Mindset Training for Academic Success
A student’s mindset can impact their academic performance. Follow these mindset training strategies that will help your students succeed academically.
How Mindset Affects Academics
How you perceive intelligence, ability, and challenges determines your mindset.
There are two primary mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset.
Those with a fixed mindset believe that you are born with a specific capacity for learning, and nothing you do can change that.
This mindset is limiting to students because if they believe they have a low or middle capacity, applying effort to learn something new is futile.
Any challenge or obstacle signals to them that they are out of their depth. They give up.
Those with a growth mindset believe intelligence and ability are directly related to hard work and determination.
Every challenge is an opportunity to stretch themselves and develop determination and resilience.
Students with a growth mindset will try harder, take risks, persist longer at complex tasks, bounce back, and have a brighter future outlook.
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How to Cultivate Growth Mindset Through Mindset Training
As a teacher, you should have a growth mindset about mindset!
Students are born with either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Their outlook is learned.
For that reason, you can influence and affect a student’s mindset through mindset training.
How do you conduct mindset training? Follow these steps.
Work on Your Own Growth Mindset
Before you can train your student’s mindset, you must have a growth mindset about yourself.
Your students are watching you all day, every day.
They observe how you respond to challenges and what you do or say when you make a mistake. Basically, they can perceive your mindset.
That’s why, as a teacher, you need to work on your personal growth mindset.
Train yourself to replace negative thoughts, seek learning opportunities, and give yourself grace when you make an error.
You are a living, breathing example of a growth mindset. Lead your students by example.
Talk About Your Experiences
Students love stories, and they will remember what you tell them about your own experiences.
Share moments from your journey where you encountered obstacles. How did you overcome them?
Even if you did not overcome them, how did they help you grow? What did you learn from that experience?
Remember that success is often achieved through persistence. That means sustained effort over a long period.
Students are young, and they focus on short-term outcomes.
They may not connect the dots about their present outlook, effort, and long-term success.
Your experiences about working to achieve a long-term goal can offer them a vital perspective.
The ones who succeed are the ones who keep trying. That’s a growth mindset in action.
Provide Perspective on Setbacks
Challenges, setbacks, and failure are a part of life as well as academics.
When your students struggle to understand a topic, grasp a concept, or perform poorly on a test despite putting in the effort, talk them through it.
If they have a fixed mindset, they will likely think (and even verbalize) phrases like, “I’m so stupid,” “I’ll never get this,” or “I’m bad at _____.”
Help them replace these negative thoughts with positive ones.
“I don’t understand this concept yet, but with time and effort, I will.”
“This math concept is challenging for me, but I will get it if I keep at it.”
“This struggle is making me a better student and a stronger person.”
“I don’t like math right now, but I’ll feel really good when I master this skill.”
“I can learn this. I’ve done hard things before. With a little help and persistence, I’ll get it.”
Engage in conversation with students when they encounter setbacks. Help them to reframe the challenge as an opportunity for growth.
Praise Effort
Mindset training happens when you praise a student.
Resist praising intelligence as a feature (e.g., “You’re so smart.”)
Instead, praise effort. “I appreciate how hard you have worked.” or “I admire how dedicated you are in ___.”
These positive comments spur students (all students) to work diligently. They cultivate a growth mindset.
Make It Safe to Fail
Is your classroom a safe learning environment?
Do students feel supported?
Yes, it is your job to assess your students’ learning, but it is also essential to cultivate a space where students can take risks.
If you take a risk and undergo a challenge, you may fail.
Failure is not horrible when it is the result of trying.
Thomas Edison famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”
Present (ungraded) challenges where students can practice critical thinking skills and problem-solving.
Collaborative tasks work exceptionally well.
If they fail, that’s fine! It means they took a risk and tried something new, which is good!
Praise the effort, and ask questions to encourage the group to try another tack.
At the end, provide feedback on what you observed. Highlight more than just the completion of the task.
- Did the students work together well?
- Were all students heard?
- Did everyone participate?
- Did some try an out-of-the-box solution?
- Who regrouped after an unsuccessful attempt?
- Who encouraged others?
Failure-safe activities can form a template in the student’s mind about how to approach more traditional academic tasks.
Help Students Set Goals
Students need to see the big picture and work toward a larger goal.
Setting goals for students is so important.
Whether it is learning the times tables, writing a five-paragraph essay, or passing a skills assessment, students benefit from a goal.
Define the goal and then work with the student to make a plan to achieve it. What steps and milestones will occur along the way?
Talk through how to think about the occasional setback along the way.
Talk about replacing negative thoughts with positive ones.
Make Growth Mindset a Theme in Your Classroom
You can fill your classroom with visual cues for a growth mindset.
Check out these free growth mindset posters.
Use one of these growth mindset quotations as your quote of the day.
Make a growth mindset bulletin board.
Try some of these growth mindset activities.
Academic Success and Mindset Training
A student’s academic success is directly linked to their mindset.
You don’t have to sit back and watch students with a fixed mindset talk themselves out of trying.
Help your students develop a growth mindset with mindset training.