Dive Brief:

• A national poll by the Education Week Research Center found 77% of teachers are familiar with the growth mindset concept, and 85% want more professional development relating to it.
• Education Week reports the same study found slightly more than half of teacher respondents saying that using growth mindset was a very important factor in academic achievement by students, but as many as 36% of teachers conducted daily practices that do not foster growth mindset in their classrooms.
• Stanford University’s Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS) has found high turnover in high-poverty schools makes it hard to keep staff trained on growth mindset, but Baltimore is among the public school systems that have incorporated growth mindset discussions into teacher induction programs and teacher collaboration time, according to Education Week.

Dive Insight:

When teachers and students understand and believe in the growth mindset, students can be more empowered to work harder and keep trying until they are successful, academically and elsewhere. The opposite of the growth mindset is a fixed mindset, which believes student proficiency is specific to the child and can’t be changed. Researchers have found Japanese culture to be different from U.S. culture in that parents and teachers in Japan emphasizethe hard work and dedication that goes into expertise on a musical instrument or high grades in school rather than inherent talent. In America, a child is more likely to be praised for being smart than for trying hard.

The unlearning concept challenges the idea that one should simply persevere and keep trying harder at something. Sometimes, according to this school of thought, students should step back and consider a completely different strategy, unlearn the first one and try again. The Beaver Country Day School near Boston is among those considering how to incorporate unlearning concepts into their curriculum.

Recommended Reading

Education Week: Teachers Seize On 'Growth Mindset,' But Crave More Training