Building a Growth Mindset, Grit and Resilience

This past Coffee and Conversation we focused on Growth Mindset, Grit, and Resilience, using ideas from Carol Dweck’s book Mindset and Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  

A key theme is how we at W+H can set up conditions for students to not be afraid of making mistakes. We discussed various ways that we adults can encourage students to take risks!  Equally important is the resilience that we want to foster in children: to get up when they fall, and to be prepared to get up again and again if needed. Additionally, how we (the adults) react to students making mistakes makes a difference in supporting their persistence to keep moving forward.

As parents and educators, we can help emphasize the importance of developing a growth mindset and grit. I appreciate that parents shared their thoughts and stories regarding their own growth mindset, as well as how they have worked to promote a growth mindset in their own children. It’s a journey!

A great deal of our conversation centered around these Growth Mindset Parenting Scenarios & Reflection.

1. When your child is frustrated with something: Do you immediately jump in and help, or do you allow them to struggle?

2. When your child does something really well: Do you label your child as “good,” or “smart,” or do emphasize their efforts over results?

3. When you make mistakes in front of your child: Do you get embarrassed or self-conscious, or do you use your mistakes as a model for dealing with disappointment?

4. When your child sees that a task is difficult for you:  Do you give up, or do you show persistence? Do you go easy on yourself, or do you have pretty high expectations for yourself?

Lastly, we discussed the handout pictured below and shared strategies for follow through at home to support our learners. The first page reviews ways to engage our children at home and the second page highlights examples of positive self-talk to support a Growth Mindset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This long-term, heavy lifting work towards building a Growth Mindset, Grit and Resilience within our students is most powerful when we take this challenge on together as an entire learning community. When we collectively model these dispositions, we serve our children well.