“You need accurate information about your current abilities in order to learn effectively.”—Carol Dweck, Ph.D. in Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
The new school year is fully underway. In fact, it’s difficult to believe we are already four weeks in to this year—just about halfway through the first grading period. Soon, students will be bringing home their first report cards of the year. While many students want to bring home a report card full of high grades (and many parents want to see this type of report card!), it is important to help students remember that the process (developing, growing, and learning) is just as important, if not more so, than the end product (grades). Encouraging your child to develop a growth mindset can go a long way to reinforce this message.
Having a growth mindset simply means that one can improve abilities and qualities through effort, using failures and mistakes as valuable learning tools, and seeing challenges and obstacles as opportunities for growth and improvement. At school, we work with the students in the following ways to develop a growth mindset:
· Praising students for process, not just product (“I like the way you used your vocabulary cards to study for your quiz.”)
· Reassuring students when they make a mistake by providing constructive criticism (“I know you’re disappointed you didn’t do as well as you wanted to on this assignment. Let’s check to make sure you have all of your notes and materials in the right section of your binder so you can correct your errors.”)
· Emphasizing the power of yet: (“It’s okay if this concept seems a little overwhelming right now, you haven’t learned it yet.”)
At home, you can reinforce and support your child’s growth mindset by doing these things:
· Redirecting fixed mindset thinking (“I am no good in math.” “You may not understand this yet, so let’s practice some more.”)
· Praising the process (“I like how you picked a really challenging topic for your project. I know it will be difficult for you but I also know you will learn a lot.”)
· Managing failure and mistakes (“Can you describe the best mistake you made today? How can it help you improve your work? What’s a different strategy you can try?”)
By supporting growth mindset at home and at school, we can help our students persist and prevail to fulfill their potential, as well as set up positive habits for lifelong learning.
