Growth Mind Set

This month's core virtue has been diligence. With that in mind, I introduced the 5th-8th graders to a concept called Growth Mind Set. I started out by asking them to think and respond (not publicly) to the questions....Do you believe that you do well/poorly in school because you are smart/not smart or because you work hard/do not work hard? The answer that we are hoping for is that success comes from "working hard." But too many kids by middle school believe that ability is a fixed quantity over which they have little control. I do well on a test because I am "smart." But the corollary must then be true as well...I do poorly and I must be "dumb." In their minds, school performance is directly related to IQ.

Kids on both ends of the spectrum (those who struggle and those who breeze through) get this message. Those who struggle often give up by the middle years. Those who breeze through, also don't realize the value of hard work. Both tend to believe in some version of fixed mindset.

We adults are responsible for shaping a child' mindset. How many times have you or someone you know said to a child...."Wow! You got a 100 on that quiz. You are so smart!" I know that until I read the research on growth mindset, I was guilty of that statement on many an occasion. However, we need to work to revamp our conversation to..."Wow! You got a 100 on that quiz. You must have worked hard." (And hopefully, they did have to expend effort to get that 100%.) We want our kids to get the message that, although we are all born with certain gifts and talents, hard work pays off. No matter what your goal, you can move toward it with adequate effort.

The good news is that the brain is actually quite malleable...more so than we thought in years past. We really can do better if we put in the time. I most certainly will never be an Olympic athlete, but I am pretty certain that if I started training, I could run a 10K and improve my time.

This is the message that we hope to bring our students. Diligence matters. Diligence pays off. Hard work, leads to improved performance, which leads to more enjoyment in the activity. I encourage you to ponder the impact of encouraging the growth mindset in our children.

For an interesting video on this subject, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqDglhzQbw