Mindset and Learning

“Mindset” refers to the set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourselves. Your mindset influences how you think, feel, behave and cope in different situations. In this article, you’ll learn about growth and fixed mindsets and how these affect the brain and learning. You’ll also learn how to use these ideas in your classroom and daily life.

What are growth and fixed mindsets?

A fixed mindset refers to the idea that someone’s ability at something cannot change. “I’ll always be bad at maths” is an example of a statement that reflects a fixed mindset. People can have a fixed mindset about themselves, as in the example above, but can also have fixed mindsets about each other. For example, a teacher could believe that a student’s intelligence, characteristics or attitude towards something is fixed and can never change.

In contrast, the term ‘growth mindset’ (coined by Carol Dweck), refers to the idea that brains and traits are not stagnant and can change over time. “Maybe if I practice this type of problem more, I can get better at them.” is an example of a growth mindset statement. People with growth mindsets see failure as opportunities for growth. It is likely that Virat Kohli, who was once told that he was unfit to play sports, had a growth mindset about himself or towards his aptitude with cricket. Below are some statements that are representative of fixed and growth mindsets.

Brain research supports the idea of growth mindset through studies in neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the idea that the neural networks in the brain grow and become stronger through practice. Similarly, if we don’t practice something for a long time, the neural networks become less efficient and could diminish. Learning a new language is a good example of this. When you first learn a new language, your neural networks are growing quickly and connecting to other languages you know. However, if you don’t practice that language or you don’t speak it for a long time, it becomes much slower to recall vocabulary and form sentences.

Neural networks increasing in number and efficiency

Why is mindset important?

In the context of school and classrooms, the mindsets of both students and teachers matter a great deal. If a student believes that he/she cannot learn or get better at something, this could lead to a shut down in learning. Students could stop trying because repeated failure and stress causes them to experience pain. This is a concept known as ‘learned helplessness’ (Seligman & Maier, 1976)

Even more detrimental is when adults and teachers make children believe that they can’t learn. In fact, a teacher’s expectations of a student’s ability to learn has a huge impact on student learning.

“If teachers believe in their students, their students begin to believe in themselves. Students take into effect the beliefs their teachers have on them and accept it as part of who they are and their abilities. When students are viewed in a negative way by their teachers such as, being lazy, unmotivated and having no abilities, they take on those beliefs about themselves.” (Richland, 2017).

Of course, parents’ mindsets about their children's learning also plays a significant role. Adults' views about children's mindsets determine whether children see failure as failure or as opportunities for growth. Students with fixed mindsets tend to have a lack of motivation, persistence, and risk-taking. They also tend to try the same strategies. However, students with growth mindsets have a willingness to work hard, are persistent, and are open to trying unfamiliar approaches.

Carolyn McMinn

How can you work on mindset in your classrooms?

One way of shifting your mindset (and that of your students) is by focusing on progress and growth versus results. So, instead of saying ‘Well done, Samir, you scored 75% on your test”, you could say “Samir, look at how much you’ve improved in solving addition of fractions. You’re getting much better at it and it’s becoming easier for you. It is also important never to compare one student to another. It is important that you compare a student’s performance to themselves.

Another way of shifting the mindset of students is to use growth mindset language. This means staying away from labels such as ‘clever’, ‘talented’, and ‘stupid’ which are more fixed, and focusing praise on strategies and process, such as “I know you put a lot of effort into doing the shading on this drawing.” Below are some more phrases that you can use.

Additionally, watch the language that you use with your students but also with yourselves. Working on your own mindset will affect how you speak to your students.

Mindset and Learning

Further Reading