How Can You Teach a Growth Mindset
in 2018 a study conducted by burning
glass technologies and strata education
network
it will discover that on average
approximately 43 percent
of college graduates who obtain a
bachelor’s degree suffered from
unemployment soon after graduating
while this data of unemployment does
vary with the field the bachelor’s
degree is in
the problem does not lie with the
competitive nature of that field but
rather the mindset the graduate has when
entering the workforce
for the first time what these graduates
who used to be students like me and my
peers need are growth mindsets being
hard working
determining taking risk and knowing that
you are in control
are all traits that are aligned with a
growth mindset but just knowing what a
growth mindset is
is not enough to help students to allow
them succeed in the harsh and cruel
society we live in
i have a question for everyone watching
at home not to have a rough idea of what
a growth mindset
is can you name the ways that your
school has prepared you with a growth
mindset for the problems that we face
in the real world i bet you can’t so how
do we expect the future generation to
form an answer as well
the reason why not everyone knows how
they put a growth mindset into use
is because of the flawed system schools
run by schools are not helping students
form a growth mindset that will help
them be successful in society
rather schools completely overlook
growth mindsets or they briefly teach
the students about them
telling the students that with a growth
mindset they can be successful in any
aspect
while this theme is not entirely
incorrect just talking about a growth
mindset
is not enough information to instill a
functioning one in them
you may ask what’s the importance of
this and why is this a problem
before we get into the evaluation of why
this is a problem and its importance
let’s reiterate with more detail what a
growth mindset is
the concept of a growth mindset was
first introduced by american
psychologist carol dweck
she is the lewis and virginia ian
professor of psychology
at stanford university and the author of
mindset
the new psychology of success dr dweck
defines a growth mindset as when
individuals believe their talents
can be developed and through hard work
effort good strategies and
input from others makes them stronger
this is important because growth
mindsets
will allow students to succeed in
anything they do in the future
without a growth mindset one might face
a problem fail
and give up or even be afraid to take
risks which be honest we’re all guilty
of doing once in our life
but with a growth mindset you won’t be
afraid of taking risk and failing
because you know that you could use this
failure to take a different approach and
advance further than you initially were
now that we have a specific problem
let’s get into how we can solve it one
possible solution
to this problem is instructing teachers
to teach students about growth mindsets
in their classes and demonstrate through
examples
how to implement them in any environment
so that the students are prepared to use
their school developed growth mindsets
in society
while this is a simple and quick
solution not all schools have the
leisure to include lessons of growth
mindsets into their core classes
as some of them are focused on certain
exams such as regions or ap
exams this is why i propose that we add
foundations of leadership to their
curriculum
what is foundational leadership or fol
you ask like the name implies it is a
class offered here at brooklyn lab
in which students are given both tools
and taught the traits
that make leaders and are taught how to
implement them in society to make them
leaders
an example of one trait that makes up a
leader is a growth mindset
great leaders all have one of these and
they are great because they can use
their growth mindset
to tackle problems they are faced with
in foundation
leadership teachers can provide students
with examples of leaders in society
and how they got into the position in
order for the students to see how a
growth mindset
will help someone be successful then the
teacher will put students through
scenarios
that mimic society and events that they
may face
the scenario would have to be made to
fail the students while this may confuse
a lot of people
they may say something along the lines
of why would you give something to
students you know they cannot handle or
why are you setting up for failure for
those with a growth mindset fairly
becomes the basis for future success
in the foundational leadership class
students will be given the opportunity
to fail
try something difficult and fail
miserably the measure of success will
not be whether they’ve mastered the
content or applied some specific set of
skills
but whether they could use their
creativity and growth mindsets
to problem solve and to find a solution
to help them through their failures
an example of a project that students
would do in this class is
they’re running a community service
project to help provide for the needy
and make the community safer
but then abruptly the group budget gets
cut the students at first will not have
a solution to this problem and will feel
stuck and hopeless
but with a growth mindset students will
realize just because their initial path
has been blocked off it does not mean
they cannot take another path
for example then students could either
start a fundraiser or raise awareness
for what they are doing in the community
to gain donations as a solution to their
budget being cut
this is just one of the many ways that
foundations of leadership teachers can
provide their students with lessons
on how a growth mindset can help them
succeed another way that schools can
help provide students with growth
mindsets
is through internships and giving
students positions of power in school
that affect others these positions and
jobs
will give students responsibility and
also provide them with a space in which
you’ll be able to learn essential skills
on how their actions impact others in
these jobs and positions students might
have the tendency to fail or
meet a certain standard whether that is
because of ignorance or lack of
experience
this risk schools take with the students
provides the opportunity
to push them to be more successful when
tackling unique challenges
by giving students internships and jobs
this will allow students to get
first-hand experience in the workforce
with the experience students will have
developed their own growth mindsets
and might even further them than just
learning about one in class
this is a result of the everyday
challenges that people in the workforce
face
frequently forcing students to come up
with solutions to these unique problems
they have not faced before
this growth mindset that the students
will develop through foundations of
leadership and the experience they
receive through their internships
will help students with getting a job
students need experience in a strong
growth mindset to be successful in the
job market
now more than ever with the cover 19
pandemic jobs are becoming more harder
and harder to find
in april the unemployment rate was as
high as 14.7 percent
this is just an example of how difficult
getting a job has become as a result of
the pandemic
allowing students to receive internships
soon after they developed a somewhat
growth mindset will enable them to put
theory into practice by providing them
with useful experiences that will boost
in
personal and social effectiveness in a
journal written by nick ellis a
professor of marketing management at
durham university
titled developing graduate sales
professionals through cooperative
education and work placements
a relationship marketing approach
recorded that students reported an
enhancement in their personal skills
from participating
such as time management verbal
communication and self-confidence
all these personal skills are things
that employers look for and will help
students be successful in the job market
even with covert 19. my suggestion is
that schools add foundations of
leadership as a class
and schools should take more risk with
students by providing them with
internships
and positions of power that affect
others this will boost student
and graduate success in all aspects by
reinforcing their skills as a leader
through a strong growth mindset making
it crucial for students who plan to
enter the workforce to have developed
one
that will allow them to adapt and solve
unique problems they will face in the
harsh society of today
while this change to the school systems
may seem difficult it is a necessary one
to prepare students for the harshness of
society and for them to have the
confidence that they can succeed because
of the growth mindset they have
is what i hope to see in the near future
thank you