What is the best growth mindset definition and how does it relate to our classroom? You may be asking yourself these questions and wondering how you can encourage it through best practices throughout the school year. The first thing to keep in mind is that the growth mindset is focused more on effort than on results. It can sometimes be an unnatural way of thinking when we have been accustomed to results driven success for such a long time.
The growth mindset definition states that this is a mindset where people thrive on challenges. When you don’t have a fixed mindset overcoming obstacles becomes more effortless. Of course, failures and setbacks are bound to happen… that’s just life. Exploring the growth mindset definition we come to understand that these things help propel people to greater success. People with a growth mindset don’t see failure or setbacks as a negative. They see these things as simply another stepping stone to get to where they are going. People with a fixed mindset might say “well, looks like I can’t do that” and stop there. Those who adopt a growth mindset think something like “that strategy didn’t seem to work, how can I improve my tactic.”
What Growth Mindset Can Do in the Classroom
Growth mindset def became popular in the last few years! It has been around for a long time but it seemed like out of nowhere, the growth mindset definition was one to be studied more in-depth. There is so much more to growth mindset than hanging a few growth mindset phrases in the classroom. Most students, no matter their age, need clear and consistent modeling for what growth mindset is and what it looks like in their school work.
If implemented correctly, making a shift to growth mindset in the classroom can shift your students’ “good at school or bad at school” mentality. Soon you will see them adopting a more “how can I improve in school” thought process… regardless of their current situation. Students with a positive mindset don’t see failure as an end-all-be-all in the classroom. They are more optimistic about continuing on their journey and working past set-backs. Another positive outcome from implementing the growth mindset in the classroom is a better classroom culture all around.
Have you ever found students are afraid to answer for fear of being ridiculed by others if they make mistakes? Try as we may to keep this from happening, it almost seems inevitable. When we successfully implement and foster a growth mindset in the classroom this occurs rarely – if at all. Instead, students are more capable of recognizing that mistakes happen to all of us. Instead of laughing about the mistakes of others, they are more apt to use error analysis skills to help them.
The best thing about the growth mindset in the classroom is that you can start at any point in the year! It is always a good time to start embracing errors and failures as learning opportunities! There are several aspects needed to fully embrace this positive mindset shift in the classroom. It includes things students see, things students hear, things students practice and things students are celebrated for. Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these areas.
What Does Growth Mindset Look Like?
It does not take a very long search on Google or TpT to find growth mindset posters to hang around your classroom. Regardless of what age you teach, having reminders around the room to promote a growth mindset is imperative. It also becomes useful when students are met with a challenge and they look away from their work feeling defeated. Having positive growth mindset sayings around the classroom that they can read in their head or say out loud can have major benefits. Growth mindset phrases such as “I will learn how to do this” or “what am I missing?” can help redirect negative thoughts to more productive ones.
To foster a visual representation of growth mindset, some good quality posters with some positive growth mindset sayings are a great place to start. Be careful, though, not to overdo it here. You don’t want to over clutter your classroom space and give students too much to look at. Just 3-5 posters around the room would be perfect. Another way to incorporate a visual reminder for positive thinking is to put a mirror in your classroom with some growth mindset mantras taped around the frame. Students can visit this mirror at the start of the day (or period) to repeat these mantras. With practice, they can go there when they are feeling like they are in a fixed mindset. You can have growth mindset mantras such as “I can do this,” “I am smart,” and “I can do challenging things.”
Strategies to Incorporate Growth Mindset in the Classroom
You can start this journey by simply hanging some posters on your walls. It takes a little more than that, however, to get buy-in from your students. At any point in the year, you can begin a dialogue with your students about what a growth mindset is and how it is different from a fixed mindset. There are many things you can do to get students of any age to recognize the importance of a growth mindset.
- Growth mindset activities: One way to start or revive growth mindset in the classroom is by having students complete activities. They can practice rephrasing fixed mindset quotes into growth mindset to help them next time they feel that thought. They can even write their own growth mindset phrases for when they are feeling stuck! Another simple activity is to match different phrases to growth vs fixed mindset categories.
- Error analysis: This is a great opportunity to incorporate growth mindset in math. Students are given a problem that has been worked out. The solution is given but it is the incorrect solution with a common mistake. Instead of solving the problem, it now becomes the student’s task to find out what error was made and why. Doing these activities help students recognize common errors in the subject. This can help students build problem solving-skills and become better at teaching other students.
- Growth mindset mantras and check-ins: Teaching students various growth mindset phrases can help reprogram their mind when they are feeling pessimistic. Shifting their perception and focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel can help tremendously with self-esteem. Depending on the ages of students, teachers can also plan growth mindset check-ins with students each month or week. During this time, teachers can review work with students and talk about successes and failures. They can work together to make a plan to move past those failures.
Wrapping Things Up
The growth mindset definition can be daunting to think about, especially for teachers trying to explain to students. Here is the simplest way to define growth mindset: the ability to see failures and setbacks as opportunities for growth instead of dead ends while remaining optimistic and effortlessly changing direction to find a better solution. Fostering this type of mindset at an early age can help prepare students for education and beyond. I hope this has helped you find some way to start implementing a growth mindset in your classroom to be able to do just that.
What are some ways you have implemented a growth mindset in your classroom? What are some of your favorite growth mindset phrases? Let me know in the comments below or send me a message and lets chat!
Keep going, keep growing!
Leah
