So what is a Growth Mindset?
At Grow Your Mindset, we get asked all the time "What is a Growth Mindset and how does it work?"
Well, that's what we're here for. To dispel all the myths, to correct all the misconceptions and ensure that your understanding of Growth Mindset is the most effective it can be.
Growth Mindset is a term coined by Stanford University Professor, Carol Dweck. She has spent years researching and talking about her fascination with how equally talented people make progress and others do not.
Research spanning over 30 years shows us the brain is malleable and that neural activity plays a huge part in our ability to learn. Learning is all about building stronger neural pathways. This can only be done through practice and effort.
This fascinating neuroscience discovery then led to the link between mindsets and achievement. The understanding of "If you believe you can, you will." In short, what Carol Dweck describes in her research are the terms 'Fixed and Growth Mindset.
In a Growth Mindset, people believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. When people have the belief their basic qualities can be developed, failure still hurts, but they know those failures don't define them. The Growth Mindset attitude and focus creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for accomplishment.
With a Fixed Mindset, people believe that we are born with our abilities and these cannot be altered. The see feedback as a criticism, feel threatened by people's success and stay in their comfort zones. When people default to their fixed mindset, they become trapped by their limited beliefs and in many cases this then begins to affect their mental health, especially in later life.
Does Growth Mindset work? Well, the proof is in the pudding!
In addition to the research about malleable intelligence, researchers noticed that teacher interaction, behaviour and language has a huge impact on the the mindset of the children they teach. Studies have looked into the effect of language and the difference in praise. Some types of praise can cultivate a fixed mindset, where as other types of praise cultivate a growth mindset. This therefore has a huge impact on academic achievement.
* Lovely graphs from a lovely bunch of people over at Mindset Works (They help us know our stuff better!)
Does Growth Mindset work?
Teaching a Growth Mindset is important as it creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education and sports.
In our schools and businesses, we have a huge responsibility to teach knowledge, to achieve the increasingly demanding examination results and achieve highly ambitious targets, but other factors, such as resilience, confidence, integrity and empathy also have a profound impact on our success.
It is crucial to encourage and embed positive attitudes and behaviours by modelling them everyday to whomever we meet.
Let's make the world a happier place to be!
This, in the long term, can prevent the onset of mental illness later in life.
Knowing that your ability can be developed through hard work, effort, persistence, good strategies and seeking feedback, opens opportunities to all learners, plus the power of knowing you can improve, impacts enormously on our mental attitude, self-belief and focus.
Bring it on!
Why is Growth Mindset so important?
How does Growth Mindset help?
Embracing a Growth Mindset helps provide adults and children with the mental tools to develop a more growth orientated approach towards learning, as well as a more positive approach to any given situation.
We have seen, as children and adults make a mindset move, they become more intrinsically motivated and become determined and more resilient to deal with problems and setbacks that arise, therefore reducing the levels of anxiety and stress felt.
