When it comes to succeeding sheer effort is not enough. One must understand the learning process and how to use failures as valuable insight into coming up with new approaches for problem solving. Growth mindset is still relatively unknown for a large number of educational systems across all over the world but what is becoming more clear is this type of reasoning reinforces self-motivation which is key to success. We will dive deeper into this concept as well as easy ways to help your students develop it, including quotes for growth mindset.

Identify the fixed mindset and learn to avoid it

A fixed mindset will praise effort and native intelligence which can hinder the development of your students. Instead be sure to compliment innovation and the willingness to find and try new approaches.

“The problem human beings face is not that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed.” – Michelangelo

Determination and intelligence can only go so far. Emphasizing them too often can make your students focus on the fixed mindset rather than exploring new methods and skills that can help them accomplish their goals.

Display and share quotes for growth mindset

Well, this one seems pretty easy, right? It's definitely not the only thing you should do and I do recommend you check out all the tips above as well but displaying quotes for growth mindset and including them in your discussions is a great way to remind your students of key aspects of a healthy growth mindset.

Speaking of, I have a great freebie that I am so excited to share with you today! Check out this free farmhouse growth mindset poster that you can download from HERE.

Just print it and display it on your bulletin board to pretty up your classroom.

 

Explain the importance of overcoming obstacles

Learning new things can introduce difficult and hard to grasp concepts that might seem impossible to understand at first. Teach your students that finding ways to overcome challenges will ultimately rewire their brains to become smarter every time they manage to find their way past the problem .

This way, they will be mentally prepared to encounter obstacles and they can start to find new problem-solving approaches as early in life as possible.

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

On the other hand, not knowing the real benefits of overcoming challenges can stagnate the development of intelligence and problem-solving skills over time.

Reveal real-life uses of abstract skills and concepts

It's often that students are having a hard time visualizing their purpose in real-life so they can't find the proper motivation to learn that new skill or concept.

“Life is a progression of becoming who we are.”– J. R. Rim

Make sure they understand the practical uses of the skill or topic in question as well as the benefits they can get by learning it.

"Gamify" your class

Since most young people are very familiar with games, introducing game-inspired aspects to learning can make it more entertaining and exciting but it can also help your students shift their focus from getting good grades to the sum of their progress in learning a new skill or concept.

For example, you could rate papers and assignments using skill points (instead of grades) and sum them up for each of the topics you teach. This will help students get a clear overview of their overall progress and divert their attention from any individual assignment.

"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance." -Samuel Johnson

Aiming for a steady improvement is one of the core aspects of a balanced growth mindset.