How will you modify your use of the Growth Mindset?

Developing a growth mindset is an excellent way to motivate ourselves by acknowledging that we can improve and learn new things. However, it is essential to understand that developing a growth mindset is not just about giving ourselves positive affirmations. It requires a deeper understanding of how our minds work and how we can overcome obstacles to achieve our goals.

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Having a positive attitude is crucial when facing challenges. As a teacher, I have noticed that some students give up easily when encountering difficulties, often due to a negative attitude. However, I have also seen students with a positive attitude struggle to progress. It's like a board game where everyone plays differently. I think it's not enough to provide students with videos, articles, and growth mindset readings. Instead, we should give them challenging tasks involving obstacles so they can test their limits and decide whether to give up or keep going. But also provide them with the necessary toolset of a growth mindset to help them overcome their challenges.

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What other factors need to be considered if you wish to have an impact on the Growth Mindset?

We need to consider various factors, such as an individual's environment (including their family, socio-economic status, and emotional state), to understand the impact of the growth mindset. As individuals, we cannot separate ourselves from our environment, and learning to manage our emotions and surroundings can be stressful and time-consuming, with many mistakes along the way. However, we must recognize that these factors affect the learner's life. Recognizing that having a supportive family can significantly contribute to one's mental development is essential. As someone who works with a vulnerable population, I have observed that even if a child has a positive attitude, their ability to learn can be hindered if they come to school without a snack or food. It is crucial to identify external factors that may affect a child's learning and find ways to minimize their impact.

 

According to Maslow (1943, p. 17), learning is essential to human needs. It involves acquiring and integrating information into one's self-image, feelings, behavior, and relationship with the environment. Maslow also discusses the need for love and affection, which emerges when physiological and safety needs are met. Humanist education emphasizes effective education, focusing on emotions, feelings, interests, values, and character development rather than intellectual learning.

 

How will you model the growth mindset and the message of "Yet" to your learners?

"The Power of Yet" is a concept that highlights the importance of perseverance when faced with challenges or obstacles. This idea is often referred to as "grit" and is frequently encouraged for students. The key is to recognize mistakes and consider them as a natural part of the learning process. By doing so, we can develop a growth mindset and gain the resilience to overcome obstacles and accomplish our goals. 

 

Consider how the growth mindset can change the acceptance of feedback and student's attitude toward cheating.

Having a growth mindset leads to more adaptive behaviors and psychological traits, such as resilience in response to failure, which ultimately leads to greater academic achievement.

 

When assessing their progress, I emphasize the significance of being honest with oneself, accepting oneself, and striving for self-improvement. I instruct them to refrain from comparing themselves with others and instead concentrate on their individual progress. This approach has assisted them in cultivating better attitudes towards feedback and goals.

 

How can the growth mindset help limit some of your student's preoccupation with grades? What role does grit play?

I highlight this phrase from (Lee, 2013) “Courage is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals”  I believe that individuals should develop a passion for themselves, cultivate self-love, and ignite a passionate fire within themselves so that they can learn for their own growth and  for the sake of getting good grades or ratings.

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How can we prevent the growth mindset from becoming a fad or being improperly implemented? 

Having a growth mindset is not just a trend, but a powerful tool that helps us motivate ourselves to become better, more capable, and successful individuals. We can avoid and prevent a growth mindset from becoming a fad or being improperly implemented if we work on it daily and train our way of thinking to always strive for improvement. The brain can be our most vital muscle, if we continue to exercise it through thoughts and continue to develop it by our ways of positive thinking.

The growth mindset is a good start, but is it enough?

At this time, I do not believe it is enough. However, I believe it is a good start towards changing the mentality of ourselves and students. It will require a long term commitment of making intentional daily decisions to challenge ourselves. 

 

How can we move our learners toward reigniting or adopting a Learner's Mindset?

As educators, we have a responsibility to create learning environments that cater to the continuous growth of our students. Even though I, too, struggle with my own fixed mindset, I can serve as a model by exhibiting and demonstrating implementing a growth mindset of my own. I verbalize this to my students and intentionally show them that I have things that I too need to continue to work on. This allows them to use myself as a guide and model to this mindset. 

 

In conclusion, developing a growth mindset is an excellent way to motivate ourselves by acknowledging that we can improve and grow both professionally and personally. Teaching students to adopt a growth mindset will add to their toolbox of learning and teach them to face difficult situations. This can be achieved through perseverance and hard work. Everyone has a different pace and path to success, but creating a growth mindset is the first step to achieving our goals. As stated above, having a growth mindset leads to more adaptive behaviors and psychological traits, such as resilience in response to challenges, which ultimately leads to greater academic achievement for our students.