(This is the last post in a two-part series. You can see Part One .)
This week鈥檚 question is:
What exactly is meant by a growth mindset, what might be common misconceptions about it, and what could it look like in the classroom?
in this series featured responses from Eduardo Brice帽o, Kristine Mraz and Christine Hertz. You can also listen to a I had with Eduardo on . You can find a list of, and links to,
Today鈥檚 post includes contributions from David Yeager, Debbie Zacarian, Peter DeWitt, and Barbara Blackburn, along with comments from readers.
Response From David Yeager
is an Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and co-chair of the (@MindsetScholars). Prior to beginning his career as a researcher, he was a middle school teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma:
What exactly is meant by a growth versus fixed mindsets?
The fixed mindset refers to the belief that intellectual ability is a fixed quality. It leads students to feel that intellectual struggle is a sign that you lack ability. A growth mindset is the belief that intellectual ability can grow and be developed. It leads students to see their challenges as part of a process of growth, rather than as a sign that they are deficient.
I鈥檓 a former middle school teacher. I鈥檝e seen many kids feel they need to live up to the fixed mindset ideal of always looking smart and never putting your intelligence on the line. But the growth mindset feels liberating because students no longer have to operate under the specter of feeling 鈥渟mart鈥� or 鈥渄umb.鈥�
What are common misconceptions about growth and fixed mindsets?
A first misconception is that the only thing students need is a growth mindset and then they will learn anything. But mindset programs . Mindset research often assumes that students are being given meaningful work. If not, then students may not need a growth mindset as much as they need better instruction.
A second misconception is that it is easy to teach a student to be in a growth mindset. Part of this comes from the fact that there are straightforward ways to teach a fixed mindset. A teacher could say 鈥測ou are only smart if you get a 100% on this test鈥� or 鈥渂ased on this test, I will know if you are AP material.鈥� A student in such a class immediately knows what to do: don鈥檛 show any sign of weakness, or the teacher will think you are not smart.
But dispelling a fixed mindset and authentically creating a growth mindset is much harder. A few recent blog posts have addressed some reasons why ( and and here by Eduardo Brice帽o, Dave Paunesku, and Carol Dweck, respectively).
What could a growth mindset look like in the classroom?
Just like there is no easy route to becoming a master teacher of math or history, becoming an expert in creating a growth mindset takes practice. But that doesn鈥檛 mean it isn鈥檛 worthwhile.
A first step is to be aware of phrases or practices that could imply a fixed mindset. Do you praise students for getting answers quickly? I did, when I was a teacher--usually because I wanted to move on. But what does that communicate to the student who was thinking deeply? Or who hadn鈥檛 gotten it right yet?
We have much more to learn, but here are some places to start:
- Provide challenging tasks. 69传媒 can鈥檛 learn unless they have challenging, engaging tasks that will enable them to do so.
- Encourage intentional reflection. Teaching students how to apply effective effort is key to showing them they can get smarter. ask probing questions that invite students to problem solve and take a trouble-shooting, trial-and-error approach.
- Link process to outcomes. 69传媒 aren鈥檛 always aware that how they solve problems and learn can matter as much as how hard they try. Teach students to break a task into steps, and tinker with the things they can control until they see improvement. This and offer specific tips.
- Pair truthful feedback with high standards and support. Tell students the truth about their current performance. But show students that you will support them as they reach for a higher standard. This explains why this is important.
- Convey the value of mistakes. Celebrate mistakes as opportunities to learn and teach students how they can build on their mistakes. This describes this.
- Reflect on how you evaluate students. Enabling students to revise and resubmit work conveys that you value growth over a snapshot of their ability at a given point in time. Grades that account for effort or improvement can also convey these messages, but they need to be paired with authentic information about students鈥� learning. This shows how one teacher turned tests into learning opportunities.
- Help students see struggle as a challenge they can overcome, not a threat. Letting students sit with struggle and work through challenges can make them feel bad in the moment but gives them confidence they can get smarter in the long run. In fact, is the emotion that best predicts learning. To do this effectively, we need to help students learn how to deal with the emotions of learning and create a classroom culture in which students support one another. These videos ( and ) show what some teachers have done with their students.
Response From Debbie Zacarian
Dr. Debbie Zacarian is nationally known for her work in advancing student achievement with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations. Her explanations of scientifically proven research about strength-based instruction, family-school engagement, and teacher evaluation are widely practiced. This response was drawn, in part, from her most recent book- 鈥淚n It Together: how student, family and community partnerships advance engagement and achievement in diverse classrooms鈥� (Zacarian & Silverstone, 2015). Debbie can be reached at debbie.zacarian@corwinlearning.net :
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, founder of 鈥榞rowth mindset,鈥� defines the concept as believing that every student can succeed and teaching them to believe in their abilities to:
- Embrace the challenges and complexities of learning
- Learn the positives of being persistent
- Value effort as a positive
- Be inspired to do more (2007).
She contrasts this to a 鈥榝ixed mindset鈥� where educators believe some students can鈥檛 succeed based on their intelligence and circumstance and students may believe the same thing about themselves and others. According to sociologist Claude Steele (2010) these perceptions can negatively affect some students who perceive themselves to be in a racial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic, or gender group that is not expected to show school success.
The same growth versus fixed mindset pertains to educators- as everyone has the potential to improve using the tenets of Dweck鈥檚 growth mindset.
One of the sharpest distinctions among students are those who possess the type of literacy practices used in school versus those needing to learn them. Generally, the former group鈥檚 families have higher levels of formal education, are familiar with school practices, use dialect skills similar to what鈥檚 spoken in school, routinely enact literacy activities (e.g., reading newspapers, recipe books), and engage children in school-readiness activities and an individualistic culture where children are expected to think independently. These practices often mirror ours, as educators, and our interactions with students and families reflect these commonalities.
Conversely, sociologist Geert Hofstede (2010) claims that most people, except Western European and US dominant peoples, come from collectivist cultures that favor relationships and interdependence. According to psychologist Mary Gauvain (2001), development focuses on providing children with rich narratives and explicit directives for being cultural members. Additionally, many families, according to Gauvain, educational scholar, Lisa Delpit (1995) and sociologist Barbara Rogoff (2003), have less formal education and speak vernacular language.
Dweck provides an example of how these cultural distinctions appear in classrooms. In a study of a Native American population, students weren鈥檛 engaged in a growth mindset when their teachers鈥� discussed how it would benefit their individual growth (e.g., your grades are improving, this is your personal best!). When teachers understood that contributions to the community were critical and shifted their interactions to how student learning benefited their community, students鈥� progress grew significantly.
As educators, our individual perspective is always missing something. It鈥檚 always a partial picture of any whole and requires the contributions of others to be complete. Teachers have a pivotal role in fostering an open and much-needed dialogue with students, families, the school community and community-at-large to ensure that education works. A first step is creating a classroom environment where everyone is seen as already capable, already learning, and already contributing. When we invite and are open to the cultures others bring, when we allow ourselves to be changed by different perspectives, and when we see these as gifts rather than obstacles, we embrace a growth mindset and, in turn, help all students succeed.
Response From Peter DeWitt
Peter DeWitt is a former teacher and school principal working as an independent education consultant. He writes the
In education we love our catch phrases, especially if there are research-based excellent ideas behind them. Unfortunately, as those ideas grow they are like urban legends and take on a cult-like status. It鈥檚 just too bad that many of the people who use the ideas probably read or researched very little about them.
There is no one better to explain the Growth Mindset, then the author herself. In her Education Week Commentary (9/22/15) Carol Dweck writes,
鈥淭he growth-mindset approach helps children feel good in the short and long terms, by helping them thrive on challenges and setbacks on their way to learning. When they鈥檙e stuck, teachers can appreciate their work so far, but add: 鈥淟et鈥檚 talk about what you鈥檝e tried, and what you can try next.鈥�
The Growth Mindset is probably one of the biggest ideas in education that have taken on a cult-like status. Teachers drop the words Growth Mindset in their daily conversations, and principals use the words in their dialogue with parents. Unfortunately, we all talk a lot about having a growth mindset, but the actions we take in our classrooms contradict the very words that come out of our mouths.
In July 2015 I wrote , and it was based on the work of educational researcher John Hattie, someone I work with as a Visible Learning trainer. Hattie was giving a keynote in San Antonio, Texas and said that the Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset had an effect size of .19, which is well below is Hinge Point of .40. The Hinge Point is Hattie鈥檚 research, which is the largest meta-analysis ever done in education, is where students make a year鈥檚 worth of growth with a year鈥檚 input.
The interesting piece of Hattie鈥檚 research is that he often has found influences on learning that could work, but don鈥檛. It doesn鈥檛 mean we give up on it, but we do have to understand why is doesn鈥檛 have the impact it should.
The reason why the growth mindset has a low effect size is due to the fact that teachers and leaders talk a great deal about having a growth mindset but they treat students in fixed ways. 69传媒 are retained and their self-esteem never recovers; put into ability groups for math and reading, or they are placed in classes where they receive special services like Academic Intervention Services (AIS) and are never allowed to leave.
If we want students to really understand the growth mindset then we need to make sure our actions in the classroom or school building support our words instead of negate them.
Response From Barbara Blackburn
Dr. Barbara Blackburn is the author of 15 books, including Rigor is Not a Four Letter Word and her latest, Motivating Struggling Learners: 10 Ways to Build Student Success. She regularly presents to schools and districts on rigor, motivation, engagement, and leadership. She can be reached through her website, :
Reinforcing a growth mindset with your students requires that you have a growth mindset. It鈥檚 easy for us to hold subtle expectations that reflect a fixed mindset. For example, 鈥淭hey are doing the best they can鈥� or 鈥淚 heard that she wasn鈥檛 a very good student鈥� or 鈥淗e鈥檚 from that neighborhood, or 鈥淚 just talked to her parents--no wonder she鈥檚 the way she is!鈥�. When we say or think comments such as these, we hold low expectations, perhaps subconsciously, and we don鈥檛 believe in a growth mindset.
Then, we act on those low expectations. For example, if we believe students are stuck where they are (a fixed mindset), we tend to ask lower level questions, provide less wait time, and give less positive feedback. First, we will ask those struggling students a question like 鈥淲hat鈥� or 鈥淲ho鈥� or 鈥淲hen鈥�. Even if they answer correctly, we don鈥檛 push them to elaborate, as we would with our other students. In fact, our response to a student trying to learn is 鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe they actually did that鈥� vs. saying 鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of you for trying so hard. You can really tell you are learning the material.鈥� The first represents the fixed mindset; the second a growth mindset. How can we encourage it in students if we don鈥檛 have it ourselves? Ultimately, the first step in building a classroom with a growth mindset is for us to evaluate our own beliefs, change those that reflect a fixed mindset, and then act on our revised beliefs in a positive way
Responses From Readers
Thanks to David, Debbie, Peter and Barbara, and to readers, for their contributions!
Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post. I鈥檒l be including responses from readers in Part Two.
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