Building Growth Mindsets in the Classroom

When students and educators have a growth mindset, they understand that intelligence can be developed and this in turn has powerful ramifications on student motivation, learning, and school success. In the classroom, students with this mindset focus on improvement instead of worrying about how smart they are. They work hard to learn more and get smarter. This course examines the idea that students who learn this mindset show greater motivation in school, better grades, and higher test scores. Specifically, this course will investigate this mindset with tools such as a planning template, a step-by-step description of a growth mindset culture, and “look-fors” for adopting differentiated, responsive instruction that teachers can use immediately in their classrooms. This course also includes a sample professional development plan and ideas for communicating the mindset concept to parents and other stakeholders. The projected outcome of this course is to provide classroom teachers with the knowledge, understanding, and methodologies needed to promote the growth mindset in order to build a culture of success and increase student achievement.