Growth Mindset: Revisited Through the Lens of Creating Significant Learning Environments
- Katie Beauchene
- Dec 8, 2023
- 3 min read
Recent research by Burgoyne et al. (2018) casts doubt on the previously held belief that simply fostering a growth mindset alone can lead to significant improvements in academic performance. This recent report requires reflecting on the current approach to growth mindset cultivation and revising it; in addition to a more refined understanding of its potential impact in educational environments. While fostering a growth mindset is valuable, several other factors contribute to academic success and personal development. These include quality of instruction, social-emotional learning, home environment, and socioeconomic factors (Burgoyne et al., 2018).
Even though there are limitations of growth mindset interventions (Burgoyne et al., 2018), it should not be so easily dismissed as there are still valuable strategies useful to help learners develop a growth-oriented mindset. These include explicit instruction, challenging limiting beliefs, modeling growth mindset behaviors, praising effort and learning, providing constructive feedback, and creating a supportive learning environment.
It’s important that educators model growth mindset practices by openly discussing their own learning experiences and challenges, persisting through setbacks and demonstrating resilience, approaching new tasks with enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, embracing feedback and using it as an opportunity for growth, and using the power of "yet" to encourage students to persevere and see challenges as opportunities for learning.
Why does it still matter? From a practical standpoint, developing a growth mindset discourages the motivation to cheat simply by shifting the focus from grades and achievement to the process of learning and personal growth. This subtle shift is powerful, promoting intrinsic motivation and a love of learning, while encouraging students to see their peers as collaborators rather than competitors. In this type of learning environment, a growth mindset can positively impact feedback acceptance by encouraging students to view feedback as a tool for improvement rather than a judgment of their abilities. In creating significant learning environments that are learner-centered and well designed, this feedback cycle shifts the responsibility and ownership of the learning from the teacher to the learner, likewise encourages learners to look for feedback. This results in creating a psychological and socially safe space for taking risks and making mistakes and reduces fear of failure.
Furthermore, growth mindset practices can help limit students' preoccupation with grades by shifting the focus from external validation to intrinsic satisfaction derived from learning and effort, with the educator putting emphasis on the importance of progress over time toward outcomes and individual growth versus comparing oneself to others. In creating significant learning environments, it’s important to encourage learners to set personal learning goals and celebrate their achievements along the way.
We cannot fail to mention how grit-which involves passion and perseverance- plays a crucial role in supporting a growth mindset by helping students stay motivated and focused on their goals, even when faced with challenges. The determination to achieve a goal despite challenges along the way, fosters resilience and the ability to bounce back from setbacks, and promoting the commitment and determination to achieving one's goals.
To prevent the growth mindset from becoming a fad or being misused, the focus must be on the importance of a balanced approach to learning and development, incorporating various aspects of learning beyond just mindset. It’s essential to avoid oversimplying growth mindset, and recognize the complex factors contributing to academic success. For instance, when focusing solely on rigorous curriculum and encouraging grit (regardless of their individual starting points and without addressing students' well-being) while simultaneously neglecting to create a significant learning environment, will not lead to desired resiliency and growth.
Seeing that growth mindset is a valuable tool, it is not enough on its own. We need to move towards cultivating a learner's mindset (Harapnuik, 2022) that embraces a lifelong love of learning and a desire to continuously expand one's knowledge and skills, fosters curiosity, critical thinking, freely explores new ideas and perspectives, encourages reflection and the ability to learn from both successes and failures, and promotes peer collaboration. In doing so, learners will independently be able to attain knowledge and grow skills in any situation with sense of agency and responsibility for one's own learning journey.
References
Burgoyne, A. P., Sisk, V. F., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent
and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic
achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(5), 549-
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success.Ballantine Books.
Harapnuik, D. (2022, September 23). Using the learner’s mindset – How and why this works.
Jeffrey, S. (n.d.) How to establish a growth mindset.CEOsage.
TEDx Talks. (2012, September 13). A new culture of learning, Douglas Thomas at
TEDxUFM [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U
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