The concept that one's mindset—beliefs about one’s character and potential—can influence learning and change the brain is supported by neuroscience. Research by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has found that people primarily identify with one of two mindsets: fixed or growth.
In a fixed mindset, people believe intelligence and talent are fixed traits. They see potential as pre-determined: You’re smart or dumb, artistic or untalented, a natural athlete or uncoordinated—and you won't be able to develop much beyond these labels. In the world of the fixed mindset, effort is a sign of weakness because it reveals the limits of one’s natural talent. Most crucially, fixed mindsets limit people’s motivation to take on new challenges because of an intense fear of failure and pressure to keep up the appearance of effortless intelligence or talent. Thus, they don’t welcome critical feedback, challenging problems or other opportunities to learn. Tragically, students who get stuck in a low-performance fixed mindset struggle with self-esteem and may completely disengage from learning.
People with a growth mindset are resilient. They believe they can develop their talents through effort: They have the attitude that if they work hard, they will achieve. This mindset allows them to see challenge, critical feedback and failure as learning opportunities. As a result, they don't feel the same kind of pressure to succeed as those with fixed mindsets, yet the research shows that they succeed more often and more consistently over the longer term. This is because the growth mindset enables them to take on feedback onboard and propels them to seek out harder problems, to which they apply themselves more vigorously. They take every opportunity to learn and really do grow their brains!
Read more about mindsets.
What's Your Mindset?
Take this quick survey to test your mindset.
Most people have a combination of mindsets: For example, you may have fixed ideas about your intelligence and growth ideas about your artistic abilities.
When you're finished with the quiz, click on the image to explore a fixed vs. growth mindset infographic.
Teaching Mindsets
The growth mindset is remarkable in that simply understanding how it works can trigger better performance. Study after study shows that teaching people how their brains develop in response to effort leads to self-efficacy, motivation to learn, more practice, and ultimately, achievement. With such a direct correlation to learning, it makes sense for teachers to incorporate a growth mindset into their practices.
3 Tools for Growing a Growth Mindset
1. Reflect on your practice from a growth perspective
Educators can encourage a growth mindset by reflecting on their beliefs about their students' potentials and examining each aspect of their teaching from a growth mindset perspective. Visit Jackie Gerstein's blog for some excellent growth mindset coaching resources for classroom teachers.
2. Teach kids about their brains
The growth mindset is rooted in the concept of neuroplasticity, which is based on the evidence-backed premise that are our brains are malleable and able to build new neural connections in response to stimuli, i.e. practice. Teaching tools, such as the Brainology curriculum, introduce students to neuroscience basics that help them understand how they learn and remember, and give them strategies for tackling hard work. Teacher-Neurologist Judy Willis also has advice for teaching students about their brains in this article.
3. Change the way you praise
Praise has a huge effect on mindset. Some of Dr. Dweck's more well-known work has shown the effect the self-esteem movement has had in creating fixed mindsets. Well-meaning parents, teaches and coaches label kids "brilliant" or "naturally talented", putting enormous pressure on them to succeed. This stifles their tolerance for making mistakes, which they must do to learn. To nurture a growth mindset, try praising effort, struggle, using mistakes, improvement and problem-solving strategies. , e.g. “You persisted until you cracked that problem! Well done!” Encourage students to relish a difficult struggle. For example, when a student completes her work quickly and easily, Dr. Dweck suggests saying something like, “I’m sorry, that problem was too easy and didn’t give you a chance to grow your brain. Next time I’ll give you a better challenge.”
Play the Brain Game
Download the "Brain Points" paper.
Dr. Dweck and her associates studied the effect of achievement vs. effort-oriented praise in an online game environment. They modified an existing online math game so that it gave students feedback in response to their effort and the strategies they used, instead of the levels they achieved. Then the researchers compared it to a control version of the game to see if growth-based feedback had an effect on the time students spent playing the game. Results indicated that praising effort did increase persistence, especially amongst struggling students. While more research is needed, the study suggests games may be a promising way to apply the growth mindset at scale.
When you've finished playing the game, share your experience in our discussion forum.
Achievement Version - The original Refraction game with instructions included on how to play the game.
Mindset Version - This game praises effort and problem-solving strategies.