A “mindset” is a view you have of yourself as learning and it affects all the decisions you make about your learning, the effort, risks, failure/criticism, how much of a challenge you are willing to accept. The term was first coined in a study by Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University, and is now commonly used in the fields of psychology and education. While some people believe that intelligence is a fixed trait, Dweck’s research actually suggests that there is actually no limit to what you can learn with a growth mindset.
Example of a Growth Mindset
I have a friend who is constantly learning new skills that amaze me. My first instinct is to think that she is really smart and that things come easily to her. However, when I ask her how she learned to do something, she always has a series of steps that she took to get to where she currently is. She is disciplined, methodical, and reflective, and always looking for new things to learn. She is great at goal-setting, planning ahead, and using resources to get what she needs. She clearly has a growth mindset.
Example of a Fixed Mindset
On the other hand, I can think of a relative of mine who has had significant difficulty learning to use technology. She is definitely bright and able in many areas, but thinks that she is “bad at using computers.” Because of this, she actually talked herself out of a job that she had because she didn’t think she could learn how to use the relatively simple database. She grew so anxious that she was barely able to pay attention to what her manager was saying and always questioned herself instead and looked for reassurance instead of trying things on her own. Her perception of herself dictated her behavior and way of thinking, and she essentially talked herself out of learning. It had very little to do with her intelligence. This is an example of a fixed mindset.
People with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is an inborn trait that cannot change significantly throughout one’s lifetime. People with a growth mindset believe that they can learn anything with hard work. This attitude actually contributes to learning because it causes the person to think and behave differently when encountering new information. A girl who perceives herself to be “bad at math,” is much more likely to not pay attention in class than her friend who is “a math genius.” Although both girls may be starting at different places, they both have the potential to grow in that area. However, because the first girl doesn’t think she can, she is far less likely to. The girl who is perceived as a “math genius,” will be confident to raise her hand in class and sees the purpose in putting in extra work because she knows that she will learn things eventually.
Each individual person can vary in terms of context for when they have a fixed vs. growth mindset. For example, I know that I have a growth mindset in the area of foreign languages. Having been a foreign language teacher and also having learned basic conversational Spanish as an adult at a relatively quick rate, I feel pretty confident that if I wanted to put the time in, I could learn as many other languages as I wanted. I know that I would feel frustrated at first if I wasn’t making speedy progress, but that I would also be aware that my frustration was just a part of a full process that will eventually end in success. I have a growth mindset in the context of foreign languages. However, I know that I have a tendency towards a fixed mindset when it comes to crafting and anything involving manual dexterity, such as putting on nail polish or painting. I have never been naturally great with fine motor skills, and because of that I tend to shy away from participating in such activities. Because of my perception of how I do with these things, I have no growth in that area and fulfill my self-fulfilling prophecy.
The main take-away here is that we need to learn to compete with ourselves, not others. Just because we don’t start out at the same point as others in a certain subject does not mean that we can’t improve with planning, hard work, and resourcefulness. In fact, we may even surpass them one day.
Tips for Parents:
∙Educate your child about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and why it is important to their learning.
∙Mindset can be specific to context, so asking a child how they learn in a subject in which they do well and then telling them to apply those concepts to a more challenging subject is a good way to move the child towards growth mindset.
∙Provide consistent feedback to your child related to their effort, behavior, and actions as opposed to their natural abilities.
∙The fixed vs. growth mindset tends to surface in middle school, so it’s important to help your child think that they can learn anything as long as they work at it. You can accomplish this by praising effort instead of intelligence or talent.
∙Sometimes the fixed mindset can appear to be laziness, irresponsibility, or immaturity, but it is actually the child thinking that they are unable to get better at something.
∙People with fixed mindsets often take on easy tasks, make others try to look dumb, and discount other’s achievements to protect their self-image.
∙Teach your child that when you fail, focus on the strategies you used and the time and effort you put forth to see what caused the failure and to for feedback from the teacher. Feedback is a very important piece of the growth mindset.