The Growth vs. Fixed Mindset in Learning

Standford University has published a podcast titled 'Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets in Learning. This short five minute video briefly discusses a program created to teach students to develop a growth mindset, an understanding that learning is a process that is constant and forever; it's a part of life. They setup a workshop of eight sessions, where half of the students received information on study skills and a growth mindset, the other half only received the study skills. The group only receiving the study skills, continued to decline in school, there was no benefit seen through these sessions. The other group, receiving both, performed much better and at the end, there was an obvious difference between the behavior of the two groups. There was a direct correlation to the growth mindset instruction and the top performers.

One statement from the video that really impressed upon me, was that we cannot be expected to keep up with a changing world if we cannot grow and learn. This is certainly true, stagnant behavior cannot be expected to yield greatness. We will always have the need to learn and understand more. We NEED to have this desire to pursue our full potential, without it, we're just treading water.

As a teacher, this is a powerful idea to try and teach to our students. We should help them want to learn for the sake and enjoyment of learning, not solely for a passing grade (even though we want that too!). We need to teach them to be inquisitive, to question things, to pursue understanding not just information. We want to help set up our students for a lifestyle of learning.