As I begin my journey into the turbulent and exciting, fascinating and terrifying world of teaching, I am learning and engaging with a hundred new things every day. One of the most prominent things that has stood out to me over the past few week is the concept of a ‘Growth Mindset’.
Dr Carol Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset in order to easily describe the necessity of correct attitude to learning for improvement. Dweck says that:
“Students tackle challenges because they understand that learning takes a lot of effort. They don’t give up when things get difficult, because they have strategies to persevere. They take risks, participate in class, and understand that mistakes are normal when people try hard things…
“[Teachers] take more risks with lessons, and collaborate with others to get feedback, learn, grow, and improve their practice.”
As I spend more and more time within the classroom, it is becoming more evident that Dweck’s theory concerning attitude to learning rings true with each individual child. Growth Mindset not only affects a child’s willingness to participate, but also helps the students to produce work outside of their comfort zone, at a level which is a challenge, but would ordinarily seem an impossible task.
I am fascinated to see, over the next coming weeks, how children engage with the concept of a Growth Mindset or whether it is only conceived subliminally through unique teaching strategies within the school.