Growth Mindset

For those of you whom this document is intended for, I assume that you already have a basis for as to what a growth mindset implies for students. However, as the research shows a growth mindset can be difficult to achieve in the classroom without a full understanding. A growth mindset is one that offers a student the chance to further grow their skills and abilities in a field of study rather than see that student hit a wall where they believe nothing new is left to learn or improve upon (mindsetkit). When students with a growth mindset arrive at a blocker in their learning they do not give up. They may fail once in a while, but they do not give up when faced with the outcome of failure. Instead, they find alternatives to break through

These new strategies can be guided by instructors; however, I have found that students are able to grow more when they take risks with their work and then learn from any mistakes that are incurred. Taking risks is important because this can guide a student to develop learning strategies that help them accomplish their goals. Taking risks also promotes the students to seek aid from fellow peers in order to overcome obstacles. In the end, a growth mindset is intended to promote the best efforts of a student and encourage them to put further effort into their work rather than promote the abilities of a student which can lead to a fixed

Many students, at first glance, may simply assume that room for improvement and criticism from peers promotes failure. Students would assume that they are being shamed or embarrassed for not getting the right answer and in other cases, they feel as if they are not smart enough for the situation. This should not be the case, however. When a student encounters these events they should take it as a way to improve and learn from the situation. One instance that I found quoted by Dweck is when she is talking to a seventh-grade girl. In this quote, the girl talks about how “intelligence is something that you have to work for” and as a result, even if she is unsure as to what an answer may be she still raises her hand in the classroom. When this girl does so, she is turning room for failure into room for improvement because if she is wrong then the mistake will be corrected by someone else. In other instances, this girl also asks a variety of questions that lead to help thereby allowing her to increase her knowledge through trial and error (LinkedIn). Another section on changing a student’s idea of failure includes collaborative work among students. As I stated before, having a student take risk is invaluable when trying to promote a growth mindset. When you can get students to work within groups this can open them up to taking