Growth Mindset

By Natalie Olson

Think About It...

Are there any specific subjects in school that you stray away from?

In the space below reflect on your years of education, and then leave a comment of what subject you feel you aren't good at:

Defining Growth Mindset

Students and educators have the power to change their perspectives of their education.
Growth mindset is "a system of beliefs positioning intelligence as a changeable trait." (Kroeper, 2022).
It is related to academic goals and one's scholastic tenacity and aptitude.
Tenacity can be thought of as someone's determination.
Apititude involves someone's natural desire to complete a task/goal. Think about it like subconscious motivation.

Growth vs. Fixed: Academic Tenacity & Aptitude

Having a fixed mindset means that you feel stuck in place in terms of your intelligence. Referring to the subject you commented from earlier again, a simple shift in perspective or way of thinking can help break out of that.

Being academically tenacious does not deter a student from improving their mindset. Rather tenacity is a set of traits that any student can follow to improve their growth mindset or break out of fixed one. (Dweck, et al., 2014, p. 4).

The image provided is a great example of positive self-talk to promote a growth mindset. (iStock)

Why Does This Even Matter?

A study of scholastic aptitude argues that the analysis showed students' growth mindset has, “no association with results in a scholastic aptitude test.” (Bahnik and Vranka, 2016). My own view is that the two concepts of growth mindset and scholastic aptitude are related in subject, but not related in necessity for being both, or trading off one for another.

This matters because we owe it to ourselves now, and to our students later to create a positive environment that promotes a growth mindset.

Multiple Choice Q&A

Question #1

Growth mindset can be described as which of the following?

A. Based on long term goals rather than short term

B. Both A & D

C. Feeling stuck in one place academically

D. System of belief that intelligence is changeable

Question #2

Sarah is a Junior in highschool, and she is a straight-A student. However, she avoids making mistakes because she is scared of failing and she will do whatever needed only for a good grade. Which choice best describes Sarah's situation?

A. Sarah has a healthy growth mindset and set long-term goals regarding her academic knowledge.

B. Sarah is experiencing a fixed mindset in her education. Asking for help and advice should help get her out of this mindset.

C. Sarah is fine how she is because nothing will help her, and all she can do is keep getting A's.

D. Sarah is just naturally academically tenacious.

Answers

Question 1: B. Question 2: B.

How I Used AI

I used Chat GPT to give me suggestions on color themes and ideas to base this lesson around. As you can tell it offered me to focus on things that grow, and light, natural colors to fit the theme of the lesson.

For my lesson essay, I used Chat GPT to compare my essay to the rubric and to make any tweaks to my citations. I also used Quillbot to help paraphrase some of the quotations in this lesson page as well as my essay.

The use of AI during this assignment was definitely helpful, as it gave me a good start to know what kind of theme I should incorporate throughout the page. Without its suggestion for nature and the color scheme, I would not have come up with the cute tree analogy at the end. It helped me shape my essay into a cohesive piece rather than just my rambling...so that is also nice. :)

References

American University. (2024, April 15). How to foster a growth mindset in the classroom: American University. School of Education Online. https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/growth-mindset-in-the-classroom/

Bahník, Š., & Vranka, M. A. (2017). Growth mindset is not associated with scholastic aptitude in a large sample of university applicants. Personality and Individual Differences, 117, 139–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.046

Dweck C. S., et. al. (2014). Academic tenacity: Mindsets and skills that promote long term learning. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 2-33, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED576649.pdf

iStock. (2025). Growth mindset pictures, images, and stock photos. Getty Images. www.istockphoto.com/photos/growth-mindset

Kroeper, K. (2022, May 20). Identifying teaching behaviors that foster growth mindset classroom cultures. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/growth-mindset-classroom-cultures

The slides featured in this lesson were made with www.canva.com/

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