Growth Mindset
There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly? (Hanson, n.d.)
My Own Mindset
When I was young, I sat perched on the very top stop, cape on, ready for flight. I jumped. Obviously, I did not fly, but this was my approach to challenges. Tell me I can’t do something and I will try harder. However, as I outgrew the childhood invincibility, I started to back away from challenges. I started to fear failure. Taking everything into account – our upbringing, successes, failures, relationships – it is really no surprise that so many individuals are so hypercritical of themselves and afraid of failure. What is this criticism keeping us from? What challenges could we be facing and conquering? It’s time to ditch the sage advice from Yoda, “Do or do not; there is no try,” embrace the fear failure, and, by doing so, fulfill our potential.
Confronting the criticism and fear so many of us face is a small step in approaching what Carol Dweck (2006), renowned professor of psychology and author, has deemed the growth mindset. A growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset, is the “belief that you can develop your talents and abilities through hard work, good strategies, and help from others” (Dweck, 2016). With years of scientific research to back her findings, Dweck (2006) reassures her readers that intelligence, and even personality, is not a fixed thing. With the right tools and strategies, students, teachers, leaders, and lifelong learners are capable of so much more.
My own growth mindset stems from growing up an athlete with parents who always encouraged me to work hard to accomplish my goals. It also comes from a father who insisted we never pay someone else to do something we could feasibly figure out – by the age of six, I had already helped reshingle a roof. However, I also clearly recognize that not all aspects of my life have this stick-to-it-ive-ness growth mindset; there are plenty of instances where a fixed mindset has stopped me dead in my tracks, impacted relationships, or simply made me doubt myself. I can run 13.1 miles at a pretty good clip, but calculus is beyond me. The difference is not in my talent or intellectual ability, it is simply in my effort, motivation, and mindset. I love to run – I am comfortable being uncomfortable and struggling to breathe and I took the time to learn what was happening in my body; however, I despise calculous and that’s that. My hope is that with a growth mindset plan in place, and the ability to recognize these different mindsets, I will not only enjoy this journey of transformation, I will also get my students to see their vast potential and renew their love of learning.
4 (Relatively) Simple Steps (Mindset, n.d.)
Step 1: Listening. No, Really Listen
I’m really good at making excuses for myself – some may call it a special talent. Mostly these excuses come up when things didn’t go as planned or I was too lazy to go for a run (I ran hard yesterday, my legs could use a break) – it seems to be a safety net so I don’t beat myself up too badly. As teachers, we sometimes fail to recognize that the lesson plan we spent hours on falls flat because of something we did, not because the students were unprepared. In order to begin this journey of growth, we have to start to recognize when our fixed mindsets start to chime in. What happens when confronted with challenges, criticism, and upsets greatly impacts action. Listen to the nagging voice in your mind and discover what it is really saying. Is it blaming someone else? Is it trying to create excuses to protect your fragile psyche? Listen to the fixed mindset and then recognize your choices.
Step 2: Choices – So Many of Them
Once we’ve recognized the fixed mindset voices, how we actually react to our situations and challenges is simply a choice. I’m not always the best when given choices (what if I choose wrong), but knowing that I can confront my challenges in a more productive way gives me a great sense of satisfaction and hope. I need to recognize those moments when I start to blame my students for something I need to fix or make excuses that never move me forward. It is in this step that we have to learn to choose the growth mindset to respond to the nagging fixed voices.
Step 3: Voice – Talk the Talk
When blame, doubt, or fear of failure enter into the conversation, talk back with a sense of confidence. It isn’t necessarily that my lesson was bad, but maybe I didn’t do enough guidance to get my students where I wanted them to be. Rather than throw the towel in and say, “I suck as a teacher,” or “My students are too low for this thinking,” I need to ask how I can improve this lesson and what do my students need from me to get to the higher level. The growth mindset conversations are more about learning and, most often, trying again.
Step 4: Action – Time to Fly
The scariest step is the final step. Take the leap, take the plunge, take action. It isn’t enough to simply think the thoughts of a person with a growth mindset. The hard work comes in the form of acting on your thoughts. I will never be faster simply by wishing it or wearing some new sneakers; I have to put in the effort, sweat, pain, and sometimes blood. With teaching, lesson planning means going back to the drawing board and reflecting on where or why things went wrong and fixing them. By learning and practicing these steps, I hope the growth mindset pops up in more places in my life. By modeling and also believing in this way of thinking and acting, my students will be more apt to buy in and see how their own lives can change.
Learn and Practice
Getting Students Involved & the Power of Yet
I’ve gotten into the practice of always doing the work I expect my students to do right alongside them. If I’m “forcing” them to share a poem or personal essay, so am I. What better way of teaching my students about the growth mindset than to be able to truly model it as a student myself in the Digital Learning and Leading program? As I move forward as a learner, with this mindset, I am even more engaged and motivated to succeed in this program. I plan to share this process with my students in hopes of them seeing the value in a growth mindset. It is a great reminder to hit pause when feeling resistant to change, and really examine where those feelings are coming from. Am I feeling a bit anxious about this e-portfolio? Yes. But I cannot wait to see what I am able to develop with my new strategies as I grow my brain muscle.
Imagine being told you can’t do something… not yet. For this to be engrained in students’ minds may be the most powerful belief there is. It gives a struggling student hope that he/she will eventually overcome some hurdle. Rick Wormeli (n.d.), author and Nationally Board Certified teacher, takes the message of “not yet” one step further. He suggests we do away with averaging a student’s grade; instead, focus on the standard and whether or not he/she has mastered it. With “not yet” thrown into the mix there is always room for improvement and hope for growth. This opens the door for re-dos and more opportunities for students to show growth and understanding. By combining the idea of not grasping a concept yet, and the growth mindset, students will be able to show mastery in areas where they previously struggled.
As excited as I am for my own journey of learning about and implementing the growth mindset in more aspects of my life and embracing the not yet, I am more thrilled to see what I can do with it in regards to my students. My students are pretty typical angsty teenagers – my sophomores have been on the honors level track since middle school, and my seniors are an eclectic mix of students with IEPs and students who have been labeled “lazy” or “apathetic.” Both groups, for their own unique reasons, can thrive with the tools and practice of using a growth mindset. What a beautiful thing to remind these young adults: “you’re an unfinished human being” (Dweck, 2006, p. 236).
Heavy Lifting in the Classroom
Because I was typically one of the smallest players on the court, I started lifting at a pretty young age. I’m still proud of the number of pull-ups and pushups I can do, and I’ve never shied away from a burly teenage boy requesting a pushup contest. As a society, we are in and out of workout trends and diet fads with a blink of an eye, and we understand that muscles are important. But what about the muscle in between our ears? If I can get my students to understand their brain as a muscle (Dweck, 2006, p. 213), then we can figure out how to grow it. By giving students a more concrete idea of what it means to learn (build brain muscle), and teaching them study skills or strategies to keep their neurons firing and making connections, the heavy lifting can turn into critical thinking.
When people find out I teach high school English, after the groans about watching their grammar, they seem repulsed and ask, “How do you deal with the kids these days?” My answer is pretty simple: I care about them. I felt validated when Dweck (2006) seconded that opinion. My care for my students goes well beyond whether they are “good” at reading and writing. I care about who they are as people and where in this crazy world they will end up. Teaching them the growth mindset is not about getting them more prepared to pass the New York State Common Core exam; it is teaching them to be leaders and lifelong learners.
With the right balance of nurture, compassion, and challenge, Dweck (2006) poses the question, “Can anyone do anything” (p. 71)? Maybe, maybe not, but no one has the right to underestimate someone else’s potential. Could it be that easy – to teach a student he/she has the choice to embrace the growth mindset? Probably not. More recently, Dweck (2016) even suggests that there seems to be an emerging false growth mindset. To praise a student’s effort or tell them he/she can do anything is not sufficient if there is no learning happening. It is essential to continue to praise effort, but recognize when praise alone isn’t enough, and then help the student find another strategy so he/she is actually learning (Dweck, 2016). I will continue to tell my students they can do anything, but I will then also set high standards and provide the tools and guidance for them to succeed. The growth mindset isn’t about filling the students with a false sense of self; rather, be honest with students about where they stand, but then “give them the tools to close the gap” (Dweck 2006, p.193). What good is a test score with no idea how to succeed? A score cannot be an indicator of success for the rest of a student’s life; it is just one more tool to help figure out where to go from here.
I’m eager to discover where my students tend to fall on the mindset spectrum. Once they are all able to recognize their own tendencies, we can move towards shifting our approach to learning. School shouldn’t be drudgery; it needs to be a place where learning is not only happening, but it is engaging and motivating. The great part about being an English teacher is that there are so many opportunities for students to write and reflect on their own learning. We will reflect throughout the year especially when faced with more challenging pieces. By teaching them the steps to follow and providing ample opportunities to achieve high standards, I feel the depth of my lessons will be enriched, and my students will take away lessons essential to succeed in life.
The Ultimate Goal
My ultimate goal, as a teacher, a leader, and a lifelong learner, is for my students to also love to learn. Life can’t be a series of hoops to jump through or tests to be conquered. We have to embrace the challenge and be prepared to say, “Okay, this didn’t work. But I can try again.” In working towards this goal, we need to reframe how we look at failing. We can’t be discouraged when things don’t go our way; instead, we have to see a new, brighter opportunity for learning.
If everything, from running 13.1 miles to discussing Plato, can be looked at as an opportunity to learn, maybe anyone can be capable of anything. It’s time to put the cape back on and take the leap.
Possible Resources
This infographic is the most straightforward explanation of the two mindsets. I will have students put this image in the front of their binders as a constant reminder.
Ted Talks and NY Times Op-Docs – By incorporating visual literacies into my classroom, I find more students are engaged and willing to be involved. When they realize literacy isn’t just about tackling To Kill a Mockingbird they feel empowered because they already have some essential skillsets.
Excerpts from Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Many of my students could handle reading this book in its entirety, but for starters I will provide some handouts covering the main ideas to introduce them to the growth mindset.
References
B, A. (2015, February 10). Pinstamatic – Get More From Pinterest. Retrieved July 26, 2017, from pinterest.com
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset. Retrieved
July 25, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-
growth-mindset-carol-dweck.
Hanson, E. (n.d.). If you cannot be a poet, be the poem. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://
Holmes, N. (n.d.). Two Mindsets [Digital image]. Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://
http://www.megsonline.net/lee_meg3.pdf.
Mindset. (n.d.). Retrieved July 25, 2017, from http://mindsetonline.com/changeyourmindset/
firststeps/index.html.
Wormeli, R. Let’s change education together. (n.d.). Retrieved July 26, 2017, from http://
