Rethinking the Growth Mindset

I will always be a fan of Dweck's work and speaking to our fixed thoughts. However, as I've worked with special needs learners this year my thoughts have shifted since I wrote my original Growth Mindset Plan.

Factors we need to consider are that not all kids are on the same level when it comes to learning, ability or intelligence. While this may seem like a fairly straight forward statement, we need to consider empowering our students with their accommodations AND the Growth Mindset. Sometimes kids see their accommodations as a crutch or are embarrassed by them, not as something that helps them access the curriculum. This changes the conversation from "I can do it!" to "With my accommodations, I can do it!" While it is important to help students see they are not limited by their disability, it is important to help them understand they do learn differently. We need to be careful about just slapping the Growth Mindset on all of our students confidence issues (Gerstein, 2015).

The Power of Yet (Dweck, 2016) and thought reframing is still very important to our learners. I think we need to be careful in managing expectations, but within our settings and if it is something we know they will be able to do, we have the ability to help them develop the mindset of yes, I can do it. Just not yet. It is important to give kids tangible examples of how they can do this and there are great children's books out there that help with this without guaranteeing they will be the best or the top of their class, but that they will be able to achieve what we are asking them to do.

View the List on Amazon Here!

While the Growth Mindset can be a powerful tool, it needs to be properly implemented and not just used as a catch all for students bad attitudes (Kohn, 2021). We need to teach them that they are more than their grades, and more than their successes and failures. One of my favorite quotes from Dweck's book is, “If you’re somebody when you’re successful, what are you when you’re unsuccessful?” (Dweck, 2016, p. 32). Grades do not equal success. Learning does. When we move beyond a mastery based system and allow students to prove their learning through the COVA approach we can protect students' confidence and intrinsic motivation. When students have a choice on how they can authentically show their learning this takes away the desire to cheat and allows their strengths to shine through. It in essences levels the playing field. It changes the narrative from "Show me what you can memorize" to "Show me what you have learned (Harapnuik, 2021)."

References:

Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Ballantine Books.

Gerstein, J. (2015, September 4). Is “Have a Growth Mindset” the New “Just Say No.” User Generated Education. Retrieved March 3, 2025, from https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/09/04/is-have-a-growth-mindset-the-new-just-say-no/

Harapnuik, D. (2021, February 9). Learner’s mindset explained. It’s About Learning: Creating Significant Learning Environments. Retrieved March 3, 2025, from https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8705

Kohn, A. (2021, June 25). The “Mindset” Mindset - Alfie Kohn. Alfie Kohn. https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/mindset/