How would you describe your child’s mindset towards school? Is your child eager to learn, accepting challenges and mistakes as opportunities as she progresses through your days at school? Or does your child experience low self esteem, giving up easily because she does not feel she is able to learn as readily as her peers?
The research of Dr. Carol Dweck on Mindsets has expanded beyond leaps and bounds in the last 10 years in all realms, including education and parenting. The two types of mindsets that have emerged from her research, and are the focus of many initiatives, are Fixed and Growth Mindsets.
A person with a Grown Mindset is believes that intelligence can be developed and that learning is a process through challenges and mistakes and productive struggle. A person with a Fixed Mindset believes that intelligence is static and cannot be developed – that “you are who you are” and there is nothing to be done to improve that.
As parents, we have the power to help shape the mindsets of our children.
A growth mindset is the understanding that we can develop our abilities and intelligence. Research has shown that our implicit beliefs about the nature of intelligence can have a great impact on our achievement. Mindset Works Co-founder Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. first coined the terms “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset,” and explains how a growth mindset leads to a focus on learning, increased effort, and a willingness to learn from mistakes.
Melissa Benaroya of Grow Parenting in Seattle advises these three things to nurture a growth mindset in your children:
- Use Encouragement
- Respond To Setbacks As Opportunities for Learning and Improvement
- Modeling a Growth Mindset As A Parent
http://www.growparenting.com/pages/blog_files/Growth-Mindset.php