Mindsets have been defined as “a set of attitudes and beliefs,” (Robinson, 2017). Dweck took the idea of mindsets and paired it with the terms “growth” and “fixed”. Thus, creating language to begin talking about people's mindsets about learning and intelligence. Growth Mindset was a concept that was developed by psychologist Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The Psychology of Success. In this book, she explored what she believed to be the causes and repercussions of different types of mindsets in adolescents.
Growth vs Fixed Mindset
A student may have a growth mindset when they believe that their abilities can be developed and improved with practice over time. In contrast, a student may be said to have a “fixed mindset” if they believe there is an amount of predetermined intelligence that one is born with and it is unchangeable (Robinson, 2017). At any point in a child’s life, they can range anywhere in-between a growth or fixed mindset. Some children approach challenges with a growth mindset, while others tend to learn using a fixed mindset. The purpose of Bourke and Keown’s (2019) study was to see if there was a correlation between growth mindset, academic success, grit, intrinsic motivation, and/or frustration tolerance.
Growth Mindset in Primary School
There have been several types of research done on how practices growth mindset implemented in primary school, grades pre-K to five, can affect their academic success and other areas. When looking at ways to measure whether or not students have a growth mindset one must look at their “responses to mistake making; embracing challenge; avoiding challenge; fixed mindset approach to learning; growth mindset approach to learning; and metacognition” (Fraser, 2018). Most studies focused on the behavioral effects growth mindsets have on primary-aged children and how to begin to develop them. In a study done in Australia of ninety-five primary teachers surveyed 92% very strongly agreed with this (Boylan, Barblett, & Knaus, 2018). Of these teachers, 53% of them strongly agreed that children can and should have a growth mindset in the classroom. Then when asked what they felt was extremely important for success in learning 36% of the teachers said growth mindset (came in sixth overall) was a key aspect. Here another study is looking at how a growth mindset affects the classroom, and whether or not it is considered important without defining success in learning.
The study on elementary students done by Bourke and Keown (2019) found in its literature review that lower socioeconomic areas have higher dropout rates, at-risk students, and students with lower academic achievement. Then it followed this up through the use of different studies and concluded that students with a growth mindset, whether from lower or higher socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds, can overcome obstacles to reach self-determined goals. This is a point that was similarly concluded in Duckworth (2019). These consistent results create space for students to hope, hope that they still have a chance to beat the odds. This research shows that the school is a substantial player in creating mindsets in students, especially those at risk in various ways.
Statement of Problem
There has been an increase in students having a fixed mindset, especially at the elementary level. Children seem to be lacking problem-solving skills when approaching their schoolwork, social issues, and personal problems. A study conducted by Eisenberg et al. (1997), showed that resiliency, a component of growth mindset, was a mediator for children’s emotional regulation. Therefore, an intervention is needed to increase a growth mindset to ensure holistic development.
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Keown, S. R., & Bourke, B. (2019). A Qualitative Investigation of Fixed Versus Growth
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