Growth mindset Theory for Children at risk By Richard Coleman

What is Growth Mindset? Growth mindset is the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be developed . Carol Dweck identifies two main mindsets – “fixed” versus “growth”. Her theory is this: when we operate with a fixed mindset, we believe skills are innate characteristics, success depends on convincing everyone else we’re smart. With a fixed mindset, you subconsciously close off from anything you don’t fully understand, or feel you’re not good at. People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, take the approach of “there is always more to learn” and soak up knowledge from everyone they come into contact with (Brown 2016).

Quote from Carol Dweck

Who is Carol Dweck? When Carol Dweck was a graduate student in the 1970s, she began studying how children cope with failure. She soon realized that cope was the wrong word. “Some didn’t just cope-they relished it” she says. “For some people, failure is the end of the world-but for others, its this exciting new opportunity. “ Dweck spent the next several decades studying this dichotomy, which she originally used “fixed mindset enmity theory” and “incremental theory. By early 2000s, she came up with more-appealing labels. She refers to people who view talent as a quality they either possess or lack as having a “fixed mindset” People with a “growth mindset”, in contrast, enjoy challenges, strive to learn, and consistently see potential to develop new skills (Dweck 2014).

Carol Dweck

Who can benefit from the growth mindset?

Who are children at risk? Dweck did a presentation at Stanford where she talked about these children. Her statement was because of sterotypes, these children feel that intelligence is something just given. Some people feel the same way by judging a children because of their socialeconmic background that they can’t learn. They are put in a category of underachievers. Usually these children are the minority of this under these sterotypes. Their schools have limited resources and poor test scores which make them failing schools. With the growth mindset, it shows them that they do have intelliegence. That everybody learns in various ways and different rates.

Children are judged by performance together and apart

How does it work? Just by knowing about the two Mindsets, people can start thinking and reacting in new growth-orientated ways. Students benefit from being taught about the brain. Knowledge of how the brain makes new neural connections in response to learning provides them with a model of why effort and mastery- related practices lead to achievement. Achievement increased in studies that included control groups Sessions linked to Mindset-related learning led to measurable differences in motivation, engagement and effort levels.

Mindsets

Teachers who have applied the growth mindset to their theory Hattie’s high currency teaching strategies that show large effect sizes are the setting of challenging goals, active learning activities based around the application of knowledge, formative evaluation of how well students are progressing towards those goals, and rich feedback to learners about their errors and how they can mitigate for them. All of these, when examined through the lens of Dweck’s research into the impact of mindsets, illustrate the incredible value of instilling and supporting growth mindsets in learners.

Hattie’s high currency teaching strategies

Teachers who have applied the growth mindset theory to their class An indication of the power of growth mindset can be gleaned from Marzano’s meta-analysis of studies into self-efficacy- teachers persuading students that if they try they can succeed. Petty (2009) indicates an effect size of d=0.80 for this, stating that it is most effective when students are actually working on the task, and when they are experiencing difficulty. I wonder what the effect size of such a strategy would be if you were to test it on a group of learners that you had previously identified as possessing solely fixed mindsets towards the activity they were involved in.

Marzano- ‘Self-efficacy’

Conclusion Does it work? It depends on the setting that your trying to achieve on. If you start low, you can only go higher than your bottom. In some cases, choice or believe had no bearing on the outcomes. I believe in it because it’s a positive solution to several negatives in education. Belief is strongest when you have it in yourself, because without it failure is assured. To “make it” you have to see something that isn’t there yet. That is easier said than done if you live in an hopeless environment. My refuge was the library which reading expanded my mind. I never thought I would be an Librarian running a university library.

Richard Coleman/ME

References Brown, S. (2016). Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential. Business Traveller (Asia-Pacific Edition), 74. Dweck, C. (2014). TALENT: HOW COMPANIES CAN PROFIT FROM A "GROWTH MINDSET". Harvard Business Review, 92(11), 28-29. Glenn, D. (2010, May 14). Carol Dweck's Mindset. Chronicle of Higher Education. pp. B6-B9. Meierdirk, C. (2016). Developing a growth mindset. Teaching Business & Economics, 20(1), 25-26. Retrieved from http://proxygsu- atcc.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docvie w/1789702125?accountid=8404 http//teachit.so/mindset.htm