Establishing a “Growth Mind-Set”

By Jeff Ursino, Trustee Pajaro Valley Unified School District

I recently got the chance to sit in on a rally being held at Rio Del Mar School. What stood out to me besides the excited students is a concept that I was introduced to a few years ago, but is now in full swing at our local schools.

When I was a student I often said or heard others say something along the lines of “Math is not my thing” or “I’m just not that smart in History”. The trouble with statements such as these is that it became an excuse for not doing well. It also became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Those who said they were not competent in a particular subject saw it become a reality.

Instead of this line of thinking what is now being taught at Rio Del Mar School and schools around the county is a concept called the “Growth Mind-set.” The Growth Mind-set states that both intelligence and talent are not stagnant but instead can increase and improve with the proper amount of focus and work. This is in contrast to an individual with what is called a “Fixed Mind-set”. This individual feels that any talent or intelligence that they have was what they were born with no matter what their effort may be. Their natural born abilities are stagnant.

People with a growth mind-set are always looking for opportunities to learn, embrace challenges and are more open to criticism. They also are inspired by others success and look for ways to learn from how other people succeeded. For them there is always opportunity to improve and grow. Individuals with a fixed mind-set are more apt to ignore criticism and feel threatened or jealous of others who they deem successful. In essence they are closed off from any growth opportunities.

The good news about this concept is that can be a learned behaviour that one can develop and use no matter where they are in their personal growth. One can learn to change their mind-set and develop their way of thinking. For instance, instead of thinking that a particular task or objective is to difficult think in terms of it taking longer than you originally expected. Or when a mistake is made instead of thinking that somehow one is incompetent view the mistake as a step towards completing the task. This switch in mind-set opens up a world of opportunity and potential and places the challenge of making change squarely in the hands of the individual. It takes away the excuses that could be used and instead gives people responsibility for their individual success or lack thereof.

The opportunity for our local students with this shift is that they may no longer think that they are somehow not good enough or smart enough to do well in a particular subject; that a bad grade or difficulty in homework is not an indication that they are not smart. Instead students are being taught with both words and actions that the effort they put into a particular subject will pay off and bring them to their desired results. They are learning now that the key to success is not necessarily what one was born with but instead with patience, hard work and tenacity and that excuses are not going to get them what they want or need. If one is struggling in a particular subject it does not mean they are not somehow good enough but instead that more effort may be needed.

In the end education is about so much more then reading, writing and arithmetic. It is about the social skills one will need to manoeuvre through life and the building of an attitude that will help our local students deal with both the ups and downs of life. That is why I think this concept is so beneficial not just to our students, but to the community at large. When we teach our kids an attitude of tenacity and the benefits of hard work we all win.