Growth mindset is a theory developed by psychologist Carol Dweck in the 1990s. It is centred around the belief that intelligence and ability, rather than being fixed, can be developed and improved. If someone has a growth mindset, they have a positive attitude towards learning and their ability to progress and achieve.
Pupils who possess a growth mindset are said to rise to challenges and learn from the mistakes they make, rather than feeling distressed and defeated if they are unable to do or understand something.
The theory has become popular in schools in England but is also controversial, with geneticist Robert Plomin claiming it is a “gimmick”.
Focusing on pupils’ strategies and hard work and tying them to progress and learning.
Treating mistakes, difficulty and even failure as something beneficial for learning, rather than something that can harm children or reflect badly on their abilities.
Giving students meaningful problems to solve (rather than rote memorisation of facts and procedures), clear feedback for improvement and a chance to revise the work to experience and demonstrate deepened understanding.
Sitting down with students who are stuck and saying, “Show me what you’ve done - let’s figure out how you’re thinking and what you can try next.”
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.
To achieve this, it summarises the best available evidence for teachers; its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, for example, is used by 70 per cent of secondary schools.
The charity also generates new evidence of “what works” to improve teaching and learning, by funding independent evaluations of high-potential projects, and supports teachers and senior leaders to use the evidence to achieve the maximum possible benefit for young people.
