What is a growth mindset, and why is it important?

Concepts such as ‘growth mindset’ and ‘mindfulness’ are integral to understanding and promoting students’ growth. Students with a growth mindset view learning and personal improvement as more important than outperforming others or ‘looking smart’. They see mistakes as an opportunity to improve. Students with a growth mindset also embrace challenges by viewing them as energizing and motivating. Students with a growth mindset understand that when a task is difficult, they are learning and their brain is getting stronger. The biggest opportunity for growth comes with failure, not success. Not surprisingly, research repeatedly shows that students with a growth mindset, tend to do better at school, enjoy school more, participate more frequently in class, and have more positive aspirations for their future. Just as importantly, students with a growth mindset tend to learn from their mistakes rather than being paralyzed or derailed by them. It is possible to develop a growth mindset, and doing so can help a student overcome the hurdles they face in learning and develop the necessary skills to persist.

On the contrary, students with a ‘fixed mindset’ see mistakes and challenges as a threat to their self-worth; they see effort as a sign of low ability that can potentially make them look ‘dumb’ if they perform poorly. Many students tend to give up when they encounter failure and hardship in studies because they believe that it means they are simply not good at the subject, or that they lack the level of intelligence necessary to excel at the subject. With these limiting and restrictive beliefs about intelligence and effort, there is little room for growth.