A mindset for success

By Susan Joling

At Chugach, excellent work is modeled and expected. There is an ethic of excellence where children are often given detailed verbal feedback on their work-in-progress. Our hallways proudly exhibit their final work. Most importantly, students are offered phrases and encouragement that offer a “growth mindset” rather than a “fixed mindset” that leads to quality work and high achievement.

I have been dwelling on the book, Mindset, The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck and how it relates to the Chugach learning community. In her book, Dr. Dweck contrasts people who have a growth mindset, where they believe intelligence can be developed, versus people with a fixed mindset, who operate under the presumption that intelligence is static.

Our kindergarten and primary teachers go out of their way to teach parents important phrases: “I like the colors in your drawing, tell me more about it” rather than “You’re an incredible artist!” Or, “Your hard work and focus helped you do well” rather than “You’re smart, you caught on quickly.” “You tried lots of different strategies to solve that math problem. Tell me your thinking.” rather than “You got the answer right the first time. You’re an awesome mathematician.”

Of course we want to praise children and children certainly love to be praised for their intelligence and talent. But Dweck says that type of praise is short-lived because when children’s work is not so successful, their confidence dims and their motivation lessens. If success equals smart, then failure means they’re not so smart. This fixed mindset tells children they shouldn’t try drawing anything hard or people will find out they aren’t Renoir. It tells them if they don’t do something quickly, they’re not smart. The growth mindset asks about their work in a way that appreciates their efforts and choices. It praises children for what they accomplish through practice, persistence, and hard work. It says to a child, you are a developing person and I’m interested in your development.

A growth mindset leads to a desire to learn and to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the path to mastery, learn from criticism, and find lessons and inspiration in the success of others. Contrast this with a mindset that leads to a desire to look smart and therefore a tendency to avoid challenges, get defensive or give up easily, see effort as fruitless, ignore useful critical feedback, and feel threatened by the success of others.

This Spring, I am alert to words that encourage growth. Certainly, I am paying closer attention to the kind of phrasing I use with children. I’m grateful my kids attend a school filled with growth-mindset teachers who are themselves learners who encourage students to embrace challenges and show responsibility for their learning.