This, not That: Foster a Growth, Not a Fixed Mindset
This article is part two of a new series on student learning called “This, not That!” You can find the introduction article here.
This year, I am teaching a course that I’ve never taught before—Advanced American Literature. Juniors who take this course are planning on enrolling in College British Literature their senior year. Overall, they are high-achieving students. I love how dedicated and hardworking my students are. I love how much they care about their learning. I love how knowledgeable they are about identifying rhetorical devices, incorporating evidence in their writing, and understanding the conventions of English.
But…there has been one facet of learning that they have really struggled to understand: It is okay to make mistakes. And honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised by this because they are products of their education. Most of them grew up memorizing the important content they needed to know and were told how smart they are for their ability to do so.
For some, encountering a challenging discussion question, analyzing a text that relies heavily on implied information, or purposefully integrating an understatement in their academic writing has almost paralyzed them from even trying because they are concerned with making a mistake, or worse yet, of failing.
Unintentionally, many of them (and probably many of you reading this) were educated with a fixed, not a growth mindset.
Growth Mindset: The belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort, persistence, and learning from mistakes. Students with a growth mindset see challenges as opportunities to learn and view effort as the path to mastery. They understand that failure is not a reflection of their worth or intelligence, but a necessary step in the learning process.
Fixed Mindset: The belief that intelligence and abilities are static and cannot change significantly. Students with a fixed mindset tend to avoid challenges, give up easily when faced with difficulty, and view effort as pointless if they do not experience immediate success.
The Research
The foundational work of Carol Dweck in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006) paved the way for understanding the impact of each mindset on student learning. The mindset does not show a significant difference in the moment, but it does have an impact over time. Students with a fixed mindset showed a consistent trend in their learning decreasing over time; whereas, students who were trained with a growth mindset demonstrated an upward trend in their performance, especially in math.
More recently, a study by Yeager et al. (2019) demonstrated how even a one-hour online course about having a growth mindset as an intervention was enough to improve grades in lower-achieving students and increase rates at which students took an advanced math course.
How does this apply to you? I chose this as the first topic in the series for two reasons:
I am already seeing subtle benefits of promoting a growth mindset in my students.
Most teachers are likely familiar with the terms and Dweck’s work, but I wonder how many have made/are making changes to avoid fostering a fixed mindset in their classrooms.
Which category better describes the mindset you foster in your classroom?
Take some time this weekend to honestly reflect on the practices within your classroom and among your students. Fostering a growth mindset is not just about a change in vocabulary; it’s a fundamental shift in how we approach teaching and learning.
As educators, our words and actions significantly impact how students view their abilities and their learning. Let’s commit to cultivating a classroom environment that champions growth, embraces challenges, and fosters a love of learning for all our students.
For some of you, this change will be easy; for others it may be more challenging. Either way, it will require a growth mindset from you, too!
Questions for Faculty Discussion:
What is one aspect of your teaching practice that you would like to change after reading this article?
What are some challenges or barriers that you anticipate when trying to foster a growth mindset? How might you overcome them?
As a faculty, start creating a “Growth Mindset” poster with ideas and dialogue that could/should be present in every classroom in your school.
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