You might have hear the words “growth mindset” in your conversations with your second grader this week. We began exploring the work of Carol Dweck, a world-renowned Stanford University psychologist. Dweck took decades of research on achievement and success and developed the mindset theory.  There are two different mindsets according to Dweck:

​Fixed Mindset: This is the belief that intelligence and talent are fixed traits and talent alone creates success.  In other words, you either have it or you don’t.

Growth Mindset:  This is the belief that intelligence can be grown and that abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication.  Perseverance, grit and determination all play a role in growth mindset.

At PNA, students practice a growth mindset.  They are engaged in challenges and opportunities for growth every day.  Teachers support and lead them in developing a courageous and reflective way of thinking to not only come back from mistakes, but to not be afraid to make them in the first place.  One way of doing this is to provide students with the language they need to “train their brain” and strengthen their growth mindset.

The second graders tackled some different challenges this week in order to practice their growth mindsets.  Some of the challenges were easy and the students succeeded right away.  Others required a bit more grit and perseverance in order for students to accomplish their goals.   Some of the towers never held the weight they were supposed to and the students figured out that that was ok too.

​The best part about these challenges was not the successful creation of towers however.  It was hearing the students not only speaking to and encouraging themselves, and reflecting on their designs but also how they began to encourage and help each other using phrases like “I’m sorry your tower fell down because I know you worked really hard on that.  Want to try again?” and “Wow, it took you a long time to build that tower but it really worked!”

The seeds of growth mindset in our second grade classroom have been planted and I can’t wait to watch these kids bloom in their abilities this year!

For more information on the idea of growth mindset, please see these resources.
​
This article talks about the brain science behind growth mindsets.  https://www.mindsetworks.com/websitemedia/youcangrowyourintelligence.pdf

This site contains several short and kid-friendly videos that discuss growth mindsets and how you can train your brain.
https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/growth-mindset-videos/

Carol Dweck’s Mindset book is another great source of information on this topic.