Belief About Intelligence

Growth mindset: the belief that intelligence is malleable

Fixed mindset: the belief that intelligence is fixed

The extent to which an individual believes change is possible, largely determines their ability to affect change. In education, beliefs about intelligence directly influence one’s learning ability.

If a student believes that they just can’t learn the material teachers are teaching them then why would they bother? The notion that intelligence is not fixed but rather something that can be refined and improved through effort and embracing challenge is an important starting point for teachers trying to motivate students to learn.

Teachers can facilitate students’ motivation and achievement by reinforcing students’ abilities to master a task, inform them that struggling is part of the learning process and providing the necessary resources and strategies to develop academic skills.

Two behavior patterns

There are two patterns of behavior: maladaptive pattern (fixed mindset) and adaptive pattern (growth mindset).

Students with maladaptive patterns of behavior (including cognitive, affective, and behavioral components) tend to carry a fixed belief about intelligence and abilities. Students with a fixed mindset emphasize performance goals (“looking smart”, “proving their abilities”) and are associated with a negative attitude towards mistake regarding effort and failure as a sign of lacking intelligence or ability.

Students with malleable belief system consider challenges (cognitive, affective, behavioral) as an opportunity to find a solution and they highlight learning goals (“becoming smart”, improving abilities”) , appreciate effort and understand failure as a learning opportunity; students with growth mindset view failure positively and focus on the learning process and understanding the significant components of learning.

Growth Mindset in Teaching

All teachers should believe at some level that their students’ intelligence is malleable and that they can help them improve it.

Support for students’ individual learning process

Teachers should have knowledge of how each students learns and the barriers each faces in order to overcome these. Teachers should allocate time for one-on-one interactions with students to support their individual learning process. Giving students emotional support and help them find suitable study methods motivates students to learn because they can see there are ways and possibilities to succeed.

Promotion of mastery orientation

In stead of adopting performance goals, teachers should foster learning goals in a mastery-orientated atmosphere in order to motivate students. Giving honest critical feedback in the form of “not yet” shows that teachers are not giving up on the students. Teachers should systematically use the word “yet” in their teaching. For example, if a student says that he/she doesn’t like a subject, the teacher could remark “You don’t like it yet”. Using the word “yet” let students know that their ability are malleable so that they are motivated to try. Please watch the video to learn the power of “not yet”.

Foster students’ process-focused thinking

By praising courage, strategies and effort as well as teaching the positive role and interpretation of failures, mistakes and challenges in learning, teachers can motivate students to focus more on improving their general competence and mastering the task than on pursuing the performance goal of proving their ability. Teachers’ feedback related to process will motivate students to continue trying when encountering failures instead of just shutting down.

Reference:

Kirschner, P. A., & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge.

Ronkainen, R., Kuusisto, E., & Tirri, K. (2019). Growth mindset in teaching: A case study of a Finnish elementary school teacher. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research.

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