Foster Growth Mindset
Overview
Teachers can help students understand that learning involves effort, mistakes, and reflection by teaching them about their malleable brain and modeling their own learning process. When students are taught about brain malleability and that intellectual ability can be developed over time with effort, they are more resilient when they struggle. Showing students that teachers, too, are learners who struggle and persist through challenging work also models the importance of continuous growth. Research has shown that a growth mindset is particularly supportive of students with math anxiety and marginalized students, especially for math achievement.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how these teachers use several techniques to reinforce growth mindset in their classroom such as peer feedback, teacher's intentional language about mistakes, and incorporating time for revisions.
Design It into Your Product
Videos are chosen as examples of strategies in action. These choices are not endorsements of the products or evidence of use of research to develop the feature.
Watch how Brainventures teaches about the brain, learning process, and growth mindset in an interactive and relatable way. By providing scenarios learners may encounter in their daily lives, Brainventures has them think about how to overcome these real-world challenges. The increasingly challenging games support learners' Motivation and Attention while also exercising their abilities for Self-regulation of Emotion.
Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Teacher Modeling & Support Strategies
Teachers support language development by using and providing vocabulary and syntax that is appropriately leveled (e.g., using simple sentences when introducing complex concepts).
Content that is provided in clear, short chunks can support students' Working Memory.
Building positive and trusting relationships with learners allows them to feel safe, a Sense of Belonging, and that their academic, cognitive, and social and emotional needs are supported.
Actively and authentically encouraging all students to seek support, ask questions, and advocate for what they believe in creates a safe space for risk-taking and skill development and supports a Sense of Belonging.
Providing feedback that focuses on the process of developing skills conveys the importance of effort and motivates students to persist when learning.
By talking through their thinking at each step of a process, teachers can model what learning looks like.
Teachers sharing math-to-self, math-to-math, and math-to-world connections model math schema building.
Maintaining consistent classroom routines and schedules ensures that students are able to trust and predict what will happen next.
Providing students a voice in their learning is critical for making learning meaningful.
Wait time, or think time, of three or more seconds after posing a question increases how many students volunteer and the length and accuracy of their responses.
