Growth Mindset Strategies to Shift Student Perspectives

You’ve likely heard about the concept of a growth mindset. The idea, championed by psychologist Carol Dweck, is based on the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. Essentially, we can learn to be smarter and more capable. With a fixed mindset, people see their talents and abilities as set in stone: no matter how hard they try, there’s a limit to what they can achieve.

Growth mindset is part of our self-awareness, a key competency. Research shows that fostering a growth mindset can significantly enhance students’ academic performance and help them develop crucial life skills like resilience, motivation, and the ability to adapt their learning strategies. Adopting a growth mindset can mean the difference between a student persevering through challenging coursework or giving up. Families and teachers can help students cultivate a growth mindset with these strategies.

Praise the process, not the person

A great way to promote a growth mindset is by praising students for their effort, strategies, and progress rather than their natural talent. Instead of saying, “You’re so smart,” try something like, “I’m really impressed with how hard you worked on this,” or, “Your approach of breaking the problem into smaller steps really worked well.”

Point out your favorite mistakes

Create a classroom climate where mistakes are viewed as a natural part of the learning process. Embrace and spotlight the wrong answers (anonymously, of course). This can be especially useful in math lessons. Teachers can deconstruct incorrect answers together with the class so that students see common mistakes and realize they’re not alone in making them. Figuring out where things went wrong builds deeper conceptual understanding so that they can get it right next time.

Restate fixed-mindset language into growth-oriented statements

Encourage students to reframe their perceived failures as progress and opportunities for growth. When a student says, “I can’t do this math!” add “yet” to the end of their sentence. “I can’t do this math yet!” Continuing to use growth-oriented statements can help shift their perceptions of their abilities: “This is hard, but I can improve with practice.” You could model this with students by sharing your own learning experiences and how you overcame challenges.

Parents’ perspective matters

What students believe about themselves begins at home. Researchers discovered that when parents view failure as something harmful, they often focus more on their children’s performance and abilities instead of their learning process. As a result, their children are more likely to believe that intelligence is unchangeable—fixed—rather than something that can grow and develop. So, nixing a fixed mindset starts with parents’ beliefs.

Teacher mindsets make a difference

A teacher’s own mindset about their students’ abilities can influence student achievement. For instance, research shows that teachers who believe not all students can be good at math end up demotivating students, leading to disengagement. And the opposite also holds true. Another study shows that when teachers have a growth mindset, it has a noticeable and positive impact on their students developing a growth mindset, too.

Incorporate human skills curriculum

Educators can foster a growth mindset in their students by integrating human skills instruction into their curriculum. The Second Step® programs for K–8 students specifically emphasize the importance of a growth mindset. Human skills programs also teach students skills to communicate and collaborate, solve problems, make sound decisions, set and achieve goals, and manage their emotions—skills that are valuable both in the classroom and throughout their lives.

Learn more about the full suite of Second Step digital programs for K–12 learners.

You can also dive into the research on the various benefits associated with human skills development.