Have you heard of the term “growth mindset”? Have you wondered how you can foster a growth mindset in your children or students?
Growth mindset is a term coined by Dr. Carol Dweck that refers to how we think about our growth and progress in certain areas. For young children, it is important to have a strong growth mindset in order to cope with failure and take big, healthy risks! A fixed mindset, on the other hand, is one that hinders our learning and development because we typically think that all of our traits and abilities won’t improve.
Having a growth mindset leads to taking on more challenges, increased motivation for learning, and overall greater engagement. For children of color, having a growth mindset has even more pronounced outcomes!
In order to grow, we have to take risks and fail a little bit. You can create these opportunities for your children or students without a hard blow to their confidence. Here are some ways how:
Praise the process, not the product!
What does this mean? Give praise for the effort put into something, not what the end product is! When you praise the process, you allow children to know that their effort is seen, it is a valuable trait, and that it is needed for success. Some children may need to work a little harder to reach a goal, so even if that goal isn't reached, acknowledge their hard work!
Example:
Say, "You worked really hard on your art project," instead of, "You have a great art project." What "great" may mean to you may be different from someone else's interpretation of great, even the child. It will take some work (even I am still working on this), but try avoiding subjectivity in your praise.
Normalize failure and mistakes. Messing up is what helps us grow!
It is okay to not know the right answer! If we know everything, how will we ever grow? Avoid projecting feelings of guilt on to children - this can lead to them becoming withdrawn and uninterested over time.
Make mistakes lighthearted by:
Keeping a neutral tone
Laughing or making a joke out of the mistake
Offer your own failure stories to let them know they are not alone
Coming up with ideas collectively to prevent making the same mistake again
Encourage trying over, and over, and over! Better late than never.
There is no expiration date (or at least shouldn't be) on when someone should have acquired a certain skill or completed a certain task. Mastery is not measured by how quickly children can learn something, but that in the end, they have still learned it. Every child learns at their own pace and requires multiple opportunities to improve.
But trying and failing over and over is frustrating!
Yes! It is. In this case, give breaks (explained a little later) and plan a BIG reward at the end when the goal is reached!
Understand the power of the word, "yet."
A sense of hope! Even though they may not get it now, believing that they WILL get it later will be reflected in their motivation and effort to learn. Don't know how to tie your shoes? Not YET, but you will!
Again, the careful language use of adults here is crucial to shaping children's beliefs about their own skills and performance. Being confident that they can acquire a skill will manifest through their actions.
Scaffold problem-solving skills. How can they fix their mistakes?
Oh no! Your child made a mistake. How can you as an adult help them rethink the problem and try different methods for a better outcome?
Example questions to ask after mistakes:
"What do you think would happen if we tried ___ instead?"
"What should we change for the next time we try?"
Encourage collaboration and seeking help from others.
Learning is not a one-person task! Teamwork makes the dream work. Teach children that it is okay to use their resources and people around them when they are having trouble accomplishing something. Adults, peers, and even technology can all be resources. I always say that Google is my best friend when I don't know something!
Keep evidence of "before" and "after" for proof of growth.
The proof is in the progress! Being able to see how far they have come can be enough motivation for them to continue even further. I personally love project-based activities. Projects are perfect for documenting progress. Take pictures along the way to show the process from beginning to end!
Give breaks to help recover from negative emotions after failure or when scared.
Back to breaks! Being afraid of failing is common. Sometimes we need to take a step back, regroup, and remember that healthy risks lead to more growth! Maybe some affirmations will help!
Breaks can be designed based on your child's specific needs. You can give them space alone, play music, give a fidget toy, provide a low-sensory area, or even talk through their emotions with them. They can also be as long or as short as needed.
Set short-term goals to help reach mastery.
Sometimes looking at the bigger picture is daunting and seems impossible to obtain. When a child has shorter goals that lead up to the big one, it seems more attainable and growth is more feasible. When in doubt, break it down!
Make your own visuals to help your child (literally) see how to reach their end goal. Here's a link to some of our free goal-setting templates, also! Laminate to reuse over and over!
Present more challenging tasks.
Growth is not always comfortable. Starting off with easier tasks is fine to build momentum, but we have to raise expectations! Provide children with opportunities just beyond their current skill level and soon enough, they will have mastered that, too!
If you need some help promoting a growth mindset, below is a list of some children's books that foster a growth mindset:
Jabari Jumps and Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall
The Thing Lou Couldn't Do by Ashley Spires
A Kids Book About Failure by Dr. Laymon Hicks
Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan with Roslyn M. Jordan
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