What Can Be Gained from a Growth Mindset?
Recently, several articles have been splashing across my feeds, each of them denouncing the benefits of a growth mindset. The articles link to a study including two meta-analyses. The results indicate growth mindset interventions have no effect on "academic achievement."As summarized in one such article:
The first study examined the correlation between growth mindset interventions and academic achievement on standardized tests. The second looked at the effectiveness of specific interventions, noting which teaching strategies showed the most impact on student outcomes. Growth mindset enthusiasts may be disappointed to learn that although the authors found a significant correlation between growth mindset interventions and student academic achievement, the effect size was very small.
Does this mean helping our students build growth mindsets is a waste of time?That depends.Is the goal of growth mindset interventions to help students perform well on standardized tests or to help them develop flexible and empowering mindsets for life?I'm hoping you will agree that it's the latter. If so, then continuing to help our learners develop growth mindsets is most definitely time well-spent. A growth mindset is important for all of us (kids and adults alike!)—but it's not really about academic achievement, and it's certainly not about performing well on standardized tests.And that's a good thing.I do not teach for standardized tests.I teach for life. For fostering deep, critical thinking skills. For developing conceptual understandings. For supporting inquiry and the desire to make the world a better place. For cultivating a lifelong curiosity and joy in learning.Of course, I want students to grow academically and to develop critical literacy skills. This is why I ensure the students I work with have access to a wealth of texts, devoted time for reading and writing each day, and a workshop classroom that includes targeted instruction, high expectations, ample time for inquiry and student application, purposeful conferring, and meaningful feedback. A growth mindset certainly supports this learning, but not in the sense of standardized "academic achievement."In other words, these meta-analyses miss the point entirely. Student outcomes on standardized tests are about as far removed from the underpinnings of growth mindset as one can get. Developing a growth mindset is less about academic achievement and much more about academic tenacity. The focus is not on performance—or proving one's ability, but rather on learning—or improving one's ability. As the word mindset implies, it's a way of thinking about and approaching learning. (Fellow IB educators, take note of the many ways AtL skills and a growth mindset support one another.) The focus is not on the short-term performance snapshots that standardized tests provide, but rather on the journey of learning.Let's consider another line from the same article quoted earlier:
They [researchers] say the intervention, at least as currently applied in today’s classrooms, isn’t shifting the needle on academic achievement.
There's a phrase in the above quote that is seemingly small, yet packs a powerful punch: "...as currently applied in today's classrooms..." Let's think about the majority of today's classrooms. The sad reality is that many are still focused on "filling funnels" rather than empowering students with lifelong learning skills. We recognize that the entire culture of education needs to shift. The entire mindset needs to evolve from one that is fixed and performance-based to one that is growth-oriented and learning-focused. Thankfully, a shift towards honoring inquiry, creativity, and meaningful learning—rather than memorization for performance—is beginning to take place, but it's going to take time.Developing a growth mindset is about the process of learning and helping students develop skills to self-regulate, persevere, reflect, and determine alternative learning strategies when needed for life. Rather than focusing on "academic achievement" on standardized tests, it would be much more meaningful to study the relationship between growth mindset interventions and, well, the development of growth mindsets—not only in our students, but in our school cultures as a whole.