Developing a growth mindset can be challenging for some but can seem to come naturally to others. I know when I started this program I was functioning on more of a fixed mindset and it caused a lot of stress. But, I felt as though it was a safe place to fail and make mistakes and try again from the beginning. Because of this, I was able to step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself and I felt as though I have learned so much from this. I feel like this is what we need to do with our students. Build an environment where it is safe to fail and make mistakes and once students understand that they can make mistakes, show them how challenges can help them grow. Another way to combat the fixed mindset is by the power of the word "yet." Using the word yet at the end of a sentence when a student states that they "cannot do it" will completely change the meaning of the phrase. I believe there is power in words, especially when we are talking to ourselves about our abilities so I think this can also be a powerful tool to help students foster a growth mindset.
Fixed mindsets make everything personal, so it can make receiving feedback very hard to hear. This leads to students not pushing themselves or cheating to receive the grade that they want. This can be damaging to their development and potentially cause them to not learn much during the process. A growth mindset can get a student a safety net of sorts when they are facing something challenging and can provide a safe place to land if they do fail at those challenges and it also gives them the grit to get up and try again. This can also take the focus off of grades since a growth mindset does not focus on a fixed set of intelligence, a student can be inspired to keep trying and working hard to improve instead of being devastated by a low grade in a class.
Something that can be problematic for the growth mindset in the classroom you walk into that has all of the growth mindset posters all over the walls. Inspirational quotes about the growth mindset are everywhere but there is no evidence of the growth mindset actually being used in the proper way. The teacher talks about grit but all it looks like is just giving students more rigorous work/questions that they are not performing well on. This is where the growth mindset and grit can go down the wrong path. Something that is important when implementing these things is the proper research and training that needs to take place. Building a growth mindset in the classroom is hard work and must be consistent. We must have o
留言