Growing a Culture of Learning (Part 4) – Growing Mindsets

… research shows that the brain is more like a muscle – it changes and gets stronger when you use it… Carol Dweck You Can Grow Your Intelligence www.brainology.us Winter 2008

Carol Farrington (2013) talked about 4 types of academic mindsets:

• belonging – sense of connectedness to peers & adults
• perseverance – self-efficacy
• growth – ability & competence grow with effort
• value – connections to new information & ideas

These mindsets benefit from the power of “yet.” For some learners this requires a focus on changing habits of mind from one that sees intelligence as fixed to one that sees that they have control. It is a simple shift from “I can’t do this!” to “I can’t do this YET!”

We talked about building trust via relationships, which supports the sense of belonging. When learners receive feedback that is useful and are given an opportunity to use that feedback to improve, mindsets move to growth-focused and learners are willing to persevere. Providing time and resources to help learners make connections to the learning and their life will support the value piece.

Creating opportunities for learners to take calculated risks and receive feedback they can use help build mindsets.

Tools like Audacity, QuickVoice Recorder, Vocaroo and AudioNote allow you and learners to record audio feedback to help learners grow.

The Sciences of Teaching – pay attention to the “Tapping This Finding” portions of this article

Talk partners create a culture where learners are sharing more than teachers. This strategy fosters collaborative discussions and learning from peers.

What are 2 ways you have worked to build mindsets in a physical classroom that might translate to a virtual environment? What’s one way you want to celebrate learner growth virtually or in a classroom?