Teacher Growth Mindset

Pushing our students to adopt a growth mindset can seem to be easy, but what about adopting one for teachers?  For a teacher, it’s easy to focus on improving students but we need to do better at looking at ourselves to better our own craft.  Typically, we succeed as a teacher because we are willing to mess up often, but at the same time avoid pushing ourselves to grow.  But what really is growth mindset?  According to Smith (2018), “Growth mindset is the idea that your intelligence isn’t fixed and seeing challenge or difficulty as an opportunity to improve and learn.”  Basically, people who have adopted this way of thinking believe, not that they can’t do something, but they can’t do something yet!  So how does this relate to a teacher’s own mindset?  Its not about getting students to believe in themselves, but the expectations teachers have for their students, and the way in which they help them to develop an awareness and understanding of their thought processes. 

Can it be useful for teachers to adopt a growth mindset too?  Teachers can gain a great deal, especially when it comes to professional development.  According to Heggart (2015), “teachers, like the students they teach, can learn to develop a growth mindset but this requires careful planning by school management.  One of the most successful ways of applying growth mindset to teacher professional development is through modelling.  Just like students are capable of learning and improving, so are teachers.  Schools should provide opportunities for teachers to try new things and makes mistakes.  This can seem terrifying for teachers, but it is essential for developing a growth mindset.  Along with allowing teachers to try new things and to make mistakes is also the opportunity for teachers to reflect upon their new ideas and consider what they learned from the process.  According to Gunn (2019), “teachers must consistently take time to evaluate their work and analyze how they are doing.  The school year is so busy, and self-reflection is hard to prioritize.  One solution is to build reflection activities into professional development or into teacher meetings to maintain a consistent and meaningful routine.”  One thing to remember always is that the brain can adapt and change, no matter how much you are set in your ways.

References:

Gunn, J. (2019, October 25). How to Build a Growth Mindset for Teachers: Resilient Educator. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/growth-mindset-for-teachers/

Heggart, K. (2015, February 04). Developing a Growth Mindset in Teachers and Staff. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/developing-growth-mindset-teachers-and-staff

Herbert-Smith, K. (2018, March 29). Growth mindset: The key to successful teaching? Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://blog.irisconnect.com/uk/community/blog/5-attributes-of-a-growth-mindset-teacher/