It’s one thing to help a student grow academically, it is quite another to push them to grow beyond their limits! In this blog post, we’ll delve into the inspiring concept of growth mindset. Get ready to explore how adopting a growth mindset can transform the way students approach challenges, embrace learning, and turn failures into valuable learning experiences!

Part 1: What is a Growth Mindset? 
A growth mindset is the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed and extended through dedication, effort, and perseverance. It does away with self-imposed limitations brought about by the fear or failure or embarrassment. Embracing a growth mindset allows us to view challenges as opportunities for growth, failures as stepping stones to success, and setbacks as valuable lessons. By flipping the script and choosing to think more positively, you can encourage a student to overcome obstacles, learn from their experiences, and reach new heights of achievement.

Part 2: The Pillars of the Growth Mindset
The easiest way to break down the growth mindset is by breaking it up into three important parts.

• Accepting Challenges: A growth mindset encourages us to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. Rather than avoiding difficulties, approach them with enthusiasm and a belief in your ability to overcome them. Few things are more satisfying than overcoming a challenge!
• Effort and Persistence: With a growth mindset, recognize that effort and persistence are key ingredients for success. Recognize that the more time and practice you invest in a task or a goal will bring you closer to success. Embrace the process of learning, knowing that each effort brings us closer to our goals.
• Overcoming Failure: A large part of the growth mindset is learning that failure is not the end; but rather an opportunity to learn and grow. A growth mindset enables us to see failures as valuable feedback and stepping stones towards improvement. Bouncing back from setbacks, reframing our thinking, and using failure as a catalyst for growth invites a mental fortitude that is necessary for success!

Part 3: Practical applications for the Growth Mindset 
Utilizing the growth mindset is much easier than you think! Here is a helpful, five-step process you can use with your young learners to help them use it in both the classroom and their day-to-day life!

1. Positive Self-Talk: Encourage students to replace negative self-talk with positive and affirming statements. We focus on their strengths, acknowledge their progress, and speak to them with kindness and encouragement. Replacing statements like ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘It’s too hard’ with thoughts like ‘I can’t do this yet’ and ‘I’m still learning this’ can make all the difference!
2. Embrace Challenges: Get students excited to seek out challenges and view them as opportunities for growth and learning! Treat challenges as gateways towards learning new skills and achieving great accomplishments!
3. Celebrate Effort and Progress: Recognize and celebrate the effort students put into your lessons. Celebrate progress, no matter how small, and acknowledge the steps they are taking towards their goals.
4. Reframe Failure: When faced with failure, reframe it as a learning experience. Help students analyze what went wrong, identify lessons learned, and use it as fuel for future improvement. If anything, praise students for recognizing where they made mistakes and encourage them to do better!
5. Embracing Feedback: Feedback is an opportunity for growth. With a growth mindset, teach your students to welcome constructive feedback and see it as valuable information that can guide them towards success. Remind them that everyone uses feedback to refine their skills, improve their process and that success rarely occurs on the first try!

In its own way, learning how to use a growth mindset lays down the bedrock to build towards new heights of academic success. Regardless of academic achievement or inherent skill, pushing your students to use the growth mindset fights off complacency while instilling a strong sense of positive independence. Once a student adopts the growth mindset, they embark on a journey of personal growth, transforming obstacles into opportunities and realizing their limitless potential!