While researching for a project recently, I came across Dr. Carol Dweck’s idea of fixed mindset vs. growth mindset. As more schools work to build 21st Century Skills in their students,greater numbers of teachers are trying to foster the growth mindset in their classrooms. Initially, I assumed a growth mindset had to do with students creating goals and monitoring their progress, either individually or as a class. I was wrong. So what is a fixed mindset? What is a growth mindset? According to Dweck’s website, in a nutshell:
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.
How do students view hard work?
After reading this, I felt like a light bulb had switched on in my head. When I was teaching, I too often heard, “I’m too dumb to do this,” or “well so-and-so is smart, of course they get it.” This fixed mindset is a plague amongst students. The idea that each person only has a certain amount of intelligence or talent poisons student motivation and creates a negative view of hard work and effort. People with a fixed mindset believe that if they had the right intelligence, they won’t have to work hard or put in effort; therefore, if they are working hard and putting in a lot of effort, they aren’t smart enough.
This view of hard work, in my opinion, is completely backwards. Maybe my own attitude comes from growing up on a piece of property that my family turned into a vegetable, herb, and fruit garden. I learned from a very early age that hard work pays off. I was so pleased with myself the first time I grew a head of lettuce. All that hard work of weeding, watering, shoveling, composting, etc. had paid off and now I had my very own head of lettuce! It was almost too much to even think about eating it! But the result taught me not to be afraid of hard work and effort.
Too many students are growing up with the fixed mindset and a fear they’re not smart enough if they have to put effort into their work, rather than seeing effort as part of the process to success. As educators, we need to start supporting students in moving from this fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
This view of hard work, in my opinion, is completely backwards. Maybe my own attitude comes from growing up on a piece of property that my family turned into a vegetable, herb, and fruit garden. I learned from a very early age that hard work pays off. I was so pleased with myself the first time I grew a head of lettuce. All that hard work of weeding, watering, shoveling, composting, etc. had paid off and now I had my very own head of lettuce! It was almost too much to even think about eating it! But the result taught me not to be afraid of hard work and effort.
Too many students are growing up with the fixed mindset and a fear they’re not smart enough if they have to put effort into their work, rather than seeing effort as part of the process to success. As educators, we need to start supporting students in moving from this fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
Strategies for developing a growth mindset in students
Growth mindset can be an incredibly powerful skill to teach. However, it is a complete overhaul of how one thinks which, admittedly, is not easy. One powerful strategy Dweck recommends is to add the word “yet” to negative statements students make about themselves or their success. For example, if a student complains that they aren’t meeting their goals, add a yet, and suddenly the statement turns from something fixed and impossible to something to strive for. It makes “failure” part of the success process rather than a full stop wall. It seems so simple.
Another strategy teachers can use to decrease the fear of hard work and effort is to turn praise from intelligence-based to effort-based. Rather than saying things like “what a great score! You must be so smart!” teachers can praise the effort by saying, “what a great score! You must have worked very hard!”
If more teachers use these as a jumping off point into moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, students can soon learn that hard work, effort, and failure, are all part of the success cycle, and that there’s no need to be afraid!
Another strategy teachers can use to decrease the fear of hard work and effort is to turn praise from intelligence-based to effort-based. Rather than saying things like “what a great score! You must be so smart!” teachers can praise the effort by saying, “what a great score! You must have worked very hard!”
If more teachers use these as a jumping off point into moving from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, students can soon learn that hard work, effort, and failure, are all part of the success cycle, and that there’s no need to be afraid!
The STAR Framework can help to develop the teaching skills you need for a 21st century classroom.
Amy Cox, M.A.T. Research Assistant
Amy holds a Master’s Degree in Teaching and a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from Western Washington University. After completing a nine-week internship at an at-risk youth alternative high school, a year-long practicum in a sixth grade classroom, and a semester-long internship in a tenth grade English classroom, Amy graduated with her master’s and a residency teaching certificate with an endorsement in English. Amy has traveled and taught English in Barcelona and Hawaii. Amy is excited to be a part of making a difference in student learning.