Growth Mindset
Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, defined a growth mindset as the belief that intelligence, abilities, and talents can be improved through effort and persistence.
Why is the growth mindset so important?
When presented with growth challenges in life, a person will either accept those challenges or decide that change isn’t for them. When they choose not to accept the challenge, a fixed mindset is present; the problem this causes is nongrowth within an individual. They are not open to criticism, changes in behavior, or any obstacles that get in their way. However, there is a beautiful solution to the fixed mindset, and that is changing your thinking
behavior. Instead of being fixed in your ways, open your mind to the possibility of excelling with change. Be open to criticism, embrace failure, and learn from others. By doing so, you are on the path to a growth mindset.
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Having a growth mindset sets that individual apart from the rest. They are not afraid of working hard to improve skills; they will embrace challenges and learn from their setbacks, but most importantly, they have a passion for learning. These individuals are the ones that are often looked at by employers for growth within the company. They are go-getters who start their own companies with a “yes I can” attitude when everyone else tells them they will fail.
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Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their intellectual abilities are fixed. They tend to approach learning to look smart, and they often shy away from challenges because they think that having to work hard at something or make mistakes means they don’t have high abilities. Those with more of a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that abilities can be developed. They are more likely to see effort as something that propels learning and to see setbacks as opportunities to build new skills (Armstrong, 2019).
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset — beliefs that shape your life, Revach 2021
Step 1:
Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
Step 2:
Recognize that you have a choice.
Step 3:
Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
Step 4:
Take the growth mindset action.
How to Incorporate the 4 Steps?
The little voice inside my head that is a constant annoying factor is my fixed mindset “voice.” When it comes to new challenges that I face in life, especially at work or with the master’s classes, my fixed mindset is always calling to me. Providing doubt in myself, telling me I’m not good enough, that I made a wrong decision, and hiding from it, it will eventually go away. It’s taken me years to overcome many of my self-doubts. However, my fixed mindset is a constant presence in my life, leading to anxiety and depression that make it even harder to overcome these obstacles.
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Recognizing that you have a choice to listen to your fixed mindset or learn to respond with your growth mindset. How you accept your setbacks and challenges is up to you. If you're told, “No, you can’t do that,” do you stop there or proceed and accept the challenge to show that things can be done differently with success?
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The growth mindset voice should always be present in your thinking. Whenever that Fixed Mindset voice comes along, challenge it with a Growth Mindset response. For example, how can you balance life, work, and family and add on the master classes? You have no time for extra work, added stress, and no home-cooked meals anymore. The Growth Mindset response to this thinking is it may be challenging and exhausting, but the reward will be more significant in the end.
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Fully immerse yourself in the Growth Mindset action plan. Take on all challenges with maximum effort, and don’t let setbacks keep you from finishing. Learn from each opportunity provided, from comments to questions to clarifying your understanding of the topics.
What is the "Power of Yet?"
The message of “yet” is a potent tool for working towards a goal. It’s the idea that people can improve over time with hard work and dedication. Instead of having the attitude of “I can’t do this,” the person says, “I can’t do this yet,” so you will accomplish the task in the future. For students who are struggling below grade level, providing them with differentiation and personalized instruction will help them achieve their desired results and growth in learning. This occurs along with students who are struggling with reading below grade level. The student often says, “I can’t read,” to get out of the task of trying; my response to them is, “You can’t read yet.” This provides them a different perspective, knowing they can read with practice and perseverance. This directly ties into the Growth Mindset for our young learners, showing them that learning takes time, but we achieve it.
Implementation and Promotion
I plan to implement the growth mindset and apply the power of "yet" in the following areas, classroom, colleagues, and personal life.
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Classroom: Focus on the students abilities on where they are in the learning process while showing that practice and applying effort will help them succeed. Provide constructive feedback while modeling the growth mindset by discussing the learning process using real world examples. My classroom has an abundance of growth mindset and power of "yet" posters in a super hero theme that is easy for the Pre-K students to understand.
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Colleagues: Apply the growth mindset and power of "yet" with colleagues through trainings and small group meetings. Bring data from the classroom showing what worked well, what didn't work so well, and how to change or improve an area. Provide examples on how you taught the lesson and share with others who are struggling in the area. Provide resources that you are using and work in your classroom for others to implement.
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Personal Life: I will implement the growth mindset in my personal life by accepting challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. Set goals for myself with deadlines and practice self-reflection. Remind myself that I haven't done it "yet" but with time and effort I will develop the ability.
How will the growth mindset influence or impact the way you approach your work in this course and the program?
The growth mindset will influence me through the course and program by accepting this challenge and following through. I was told by a principal a few years ago that a teacher like me doesn't get a master's. I was confused by this statement because my evaluations exceeded expectations. I'm actively involved with the school and activities during non-school times, and I attend trainings throughout the year to improve and grow as an educator. She was referring to the fact that I was a Pre-K teacher, and for her, that meant those teachers didn't aspire to anything more significant in their careers. I've taught different grade levels up to 5th grade but accepted the Pre-K position so I could be at the same school as my children. I was devastated by this statement; it made me not want to pursue growth as an educator. After two years of debating, I finally decided to prove her wrong. I was in a position where I could take on more work during the evenings and weekends. I practiced a lot of self-reflection in deciding where I would want to be in my career eventually. In my mind, I know that I can succeed; I haven't "yet!" I also haven't told this principal that I'm pursuing my master's because I don't need her negative energy telling me that I can't. I have accepted the challenge, and I can't wait to succeed!
References
Armstrong, K. (2019, October 29). Carol Dweck on how growth mindsets can bear fruit in the classroom. Association for Psychological
Science - APS. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/dweck-growth-mindsets​
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Revach, A. (2021, January 24). Fixed vs growth mindset; beliefs that Shape your life. Medium. https://uxplanet.org/fixed-vs-growth-
mindset-beliefs-that-shape-your-life-93a1b5f9b26a