Fostering a Growth Mindset During a Pandemic

What is a Growth Mindset?

Growth mindset is a term that was derived from Carol Dweck research in the field of human motivation, she states that:

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”

Dweck looks into why people succeed and how people foster success. We can apply the same concept into education where educators can look at why students succeed and how we can foster success in our classroom. In her book Mindset, she states that we can characterize any person with three attributes:

• Intelligence

• Personality

• Moral character

 These attributes are culturally desirable and people are constantly seeking opportunities to be validated in these areas. Dweck discusses that the problem most people have, is the over emphasis in seeking validation rather than learning from previous mistakes. When people are fixated on proving themselves correct over and over again, they are stuck in a fixed mindset and are unable to improve.

Dweck said it nicely:

“Why waste time proving over and over how great you are when you could be getting better?”

This reminds me of being intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically. If you are motivated and driven by inner rewards, such as mastering a new learning concept or reaching a new personal best  , then that hunger to seek outside approval is no longer there. You’re more free to do what your heart desires, instead of what you think society/culture wants you to do.

Why Should We Think About Growth Mindsets?

Addressing your inherent mindset can be a very empowering and vulnerable experience. During a pandemic where change is constant, it’s even more important to foster a growth mindset. A growth mindset allows us to navigate through the challenges of the current pandemic with a more calm and critical viewpoint reducing stress driven and impulsive decisions.

Harvard Business Review recently published an article on the 6 ways that a crisis can help you foster growth mindset that might be helpful for you to think about and incorporate in your workplace and life.

Through an Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) survey, the findings confirmed significant psychological impacts of social distancing and quarantine on young people causing an increase in stress, anxiety and loneliness. The closure of schools and universities at the start of the pandemic took a major toll on students’ well-being as teachers and classmates provided social and emotional support.

A new study published on Psychology Today reported that teachers and students have an overwhelming sense of worry and concern for their students, in addition to managing their home life. The pandemic has negatively impacted teachers’ work-life balance, which in turn impacts teachers’ well-being. Workdays are getting longer due to the nature of remote learning; teachers feel as though there is no clear separation between home and work life as their homes become an online classroom. 

Fostering a growth mindset helps address the grind culture that is deeply ingrained in our society. During quarantine, society's expectations dictated that you had to be continuously productive and constantly working on projects. Finish those home improvement jobs that you hadn’t gotten around to or learn to do basic computer programming etc. This type of thinking is also detrimental because it reinforced the idea that working on mental health and self-improvement is inferior because the achievement isn’t visible. A growth mindset would allow teachers to explore their own capabilities and help them better understand their strengths and weaknesses so they teach using methods that work best for them. This would help to mitigate comparisons between peers and negative thoughts and feelings such as not being good enough as another teacher teaching the same subject. This confidence translates to the classroom resulting in the students getting a better experience.

Dweck further states that it’s imperative that teachers hold a growth mindset so that we can “create cultures that support students in using the growth mindset for growth of competence.” and that it’s also important to foster a growth mindset authentically. This ensures the onus is not placed on the student. Phrases such as "just try hard," or "you can do anything," negates students’ efforts and “ignores the realities of the world.”, they should be replaced with phrases such as “try your best” and “do what you can”.

Resources

A growth mindset is an ever-evolving perspective, so it’s important for teachers to understand their own mindsets before addressing their students’. Here are some resources that will help you understand and address different mindsets:

• Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing You Can Improve (TED Talk)

• Mindset Kit: A free resource for educators and parents who want to foster learning mindsets such as growth mindset. 

• LearnStorm Growth Mindset Learning Activities (Khan Academy): A free course for educators to enroll their students in to learn about growth mindset.

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