Language That Promotes A Growth Mindset

Learning Outcome for Today's Lesson:

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Differentiate between language that promotes a fixed mindset and language that promotes a growth mindset by successfully completing a sorting activity

Introduction:

Today you are going to learn about one of the most important strategies for creating a culture of growth in your classroom: using language that promotes a growth mindset. As Dr. Carol Dweck outlines in her book, "Mindset: The new Psychology of Success" (2006), the words that you choose are crucial to creating a growth mindset. Teachers should use language that puts the focus on things that students can control, such as effort and problem-solving strategies; rather than focusing on things out of their control, such as their IQ's or talents. This is especially true for students who are often stereotyped as being incompetent due to having a disability or other differentiating issue.

Take a look at the diagram below, which gives some examples of how your language can affect a person's mindset.

Retrieved from: Edmunds School District

From: malcolmocean.com/2014/07/growth-mindset-reframing

There is also a good Open Educational Resource which emphasizes the importance of using the word "yet" with your students. For example, you might say "My students can't draw yet. I need to give them some strategies to learn this." To see more about this, check out the Open Educational Resource here.

Look at the fixed mindset side of the chart and then see how the statements can be changed to promote a growth mindset instead. It is also important for teachers to teach students about their word choice - a great tip is to create a bulletin board with your students, similar to the one below (from mathequalslove.blogspot) :

Here is a diagram that Carol Dweck created. Notice that just telling students to try harder is not enough. Teachers need to give them strategies and next steps so they can improve.

Core Concepts:

Praise vs. Feedback - Praise is positive language; whereas feedback is positive or negative language. To increase a growth mindset, it is best to use feedback which focuses on the things a student can change, such as problem-solving skills or effort. Both the student's strengths and areas of improvement should be discussed, while focusing on the things the student can change. If a teacher praises intelligence, this will increase fixed-mindset thinking. If the teacher praises for effort or for a student's use of learning strategies, this will help to develop a growth mindset. If you would like more information about praise and the research associated with it, please see these Open Educational Resources:

Effort, Praise and Achievement - What Research Says To The Elementary Teacher by J. Fries-Gaither (2014)
Not In Praise Of Praise by Child Development (2017)

Intelligence - For the purpose of discussing growth mindsets, intelligence is a person's IQ or the level of intellect that they are born with. Dweck found that intelligence is not necessarily a predictor of academic success; students also need to have a growth mindset. If you would like to know more about the research in regards to intelligence, please see this Open Educational Resource, entitled "Intelligence" by R. Biswas-Diener (2017).

Steps To Effective Praise - Based on Dweck's research, Bennett has suggested the following steps to effective praise:

"Notice effort by the student(s).
Make eye contact with the student(s).
Smile. Be sincere and enthusiastic.
Deliver praise to students in proximity, especially at the secondary level.
Prepare for praise by deciding what to say that is specific to the task.
Describe the behavior you want to reinforce telling how you feel about it with specific comments like, 'Your thoughts were well organized in this essay.'
Keep records of successful efforts and praise so you can make connections in future assignments.

Finally, and most importantly, do not combine praise with criticism. To keep praise separate from criticism, avoid using the word, "but" immediately after a compliment. All this can make praise effective in the classroom. Effective praise can provide students with the kind of positive reinforcement that builds on success, motivates them to learn, and increases their participation in class" (2018).

Please read the following article and/or watch the video to find out more about the study that Carol Dweck did on praise.

Reading:

Dweck, C. S. (october 2007). The Perils and Promises of Praise. Educational Leadership, 65(2), 34-39. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct07/vol65/num02/The-Perils-and-Promises-of-Praise.aspx

Video:

Questions To Consider:

In your own experiences, do you agree with Dweck's findings about praise and feedback? Why or why not.
How can you change your teaching to incorporate some of the things you learned in this lesson?

References:

Bennett, C. M. (2018). Effective Praise Can Increase Student Motivation. Website Article. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/effective-praise-8161

Biswas-Diener, R. (2017. Intelligence. OER Commons. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courses/intelligence

Carter, S. (2018). Math Equals Love. Website Blog. Retrieved from https://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/2014/08/2014-2015-classroom-pics-my-most.html

Child Development (2017). Not In Praise Of Praise. OER Commons. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/15649-not-in-praise-of-praise/view

EL Education. (2018). Growth Mindset In A Data Driven Culture. OER Commons. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courses/growth-mindset-in-a-data-driven-culture

Fries-Gaither, J. (2014). Effort, Praise, and Achievement: What Research Says To The Elementary Teacher. OER Commons. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courses/effort-praise-and-achievement-what-research-says-to-the-elementary-teacher

Lesson 2

Language That Promotes A Growth Mindset