This morning, my sister sent me photos of my twin nephews on their first day of 5th grade. They just moved into a different school district with year-round school, and it’s got me thinking. In the midst of all the summertime fun, we’re now halfway through July and the coming semester is looming.
Last summer, I took a professional development course that introduced the theory of “growth mindset,” and it blew me away. It was an idea that I always believed to be true, though I’d never spent the time to study or put it into words.
Another way that it’s been expressed is “The Power of Yet,” as in a student or child hasn’t quite grasped it… YET. Inherently, we all know because we’ve been taught that “practice makes perfect.” The hard part is believing in ourselves enough to put the work in and not give up. Growing up, I would have said, “I’ll never understand algebra,” but as an adult, I believe that if I tried it again and really put the time and effort into it, eventually it would make sense to me.
The problem is that we become complacent, or we allow ourselves to be coddled, or we get lazy. We come to accept less from ourselves and our lives. We allow the dream to slip away.
The most important thing about growth mindset is that it is relevant to everyone, 1st grader or college student, parent or none of the above. We can all gain more by pushing ourselves in the direction of what we want most. We can teach our children or our students to understand the importance of not giving up, of trying new ways of looking at things, of practicing until we understand.
This is not to say that some people won’t face more challenges, harder challenges, in achieving than others. Unfortunately, that is the reality. But most people have the same ability to push themselves through those challenges if they are willing to do the work.
If you’re a teacher or a parent or someone who just feels restless or tired of being complacent, I’ve collected some resources below for further information, expression, and motivation. I hope you find them insightful and inspiring.
For Teachers/Information:
For All Ages:
For Younger Learners:
For Older Students/Adults:
What are your favorite “Growth Mindset” resources?
I need to figure out how to teach my son this concept. He only wants to try things if he thinks he’ll succeed perfectly on the first try. I worry he’ll get in his own way because he’s so smart and could achieve so much.
There are a lot of great resources out there! I hope you found this to be a helpful starting point.
Great resources for a powerful and must-needed concept! Thanks!!
I hope they were helpful!
This is the first time I’ve heard this concept. I’ll definitely research and study this more to get a better understanding.
Absolutely! There are a lot of great resources out there.
For the first 3 years of school my daughter excelled and was reading at 6th grade level in 2nd grade . This past year though she had a teacher who didn’t engage and make her want to excel , her reading went down and so did her joy of learning . My daughter is someone who needs pushing . Great article .
I’m sorry to hear that. I hope this coming school year brings that joy back for her!
This made me look at the way I teach my son very different thank you so much. Be right back while I go push my son harder!
I love that it’s about celebrating the progress rather than the result!
Growth mindset is a big thing now in schools. The part of the article that I related most to was “the power of yet”. A lot of my students lack confidence at the beginning of the year in math, so it’s all about building them up. As they take common assessments and benchmarks I let them know how much they’ve grown even if it’s just a few points. By the end of the year it’s really amazing to see how much some of their confidence has grown. Especially when you tell a student whose never passed a STAAR test that they passed it this year. Priceless.
I think that’s wonderful!
I never even thought that one can teach a child “growth mindset”. Thank you!!! Thank you for the videos
I hope they’ve helped!
You have put together a great list of resources here. We grow and learn so much more when we push ourselves to try something new and something that isn’t easy for us.
Yes, definitely!
I’m on board with everything you’ve said! I’m going to watch the first Ted talk right now 🙂
Wonderful! I love that video!
Books, podcasts, mentors…!!!
Yes! So many great resources out there!
Love this and totally believe in it. I implement it in many different forms in my classroom but the basic idea always is- celebrate where we are and continue to work towards where we want to be!
Agreed. Building a student up for making progress is so important!
I heard several years ago that women are far more likely to have a fixed mindset than men–starting when they’re in elementary school. This made me so sad, but I know that it’s been true for me–I’m so much more likely to believe that I’m either naturally good at something, or I’m not and it’s pointless to try to be good at it. It’s definitely something that’s easier to combat when you’re conscious of the concept, so I’m glad you’re spreading the word!
Interesting. I think growth mindset can work very well with breaking stereotypes involving gender and learning. Encouragement is key!
I’m a big believer in the importance of a growth (vs. fixed) mindset. It’s the idea that your capabilities are not predetermined, but instead if you work hard you can achieve anything. The best book I’ve read on the topic is called ‘Mindset’, which shares the research of how your mindset can impact all areas of your life. It’s an easy, but worthwhile read.
Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll have to check it out!