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