GROWTH AND FIXED MINDSET
What Is a Mindset?
Your mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation.
Types
There are two basic mindsets: fixed and growth. If you have a fixed mindset, you believe your abilities are fixed traits and therefore can’t be changed. You may also believe that your talent and intelligence alone leads to success, and effort is not required.
On the flipside, if you have a growth mindset, you believe that your talents and abilities can be developed over time through effort and persistence. People with this mindset don’t necessarily believe that everyone can become Einstein or Mozart just because they try. They do, however, believe that everyone can get smarter or more talented if they work at it.
EXAMPLES OF FIXED AND GROWTH MINDSET
Fixed Mindset Growth Mindset Either I’m good at it or I’m not. I can learn to do anything I want. That’s just who I am. I can’t change it. I’m a constantly evolving work in progress. If you have to work hard, you don’t have ability. The more you challenge yourself, the smarter you become. If I don’t try, then I won’t fail. I only fail when I stop trying. That job position is totally out of my league. That job position looks challenging. Let me apply for it.
Mindset Formation
So how is your mindset created in the first place? Dweck’s research reveals two primary sources: praising and labeling, both of which occur in early childhood.
In a landmark series of experiments, Dweck and her colleagues found that kids behaved very differently depending on the type of praise they received.2 They found that personal praise, or praising a child’s talents or labeling them as “smart,” promotes a fixed mindset. It sends a message to a child that they either have an ability or they don’t, and that there is nothing they can do to change that fact.
Process praise, on the other hand, emphasizes the effort a person puts in to accomplish a task. It implies their success is due to the effort and the strategy they used, both of which they can control and improve over time.
Here’s an example of how they’re different. If your child gets a good grade on a math test, personal praise might be, “See, you are good at math. You got an A on your test.” Process praise, on the other hand, might sound like this: “I’m impressed by how hard you studied for your math test. You read the material over several times, asked your teacher to help you figure out the tricky problems, and tested yourself on it. That really worked!”
Adults can take steps to ensure that their children develop growth mindsets by praising efforts not results. By focusing on the process rather than the outcome, adults can help kids understand that their efforts, hard work, and dedication can lead to change, learning, and growth both now and in the future.
The Impact of Mindset
Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life’s challenges. When a child has a growth mindset, they tend to have a hunger for learning and a desire to work hard and discover new things. This often translates into academic achievement.
As adults, these same people are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks. Instead of throwing in the towel, adults with a growth mindset view it as an opportunity to learn and grow. On the other hand, those with fixed mindsets are more likely to give up in the face of challenging circumstances.
In her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” Dweck writes that those with fixed mindsets are constantly seeking the validation to prove their worth not just to others, but also to themselves.
ACCORDING TO CAROL’S DWECK
“I’ve seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?
— CAROL DWECK
RESEARCH ABOUT GROWTH AND FIXED MINDSET
Over 30 years ago, Carol Dweck and her colleagues became interested in students’ attitudes about failure. They noticed that some students rebounded while other students seemed devastated by even the smallest setbacks. After studying the behavior of thousands of children, Dr. Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence. When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement.
Recent advances in neuroscience have shown us that the brain is far more malleable than we ever knew. Research on brain plasticity has shown how connectivity between neurons can change with experience. With practice, neural networks grow new connections, strengthen existing ones, and build insulation that speeds transmission of impulses. These neuroscientific discoveries have shown us that we can increase our neural growth by the actions we take, such as using good strategies, asking questions, practicing, and following good nutrition and sleep habits.
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At the same time that these neuroscientific discoveries were gaining traction, researchers began to understand the link between mindsets and achievement. It turns out, if you believe your brain can grow, you behave differently. So the researchers asked, “Can we change mindsets? And if so, how?” This began a series of interventions and studies that prove we can indeed change a person’s mindset from fixed to growth, and when we do, it leads to increased motivation and achievement. For example, 7th graders who were taught that intelligence is malleable and shown how the brain grows with effort showed a clear increase in math grades. Download the lesson plan used in this intervention!
In addition to teaching kids about malleable intelligence, researchers started noticing that teacher practice has a big impact on student mindset, and the feedback that teachers give their students can either encourage a child to choose a challenge and increase achievement or look for an easy way out. For example, studies on different kinds of praise have shown that telling children they are smart encourages a fixed mindset, whereas praising hard work and effort cultivates a growth mindset. When students have a growth mindset, they take on challenges and learn from them, therefore increasing their abilities and achievement. Read more about how teacher practices impact student mindsets and achievement.
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What does growth mindset teaching look like in the real world? When we take the research out of the laboratory and into the classroom, we see amazing results. One such case study is Fiske Elementary School. With a diverse student population of English language learners and special education students, the administrators at Fiske infused growth mindset into the school culture by starting with teacher mindsets. Teachers took part in a Mindset book study the first year of implementation, and completed the Mindset Maker™ online professional development the second year. While state test scores in math remained stagnant, Fiske Elementary saw amazing growth, which they attributed to a growth mindset teacher practices and culture shift.
