The International Day of Education is the Perfect Time to Discuss the Importance of Developing a Growth Mindset
Have you ever given up because something was too hard, or avoided taking on a challenge altogether just in case you failed? Maybe you’ve been frustrated at yourself for not being smarter, or resented others for succeeding at things that seemed to come naturally or easily to them?
Don’t worry, this is normal (and typical) ‘Fixed Mindset’ behaviour, and it’s something you can change.
January 24 is the International Day of Education, and what better time to review recent research and thinking into how we learn? Since I went to school a lot has changed. Teachers can’t smoke in classrooms, kids don’t have to volunteer to change the projector slides, and computers are in the kids’ pockets not in a ‘Mac lab’ that you visit once a week to learn typing… just to name a few.
Since the 90s, there have also been a number of advances in our understanding of how we learn. One of the biggest developments in education and psychology is the work Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck pioneered in Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.
Dweck has spent her career creating a body of research and evidence that shows we aren’t born smart or dumb. Instead, in her 2006 book ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’ she argues that we how we view our ability to learn and handle challenges is directly linked to how well we learn.
Here’s how Dweck described it in an interview with Harvard Business review (HBR):
“A fixed mindset is when people believe their basic qualities, their intelligence, their talents, their abilities, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount, and that’s that. But other people have a growth mindset. They believe that even basic talents and abilities can be developed over time through experience, mentorship, and so on. And these are the people who go for it. They’re not always worried about how smart they are, how they’ll look, what a mistake will mean. They challenge themselves and grow.”
Learning is a Journey
The research into Growth Mindset shows our success at school, and even in life, is tied to our mindset, and if you have a growth mindset, you can grow your brain’s capacity to learn and to solve problems. Therefore, intelligence is not fixed, and if you believe in learning as a journey, you can grow your intelligence.
In her studies, Dweck found that some kids saw challenges as opportunities to learn, even seeing their failures as good – the more they failed, the more they learned. So, they were psyched for more challenges. However, other kids saw challenges in the exact opposite way, rather than working harder to try to improve, they gave up or didn’t try.
The good news is that further studies showed that is was possible to change people’s mindsets, and therefore impact their results at school – with some experiments showing huge turnarounds in class grades from the bottom to the top of the district or state in only a year.
Here are two such examples:
- Academic achievement: A 2016 study by Susana Claro, David Paunesku and Carol Dweck, called “Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement” showed that having a growth mindset is a reliable predictor academic achievement.
- Reading and writing skills: A 2016 study by Simon Calmar Andersen and Helena Skyt Nielsen called “Reading intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children’s skills” showed that teaching parents that their child’s ability isn’t fixed and helping them to support their child’s effort, rather than performance, increased the reading and writing skills of all children involved in the study.
Growth Mindset is for Adults Too
There have been many other studies in growth mindset that show the benefits for adults in professional settings. In fact, in recent years the term “life-long learning” has started making its way into corporate vernacular – aligning up with the need for employees to stay up-to-date with rapidly changing workplaces, industries and societies.
According to global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, “studies show that workers who maintain their ability to learn outpace other professionals. The people who will thrive in the 21st century will be those who embrace lifelong learning and continually increase their knowledge, skills, and competencies.”
It’s worth remembering that it’s not just the acquisition of new skills and competencies that benefit these workers. The mindset that drives people to be curious and want to learn more is also a great buffer against criticism and failure. People who have a growth mindset see failure as a part of their development journey. So, it’s not just the new skills or knowledge, but also the mindset, that helps people with a growth mindset succeed.
It turns out that developing a growth mindset and lifelong learning habits are skills that will benefit you well into retirement too. A recent study showed that people who keep their mind sharp in retirement tend to live longer.
How to Develop a Growth Mindset
If you think you need help to change your current mindset, or want to know more about this research, MinsetWorks.com is a great online resource.
Check out Mindset Works’ free assessment to identify areas in which you can work toward a growth mindset.
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