Strategies for helping students develop a growth mindset1. Think about setting achievable micro-goals to encourage students’ consistent, incremental progress. Small wins repeated over time can lead to a growth mindset (and increased confidence!).
2. When students succeed, praise their efforts and strategies as opposed to their intelligence. Praise for intelligence can actuallyundermine motivation and performance, as children praised for intelligence increasingly view intelligence as a fixed trait; in the face of failure, these children will display less task persistence, less task enjoyment, and overall worse performance.
3. Help students focus on and value the process of learning. Without this emphasis on learning, students will often base self perceptions of intelligence and worth to grades received, promoting a fixed mindset. While grades are important, the value of learning should be prioritized.
4. Design classroom activities that involve cooperative--rather than competitive or individualistic--work. Research suggests that students are more motivated and successful when working in groups. Students feel a sense of responsibility to the group to try their best, and thus will experience the positive feedback loop of effort and success, encouraging the development of a growth mindset.
2. When students succeed, praise their efforts and strategies as opposed to their intelligence. Praise for intelligence can actuallyundermine motivation and performance, as children praised for intelligence increasingly view intelligence as a fixed trait; in the face of failure, these children will display less task persistence, less task enjoyment, and overall worse performance.
3. Help students focus on and value the process of learning. Without this emphasis on learning, students will often base self perceptions of intelligence and worth to grades received, promoting a fixed mindset. While grades are important, the value of learning should be prioritized.
4. Design classroom activities that involve cooperative--rather than competitive or individualistic--work. Research suggests that students are more motivated and successful when working in groups. Students feel a sense of responsibility to the group to try their best, and thus will experience the positive feedback loop of effort and success, encouraging the development of a growth mindset.