Growth Mindset Across the Grades

What I Learned In School Today: growth mindset must be taught in all grades.

West Chester University began a Principal’s Institute where a group of local principals will take a course that meets monthly in order to connect and discuss issues that building leaders face. I was fortunate enough to be accepted as part of the first group to go through this Institute and thoroughly enjoyed our first meeting this afternoon.

The focus of today’s conversation was on the growth mindset based on “Mindset” by Carol Dweck. At this point, growth mindset has become a mainstream term to the point that I believe most school administrators are aware of the idea, even if their knowledge of the subject is limited. As someone who has read the book and firmly believe that establishing a growth mindset in our kids should be priority in building them up as thinkers and learners, this topic was right up my alley.

What I enjoyed most about the conversation was hearing the perspective of the high school principals and assistant principals in the room. There are vast differences between a high school and my K-2 school, but the core values and ideals can be the same. I loved hearing from them about what the growth mindset should and could look like on their schools and how we at the elementary level can support that vision.

Establishing a growth mindset is not the job of single school or grade level. It must be at the core of a school district’s vision and central to work with kids.