We trust that the How to Reignite Your Learner’s Mindset video sparked your desire to start or continue your journey of reigniting your Learner’s Mindset by changing your thinking about learning, your approach to learning, and by changing your learning environment. At the risk of discouraging you before you begin, we must caution that there is no Quick Fix to adopting the Learner’s Mindset. But as we all know from experience most good things will take some commitment and effort on your part. The exciting thing about the Learners’ Mindset is that it is a very natural state of being that we all had as infants and toddlers so it is just a matter of reigniting that spark of the inquisitive nature that we all once had and we can help you work through the rest of the process.
While promoting the growth mindset is important it must be done so within the context of structural changes to the learning environment. The research is quite clear using the growth mindset as an intervention alone or on its own will not make any significant difference. If you wish to help your learners adapt and grow a growth mindset then you make a structural change and create a significant learning environment in which you give your learners choice ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.
Kohn’s concluding paragraph summarizes the problem of promoting the growth mindset while not changing the structural arrangements or the learning environment:
I’m not suggesting we go back to promoting an innate, fixed, “entity” theory of intelligence and talent, which, as Dweck points out, can leave people feeling helpless and inclined to give up. But the real alternative to that isn’t a different attitude about oneself; it’s a willingness to go beyond individual attitudes, to realize that no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements. Until those arrangements have been changed, mindset will get you only so far. And too much focus on mindset discourages us from making such changes.
Hendrick points to the systemic problem that we have in education that limits the potential of the growth mindset:
One of the greatest impediments to successfully implementing a growth mindset is the education system itself. A key characteristic of a fixed mindset is a focus on performance and an avoidance of any situation where testing might lead to a confirmation of fixed beliefs about ability. Yet we are currently in a school climate obsessed with performance in the form of constant summative testing, analysing and ranking of students. Schools create a certain cognitive dissonance when they proselytise the benefits of a growth mindset in assemblies but then hand out fixed target grades in lessons based on performance.
This Meta-Analyses of growth mindset interventions reveals that there week impact of the growth mindset on student achievement. Growth mindset interventions on their own won’t bring about change but as the researchers argue:
Alternatively, mind-set interventions might need to be combined with other interventions to increase effectiveness.
More evidence to suggest that changing the learning environment and giving learners choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities may make the difference.
Hattie warns us to not over-reach with our claims of what the growth mindset will provide and encourages us to go back to the original work and recognize that the growth mindset has a role to play in the whole learning environment.
We need more care about over-reach with concepts like growth and fixed mindsets- otherwise, they will disappear like other over-used and over-rated claims that bedevil education and psychology. We will then miss the incredible value the research on these topics can provide relating to when to use them, how to use them, with which students, and to what ends.
The faddish or pop culture version of the growth mindset is emerging as: “Have a Growth Mindset.” This smacks of the “Just So No” campaign of the Reagan era. Catch phrases about a growth mindset will have as much effect on actually developing a growth mindset as just saying no did on curbing drug use.
A lot of teachers are saying ‘yes I have a growth mindset’, without doing the work and without making a journey to deeply understand it and to know how to apply it.
Once again we argue that this hard work involves creating a significant learning environment in which you give your learners choice ownership, and voice through authentic learning opportunities.
How to Build a Growth Mindset – While this video is upbeat, motivation, and does point to the fact you have to take action it misses the key factor of the need to change your learning environment in order to create the context for the growth mindset. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=V7XjFTrPl6o
Are you looking at the bigger picture or have you intellectually stepped far enough back to see the full learning environment? Consider the following video as you think about whether or not you are looking a the full picture:
If the youtube video wasn’t enough to help you consider the bigger picture and the importance of learning environments then consider this infographic:
The reason that it is so important for us as educators to look at the full learning environment is that when we take the time to do so we can actually make a difference in the way that the learning environment is designed. I have argued repeatedly for many years that whether we are purposeful in its design or we just allow the circumstances to dictate its development, educators at all levels are providing some form of learning environment. There are some aspects of the learning environment design that we may not have control over like standardized testing or learners demographics but there are so many other aspects of the the learning environment that we an control. So rather than allow the environment to come together on its own and respond reactively to the learning dynamics that arise I suggest that educators become proactive and create significant learning environments. If we start with a student centred approach and purposefully assemble all the key components of effective learning into a significant learning environment we can help our students to learn how to learn and grow into the people we all hope they will become.
Are you being proactive or reactive in the deign of your learning environment? What type of a learning environment are you creating?
More thoughts on Creating Significant Learning Environments
Brown-Martin discusses six key areas in his talk:
Context
Environment
Engagement
Technology
Assessment
Future
He concludes that revolution in education we need a revolution in society that is focused not on GDP and global competitiveness but on the real challenges faced by our children and their children in this century.
