from Wings & a Wand
One of my favorite things about having a Growth Mindset includes the power of the word “yet.” I interpret the message of “yet” as a positive way to respond to a daunting situation or task. It gives encouragement and hope in facing a difficult situation and allows grace in completing the task. Adding “yet” to things I have not done, but want to try to do has given me the self-talk that I need inside my head. It also helps me have positive reflective conversations with colleagues and students.
Considering my Language Arts background where I was handwriting before ever typing a composition, just deciding on this major for my Master’s degree has me already adopting a Growth Mindset. This mindset requires grit or perseverance to try new things and risk failure with the intention of “picking yourself back up” which is why you want to center yourself with like-minded colleagues as a teacher or administrator. This type of support group will help “pick you up” after failure, and I am thankful for my collaboration group where we do this for each other.
Along with this, I love reading about the science of brain plasticity and the creating of new neuron pathways that is a part of the research with Growth Mindset. This is something that you can concretely teach to students and help them understand that getting the wrong answer triggers brain activity that getting the right answer does not. This reinforces the adage that we learn from our mistakes. It is interesting that teaching students about brain plasticity enables them to achieve more, too (Brock & Hundley, 2017).
After my course in Creating Significant Learning Environments (5313), I also want to create and encourage a “high standards and nurturing atmosphere” in learning environments based on what Dweck shares in her book about Growth Mindset (2006). As an educator, Bloom’s Taxonomy comes to mind when educating to higher standards. Interestingly, Bloom, when he studied his 120 subjects, found that many of them initially had teachers who “were incredibly warm and accepting” (2006). Even with high standards, these educators still “created an atmosphere of trust, not judgment” (Dweck, 2006).
Taking this a bit further, I share in my Personal Learning Philosophy “that learning is NOT done well” unless a focus on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is on the forefront of an educator’s mind when creating a significant learning environment especially for children (Abbot, 2023). Before and especially after the pandemic, the phrase “Maslow before Bloom” still rings true, because students lost a whole lot more than just growth in their learning (Mullen, 2020; Jenkins, 2022). Many lost the high expectations and nurturing surroundings that influenced their desire to learn, and sadly, some may never have had it at all in the classroom.
Creating this type of “high standards and nurturing atmosphere” reinforces how I would modify my use of Growth Mindset to make sure that I also have an Authentic learning environment that builds trust through the use of Choice, Ownership, and Voice for the learner. Students learn best through engagement provided by COVA rather than rote learning (Harapnuik, 2015). Engagement through COVA along with a Growth Mindset helps motivate students in the learning as Pink suggests in his thoughts on motivation where students have “autonomy, mastery, and purpose” regarding their work (Pink, 2010). Then, students do not focus primarily on the grade but on the learning.
Focusing on the grade and not having the “right answer” at your fingertips contributes to cheating. Whereas, when one brings in the power of play in the learning as the means of engagement through COVA and uses Growth Mindset as a foundation (not as the end all and be all to learning because it is not), students start to accept feedback not as criticism or judgement, but as a way to play better and play harder in the learning which contributes to grit (Thomas & Brown, 2011). Grit is perseverance in the learning to go deeper and further but should not be confused with “academic rigor” which makes a curriculum or content more complex and challenging (Jacobs & Colvin, 2023). As students go deeper and further in their learning with this intentional creation toward a significant learning environment by the educator, these students either adopt or have a Learner’s Mindset reignited (Harapnuik, 2021).
My plan for initially sharing the concept of Growth Mindset is through the slide presentation below along with additional resources including the concept of the Learner’s Mindset that can be added over time to continually support the process.
References for My Thoughts on Growth Mindset:
Abbot, G., (2020, August 13). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. How Young Children Learn. https://howyoungchildrenlearn.com/educational-foundations/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/
Brock, A., & Hundley, H. (2017). The growth mindset playbook: A teacher’s guide to promoting student success. Ulysses Press.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House
Dweck, C. (2020, December 2). Carol Dweck revisits the ‘growth mindset’ (opinion). Education Week. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset/2015/09
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and overcoming false growth mindset. Edutopia. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck
Harapnuik, D. (2015, May 9). Creating Significant Learning Environments (CLSE). Retrieve from https://youtu.be/eZ-c7rz7eT4
Harapnuik,D. (2021). Learner’s Mindset. Retrieve from https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8773
Jacobs, J., & Colvin, R. L. (2023, January 27). Rigor: It’s all the rage, but what does it mean? The Hechinger Report. https://hechingerreport.org/rigor-its-all-the-rage-but-what-does-it-mean/
Jenkins, K. (2022, April 30). It is critical to “maslow” before students can “bloom.” PACEsConnection. https://www.pacesconnection.com/blog/it-is-critical-to-maslow-before-students-can-bloom
Kohn, A. (2021, June 25). The “mindset” mindset. Alfie Kohn. Retrieved March 25, 2023, from https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/
Mullen, G. (2020, November 17). “Maslow before bloom.” Exploring the Core. https://www.exploringthecore.com/post/maslow-before-bloom
Pink, Daniel. (April 1, 2010). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivate us. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of Constant Change. CreateSpace
References for My Presentation on Growth Mindset:
Brock, A., & Hundley, H. (2017). The growth mindset playbook: A teacher’s guide to promoting student success. Ulysses Press.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House
Dweck, C. (2020, December 2). Carol Dweck revisits the ‘growth mindset’ (opinion). Education Week. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-carol-dweck-revisits-the-growth-mindset/2015/09
Dweck, C. (2016, January 11). Recognizing and overcoming false growth mindset. Edutopia. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/recognizing-overcoming-false-growth-mindset-carol-dweck
Jeffrey, S. (2020, February 18). The four stages of Learning anything for your personal development. Scott Jeffrey. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://scottjeffrey.com/four-stages-of-learning/
Jeffrey, S. (2020, February 18). The four stages of Learning anything for your personal development. Scott Jeffrey. Retrieved March 25, 2023 from https://scottjeffrey.com/four-stages-of-learning/
Kohn, A. (2021, June 25). The “mindset” mindset. Alfie Kohn. Retrieved March 25, 2023, from https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/
Moore, C. S. (2018, November 7). Five ways to teach students to be learning centered, too. Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning. Retrieved March 25, 2023, from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/five-ways-to-teach-students-to-be-learning-centered-too/
Wings and a Wand 