Teaching and Teacher Education
Volume 77, January 2019, Pages 204-213
In search of a growth mindset pedagogy: A case study of one teacher's classroom practices in a Finnish elementary school
Author links open overlay panelInkeriRissanenaKirsiTirride
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.002Get rights and content
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Highlights
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Core features of growth mindset pedagogy: process focus, mastery orientation, persistence, individualized student support.
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Growth mindset pedagogy includes the recognition and countering of students' fixed mindset behaviors.
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Growth mindset pedagogy is hampered by relying on the motivating power of success.
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Trait-focused pedagogy is sometimes implemented only for academically competent students.
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Teachers must develop understanding of academically competent students as fragile students in need of support.
Abstract
In this article we take up the two-fold task of creating a framework for a growth mindset pedagogy on the basis of our previous studies and exploring the critical points of this pedagogy in the classroom of a mixed-mindset teacher. The data include classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews. The results show how a teacher who is socialized into the Finnish educational system pursues core features of growth mindset pedagogy, despite not having a dominant growth mindset herself. However, we identify critical points in her practices, which suggest that teaching the theory of mindset in teacher education is needed.
Keywords
Growth mindset pedagogy
Growth mindset
Fixed mindset
Case study
Stimulated recall interview
Finland
1. Introduction
Carol Dweck's (2000, 2006) theory of mindsets deals with implicit beliefs that individuals hold about basic human qualities. People with a growth mindset (also called incremental theory) believe that intelligence, personality, and abilities can be developed. People with a fixed mindset (also called entity theory) believe that these basic qualities are static and unalterable. People have general tendencies toward one mindset or the other, but it is also common to have different mindsets in various domains of the self and others (e.g., intelligence, personality, giftedness) (Kuusisto, Laine, & Tirri, 2017; Molden & Dweck, 2006). Different mindsets provide an explanation for why students with equal abilities in the same situation have different achievement goals and behavioral patterns and thus exhibit differences in learning processes and outcomes (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). Students with a fixed mindset emphasize performance goals (“looking smart,” “proving their abilities”) and tend to avoid challenges, whereas students with a growth mindset emphasize learning goals (“becoming smart,” “improving abilities”), appreciation of effort, and understanding failures as learning opportunities (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Mangels, Butterfield, Lamb, Good, & Dweck, 2006). Students with a growth mindset have been found to have higher achievements during challenging school transitions, and these students' completion rates in demanding school courses are greater (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007; Yeager & Dweck, 2012).