Carol Dweck
'Fixed mindsets see failures as disasters; growth mindsets see failures as opportunities.' Carol Dweck 2021
Carol Dweck is a world-renowned American psychologist. She is a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and her main area of study is on human motivation. She pioneered the idea of 'fixed mindset' versus 'growth mindset', and showed how important and beneficial it is for students to have the latter if they are to realise their full potential and have a positive well-being.
Individuals with a Fixed Mindset generally believe that ability is set in stone. A Fixed Mindset suggests there are people in life who are naturally talented and those who are incompetent. Those with a Fixed Mindset believe that those lacking talent will never develop their talents. Those with natural talent will never lose their skills. In a Fixed Mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail or if you aren’t the best, everything was wasted.
A Growth Mindset is a fantastic asset to have. The sky’s the limit for people like this, as they are always seeking to find new ways to learn. Importantly, individuals with Growth Mindsets are not fixated on being better than other people or receiving the best grades. These individuals obtain satisfaction from pushing themselves to the limit to help themselves grow. They will practice relentlessly and are aware that you have to work your hardest, and overcome some failures, to improve.
People with a Growth Mindset enjoy being around people who are more skilled than them. They see spending time with more talented individuals as opportunities to learn new skills. Additionally, these people are always willing to discard a strategy if it is no longer working and replace it with a new approach.
As well as improving themselves, individuals with a growth mindset encourage the surrounding people to continue learning and working on themselves. They understand that life is about working as a team. When others are happier or more successful, they are more likely to succeed themselves. As business owners, individuals with a Growth Mindset are respectful to their team members and grateful for their work. Additionally, they are open to others’ opinions.
Having a growth mindset is essential for success and happiness in life. At Warden Park, our dialogues with students both formally in lessons and informally through conversations, are focussed on developing these.
Further reading:
This website hosts a short, 30 minute course for parents on how to develop a growth mindset with their child.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck. (If you're pressed for time, read Chapter 7 "Parents, teachers, and coaches: where do mindsets come from?" , which talks about a growth mindset in kids.)
https://fs.blog/2015/03/carol-dweck-mindset/
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/how-praise-became-a-consolation-prize/510845/
How to develop a growth mindset at home
Idea 1: All praise is good praise right?
The language with which we speak to children can impact upon the way that they form their mindsets.
In teaching, we try to praise the 'effort' that a child has used to complete or attempt a task rather than the outcome of the task itself. We do this for two reasons.
Firstly, by praising effort, whether the child succeeds or fails is irrelevant to their self-esteem, they cannot lose in this situation if they have tried as they will still receive praise. This makes the child more likely to attempt tasks, especially new ones.
Secondly, by praising a child for being 'clever' or 'smart' implies that they are naturally that way and did very little to achieve the task. Additionally, it suggests that if you are clever and you succeeded, if you do not succeed, you are not clever anymore. This encourages a child to feel wary of taking risks and trying new things in case they fail and are seen as 'no longer smart'. and they do not associate praise with 'natural ability'.
Idea 2: Your child might not always do what you say, but they will invariably do what you do!
As adults, it is crucial to model the behaviours that we would like to see in our children. Modelling a growth mindset means being willing to try hard even when failure is likely because that's how growth happens. For example, parents/carers should try to get excited when their children make mistakes because these mistakes can reveal important conceptual gaps that should be filled. When adults get excited about the learning that mistakes can facilitate, children start to think of mistakes as a natural part of the learning process. This leads to a few important changes in learning behaviour:
Children stop avoiding challenging work just because it could mean making more mistakes.
Children become less likely to try to "sweep mistakes under the rug" because they stop thinking of them as something to be ashamed of.
Action ideas:
Make mistakes in front of your kids, have a positive reaction to those mistakes, and openly reflect on what could be learned from the mistake. Try to show that it's all about learning, not about being right.
At the dinner table, talk about a time that you struggled with something and how hard it is and how you overcame it. Then ask your kids if there's anything they struggled with, how they overcome it, and what they learned from the experience.
