Encourage students to use positive language in the classroom.

11. Watch out for your own fixed mind-set.
Growth mind-set has gathered a lot of momentum recently. It is portrayed that an educator with a growth
mind-set is a must for effective learning to take place in the classroom.
“It was as though educators were faced with a choice: Are you an enlightened person who fosters
students’ well-being? Or are you an unenlightened person, with a fixed mindset, who undermines
them? So, of course, many claimed the growth-mindset identity. But the path to a growth mindset is
a journey, not a proclamation.” Carol Dweck 2015
Teachers who claim to have a growth mindset but do not follow it through with their actions in the
classroom, instill more of a fixed mindset in their students.
Carol Dweck (2015) states that as teachers we must acknowledge that we are all a mixture of both a growth
and a fixed mindset. If we are to move closer to a growth mindset; both in the way we think and the way we
teach, then we must be mindful of our fixed-mindset thoughts and actions in the classroom.

12. You are faced with a challenge or a setback in your teaching?
Dweck (2015) stresses that growth mind-set is a journey, we must carefully look out for our fixed-mindset triggers,
and begin to address them. Only then will we fully be able to develop a growth mindset.
Think about how you react in the following situations:
Your student’s aren’t listening or making progress?
Your are given criticism after a lesson observation?
Watch to see whether criticism brings out your fixed mindset.
You see an educator who’s better than you at something you value.
Do you become defensive, angry, or crushed instead of interested in learning from the feedback?
Watch for a fixed-mindset reaction when you face challenges
Accept those thoughts and feelings and work with and through them. And keep working with and through them
Anxious?
incompetent or defeated?
Do you look for an excuse?

13. Links to further reading & free resources:
Carol Dweck: Ways to praise
Carol Dweck: The Perils and Promises of Praise
Growth mind-set blog: The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset
Brainiology: There are some excellent classroom resources available to download for free.
You will need to register for a free account to access them.

14. References:
Dweck, C. S. (2000) Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development: Psychology Press
Dweck, C. S. (2015) Revisiting Growth mindset: as cited on:http://www.edweek.org
Dweck, C. S. (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: Psychology Press