A Growth Mindset
Mindset is an important factor in whether or not we can successfully achieve our goals in life. This is evident in substantial research that suggests a growth mindset and knowledge of brain plasticity can improve the performance of students, via a ‘not yet’ approach. This is thinking that struggling and persevering with challenging tasks is a stepping stone to success i.e. ‘I haven’t achieved my goal yet’ as opposed to ‘I’m failing and will never be able to do this’ . Although a lot of the research has been around school students and achievement at school this information and understanding can be applied to a broader context e.g. at work, sports, hobbies etc.
The below shows the difference between a growth and fixed mindset when it comes to learning new skills:
Growth Mindset
When Learning the Focus is on: Improving and developing. Learning more.
Mistakes and Feedback: Mistakes are seen as inevitable and can be learnt from. Similarly feedback is seen as helpful, and not as personal criticism.
Effort a Person Puts in: Puts in a lot as believes will lead to improvement.
Fixed Mindset
When Learning the Focus is on: How well you do and showing what you can do.
Mistakes and Feedback: Dread mistakes as they feel very exposing so to avoid them may give up. Failure is taken very personally.
Effort a Person Puts in: May not put in much effort as believe skills are fixed.
The onus then becomes that of self-reinforcement of ability to achieve self-directed goals given the opportunity and support required, rather than assuming inherent qualities or talents that a person may have will automatically lead to their success or failure.
Discover More
The worksheet below is to get you thinking about how you approach learning a new task, how you have done so in the past and considering how you might do so differently in the future. You can also find the same information in the alternative version box underneath it.
Learning a New Skill Worksheet (15.57kB)
You might want to make notes at this point. These may help you remember things, work out what you want or see how much you’ve changed if you read them again in a few years’ time.