Developing a Growth Mindset
Importantly, mindset is not a fixed attribute. Like other
beliefs, it is learned from experience and instruction.
Intervention studies show that students’ motivation,
perseverance and achievement can be increased
by teaching a growth mindset (Aronson et al., 2001;
Blackwell et al., 2007; Good et al., 2003).
For example, co-author Lisa Blackwell and her
colleague Carol Dweck taught a workshop to a
struggling group of middle school math students in
New York City. One version of the workshop included
lessons about how the brain learns and grows smarter
with effort, along with study strategies. A control group
received general information about the brain and the
same study strategy information. The students who
received the growth mindset message improved their
grades, and were rated by their teachers as showing
more positive motivation to learn, while their peers who
did not learn that message continued to show declining
grades and low motivation (Blackwell et al., 2007). The
study strategies alone weren’t enough to improve their
performance. Students need to know how to get better,
AND they need to believe that exercising those skills
will pay off.