Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

 

Hi Parents and Guardians of your wonderful 3rd graders,

Third grade teachers has been implementing an amazing strategy called Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset. The information below will explain what we are teaching and how we are encouraging your child to become a positive thinker in the classroom.

Mindset is a simple idea developed by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success—a simple idea that makes all the difference. In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong. 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. Virtually all great people have had these qualities. Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports.

Our hope is to develop a growth mindset for a number of reasons. In the face of difficulties, many students decide that they can’t pass a subject and that failing a test is the end of the road. Indeed, a great number do not wish to try anything new for fear of getting things wrong. By helping your child change their mindset within school we want to develop students who are willing to try new strategies to solve problems, to make your child see challenging work as a positive instead of a negative; to remove barriers to their learning. This will allow your child to be more confident in the face of challenges and hopefully improve as students and members of society.

Check out the video to give you a better understanding of a Growth Mindset vs a Fixed Mindset.

Here are a few great resources to help at home with Growth Mindset.