"The most important thing that schools can do is not to use technology in the curriculum more, but to use it more effectively."
John G. Palfrey and Urs Gasser
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Growth Mindset 2.0
In the book Mindset, Carol Dweck (2016) shares her definition of growth mindset. She states having a growth mindset means that your abilities are shaped by your efforts, strategies, and support from others. People with a growth mindset believe they can change their abilities through their experiences. This shift in mindset has created a movement where many educational organizations and programs have purchased programs to help provide interventions that address mindset (Sisk et al., 2018). However many entities are asking about the validity between growth mindset positively affecting academic achievement. Even Carol Dweck shares her own concerns that teachers are referencing a growth mindset in classrooms, yet do not have a deep enough understanding of how to apply it (Gerstein, 2015). In this post, I will explore why Growth Mindset has a place in the classroom, but why alone it is not enough. I previously developed a Growth Mindset plan for my classroom but now realize that without quality instruction in a significant learning environment, optimum results of our goals may not be achieved.
Why Adopt a Growth Mindset?
In a life full of unexpected twists and turns, one of the things we can count on is that we will go through setbacks and challenges. Having a growth mindset is important in being able to thrive during times of challenge.
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"Becoming is better than being." In our classroom, we want to highlight the learning journey. A growth mindset is important in teaching children to prioritize their growth and effort toward a goal versus a final grade. Students who understand that they do not have all of the answers yet will overcome struggles better than students who believe they cannot accomplish tasks. Students who embrace a growth mindset perform better academically by giving effort and keeping a positive attitude (Dweck, 2006).
Is a Growth Mindset Enough?
Learning about the COVA model and creating significant learning environments has shown me how pairing these principles with those of growth mindset can be a power combination to promote student achievement. Let's look at how the COVA model pairs nicely with a growth mindset.
Harapnuik (2021) shares that a Learner's Mindset is "a state of being where people act on their intrinsic capacity to learn and respond to their inquisitive nature. This state enables one to interact with and influence the learning environment as a perpetual learner who has the capacity to use change and challenges as opportunities for growth." We want our learners to believe their efforts can shape our outcomes, but we also want them to understand what it means to focus on their learning to make it happen.
By giving students choice students not only are control of their efforts, but of their learning. Students are rewarded with choice through purpose, motivation, and confidence (Harapnuik & Thibodeaux, 2023). The increase in motivation will help students nurture their growth mindset. With implementing my Innovation Plan, there are many opportunities for student choice and giving control to the learner.​ For example, students will have the choice of identifying a problem that affects their life in their class, school, or community. They will use this conflict to base a children's book on which they create to help others solve the problem.​​
Truly have a growth mindset means that your focus is on the learning instead of the final outcome (Dweck, 2016). By providing opportunities for learners to reflect on their performance and revise their actions, we are allowing them to take ownership of their learning. Through these reflections, our learners will see the importance of their struggles on their growth and learning. Growth minded individuals also look at feedback as a positive tool. We want to allow our learners to fail, but we do not want to leave them without tools. Providing timely feedback is an important part of this point (Harapnuik & Thibodeaux, 2023). Stated in my UbD for Plot, learners will have multiple opportunities to reflect on their own learning at different states of learning as well as having time built in to collaborate with their peers for feedforward sessions. Being able to reflect on their journey and how they are coming along on their goals will help detract that their sole focus should be on grades.
Dweck (2016) highlights some corporate organizations in her book that demonstrate a growth mindset. One of the traits of this specific corporation was the emphasis on collaboration. This collaboration shows a desire for learning and growth. In creating significant learning environments where students use their voice, they begin to see that their voice matters where they can make positive contributions to their peers (Harapnuik & Thibodeaux, 2023). This ties in nicely with allowing peers to collaborate with others for feedforward sessions previously mentioned. Since my learners are younger, I plan on explicitly teaching what it looks like to have your voice be heard so that they can make impactful contributions to their peers. With the ability to impact their peers, this also helps them grow in their sense of ownership in class. Students will feel empowered by helping one another. One way I have already began to implement this idea is using the principles outlined in Building Thinking Classrooms. Liljedahl (2021) emphasizes the use of vertical non-permanent surfaces, such as whiteboard spaces. Students work in collaborative groups of three to solve a task. Since everyone around the room is working on this open-ended task, if they are stuck, they can glance around the room to see if another team's strategy might benefit their solution path. This method increases knowledge mobility and decreases the reliance on the teacher for knowledge while supporting their reliance on each other. It has taken some time to encourage students not to see this as cheating, but being able to learn from their peers. We sometimes to gallery walks to observe how different groups approach their problem and discuss how their strategies differ from their own.
Through these mentioned activities and other similar ones, I believe teachers can move their learner's toward a learner's mindset where they understand their efforts can change their outcomes, but one where they also take ownership of their learning. By implementing the COVA model, students will participate in authentic learning experiences where they are given choice, ownership, and voice over their learning. When our learners and peers see that these actions are in place, we move away from just simply having growth mindset being a fad. In order for this movement to stick, we need to follow the practices mentioned above and show our learners how these principles tie to building a growth mindset. To do this, however, educators must remember that its our turn to give up control and hand it over to our learners.
Introducing the Message of "Yet"
Being an elementary school teacher means we wear many hats. We are not only responsible for teaching children academic content, but we also build character. In order to help students understand the important message of "yet," we will read "The Magical Yet" by Angela DiTerlizzi. This relatable story teaches children to embrace challenges. Children are often frustrated when they cannot accomplish something instantly. Hearing this message will help our learners understand that learning is a journey. It is okay to sit in our discomfort for a bit while we learn along the way. Although we can't accomplish our goal "yet" with practice, determination, and fortitude we will get there! Reading this book at the beginning of the year will provide a reference to turn back to as we approach productive struggles in our classroom activities. In addition to reading this accessible message, I plan on being open with my students about my struggles as a life-long learner. I sometimes struggled feeling that I had to have it all figured out, but still remind myself that I don't need to be perfect. I don't have to have every detail of my obstacle figured out yet. I also appreciated one of my peers respond to this question in a discussion post. She shared that she had a former student come visit her class to share an obstacle that he overcame through the power of yet. I feel giving students relatable experiences is more meaningful to them then solely being given an abstract example of what the message means.
Leading by example...
As a teacher expecting students to adopt a growth mindset model, I must lead by example not only in my classroom, but in my life.
Classroom
Showing students resiliency in the classroom as I make mistakes will help them see how I choose to use a growth mindset in my own life. Often times I will share areas where I struggle myself and share my though process in how I have overcome those struggles in a way that is relatable for them. This will help students feel safe with challenges in our own classroom.
Master Courses
Juggling work, family life, and a master's degree coursework will be a time in my life that will take great effort. Adopting a growth mindset during this time will be vital. There will be times of discomfort and failure. I must remember to learn from feedback, use the help of my peers, and be comfortable in my discomfort. Without discomfort, there will be no growth.
Home
Being a mother means that I have four children who watch how I react to obstacles and challenges in my life. Them watching how I react to the stressors of work, school, and home will result in how they handle challenges. Helping my children recognize their accomplishments after setbacks will be important in helping them also develop their growth mindsets. Going forward, it will be important to decide how to praise my children for their accomplishments.
References
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Ballantine Books.
Harapnuik, D., and Thibodeaux, T. (2023). COVA: Inspire learning through choice, ownership,
voice, and authentic experiences. (2nd ed.).
Liljedahl, P. (2021). Building thinking classrooms in mathematics: 14 teaching practices for enhancing learning. Corwin Press.
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To What Extent and Under Which Circumstances Are Growth Mind-Sets Important to Academic Achievement? Two Meta-Analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549–571. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617739704​
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