Growth Mindset Progression & Connections to CSLE

​

It’s intriguing how growth mindset truly works when we understand it in its entirety. When I first started my journey in the ADL program, I recognized that, despite maintaining a positive attitude towards the events and circumstances in my life, I naturally gravitated towards a fixed mindset. I focused primarily on the product and not the process. This realization prompted a deep, self-reflection on the reasons why I felt the way I did. This was the beginning of my mindset journey. 

​

After this self-reflection, I was asked in 5302 to consider the ways I could implement the growth mindset into my innovation plan and present the foundation of the growth mindset to the administrators and teachers in my district. My first presentation covered growth mindset at a surface level and did not go into great detail. However, after experiencing and living out a true growth mindset within myself and throughout this course, I was able to update my Growth Mindset Plan (above) and create a more comprehensive presentation on the depths of a growth mindset. 

​

Additions include:

Growth mindset misconceptions 

• After much research on growth mindset, I learned what it is and, more importantly, what it ISN’T. A growth mindset is NOT just increased effort. Praising effort without considering outcomes may create a false sense of achievement (Dweck, 2016).

• A growth mindset provides the foundation for developing grit and rigor. Grit helps sustain long-term effort and overcome challenges along the way (Duckwoth, 2016). Rigor ensures that a person approaches goals with seriousness, precision, and a commitment to high standards. Ignoring the difference between grit and rigor can halt the progression of a growth mindset. 

• Some people mistakenly believe that having a growth mindset simply involves positive thinking or optimism. They may believe that if they maintain a positive attitude, they will automatically overcome challenges and achieve success. This approach can cause the growth mindset to become a fad. To avoid this, we must truly understand what it takes to obtain a growth mindset.
   

Growth mindset impact on students including feedback acceptance and less focus on grades

• In a learning environment that embraces failure as an opportunity for growth rather than a permanent setback, students become more receptive to feedback and can actively evolve through the learning process.

• Adopting a growth mindset diminishes students' fixation on grades, as they come to understand that emphasizing the learning process holds far more significance than fixating solely on the end product. This shift affords our students the chance to harness grit and diligent effort, propelling them forward in their educational journey.
   

How to adopt & reignite a learner’s mindset 

• Learner’s mindset is something that did not come easy to me. According to learning theorist Dwayne Harapnuik (2021), to adopt or reignite a learner’s mindset, one must focus on learning and how to learn, create a learning philosophy so they understand who they are as a learner, create significant learning environments that focus primarily on the COVA approach, and, lastly, adopt, practice, and model a growth mindset (Harapnuik, 2018). 
   

Connections between growth mindset and CSLE within my innovation plan 

• Creating a significant learning environment is crucial for the success of my innovation plan, but that cannot be done successfully without the implementation of growth mindset. CSLE has many advantages including fostering inquiry, advocating play and imagination, valuing collaboration, engaging the passions of learners, and embracing structure and freedom. When growth mindset is paired equally with these foundations, the teachers and students experiencing the SLE will naturally flourish.

• Practicing a growth mindset when creating significant learning environments will allow teachers to ask questions without fear of judgment, learn to value process over product, accept and give feedback (feedforward), develop their innate abilities, and see challenges as opportunities.
   

Exploring and refining my understanding of the growth mindset has proven to be an incredibly inspiring journey. Beyond gaining knowledge, the most significant impact has been the boost in confidence it has given me. I feel I am now able to effectively explain the impacts of a growth mindset not only in individuals but also in creating significant learning environments for our students. Witnessing my own growth and progression has been a wonderful experience, and I am excited to see where I am at the end of the ADL program. Nevertheless, nothing compares to the excitement I’ll feel when I see the impacts of growth mindset flourish across the teachers and students in my district. 
 

References: 

​

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. Scribner.

 

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

 

Harapniuk, D. (2021, Feb. 9). Learner’s Mindset Explained. It’s About Learning: Creating Significant Learning Environments. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8705

 

Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). COVA: Choice, Ownership, and Voice through Authentic Learning: Vol.0.9 [EBook]. Creative Commons License.