Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff
An idea that
is beginning to gain a lot of favour in educational circles at the moment is
the notion of fixed versus growth mind sets, and how they might relate to
students and learning. Based on the work of Stanford University psychologist,
Carol Dweck, the idea of mindset is related to our understanding of where
ability comes from. It has recently been seized upon by educators as a
tool to explore our knowledge of student achievement, and ways that such
achievement might be improved.
However, Keith
Heggart found that the notion of developing a
growth mind-set is as equally applicable to staff and teacher performance as it
is to students. This article begins with a brief discussion about the difference
between the two mindsets, what that means for education, and concludes with
some ideas for how school leaders might seek to develop a growth mindset
amongst their staff.
Encouraging the school and staff to move from a fixed mindset to a
growth mindset will not happen overnight. Educational leaders who understand
the effectiveness of the growth mindset can start by learning how to provide
effective feedback.
