Understanding Growth Mindset For Elementary Students
As a child, I struggled with math. I was not sure why I could not “get it” while everyone else seemed to be able to. But I have my father to thank for my growth mindset. He is so positive all the time and constantly states that attitude is everything.
I did not once consider that I could not do math and started to enjoy it even when I got the answers wrong. I would just work harder and analyze the problem until I got it right.
This is how I developed analytical numeracy at a young age which proved extremely helpful when I was finally diagnosed with dyslexia while in university.
Even with this new awareness, it was my growth mindset that encouraged me to become a teacher. I must say, it is so rewarding to help students who have the same condition. In fact, “attitude is everything” is the mantra I introduce to my students each September.
I hope my story helps you see why a growth mindset is so important for young learners. This mindset is based on the belief that our basic qualities are things we can cultivate through our efforts.
It’s common to feel like some topic and/or activity is just “not for me.” This is human nature and preference. As adults, we generally do not enjoy appearing to be ignorant of a topic and/or failing at a task. Children can develop the same mindset from observing how we navigate and respond to these situations.
To avoid the development of a fixed mindset, children need to observe adults who consistently demonstrate flexibility, patience, perseverance, and positive responses to life.
“The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome.” - Carol Dweck
A growth mindset is nurtured through trial and error learning. Any other form of learning that does not allow for trial and error to occur can be very detrimental to the developing brain.
Children need to be given time and space to create, manipulate, test, and revise in both play and academic settings. Adult feedback should be supportive and should not interfere with the child’s problem-solving processes.
This type of learning should start at a very young age as soon as the child is physically able to grasp objects in a safe environment.
When students in a classroom or at home are afforded a consistently safe and non-judgemental environment to practice trial-and-error learning, the results are astonishing.
“Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right.” - Henry Ford
When it comes to academic learning, students often receive formal feedback. Teachers are required to provide grades. A mark on a paper and perhaps a written comment. However, this type of feedback is not effective in developing a growth mindset.
A child’s mindset will be more greatly affected, positively and/or negatively, by informal feedback, which is feedback that can occur at any time.
At Education Rocks, our student learning activities help you create a classroom of meaningful learning experiences for your students while developing their growth mindsets. Each student learning activity provides multiple opportunities for informal feedback as a whole class or with individual students.
Thank you for reading this blog post on understanding a growth mindset for elementary students.
The lesson plans in our K-6 Learning Library will help you and your child or students right now and for years to come. The best part is you can edit these resources so that your child or students can focus on what they can do right now and build on it rather than internalize that they are not performing at grade level.