Abstract:

What is a growth mindset? The research of Dweck and Leggett (1988) has consistently confirmed that students who understand intelligence is a quality that can be increased are often motivated to achieve learning goals that will advance their competence. On the other side of the spectrum are those students who think intelligence is a “fixed entity” and “are more likely to pursue the performance goal of securing positive judgments of that entity or preventing negative judgments of it” (Dweck & Leggett, 1988, pp. 262-263). More recently, Dweck (2015) attributed the term ‘growth mindset’ to those students who believe they can increase intellectual achievement and capability and students who feel that intelligence is a fixed construct, exhibit a ‘fixed mindset.’

Students with a growth mindset also tend to be more resilient and motivated (Dweck, 2007). Yeager and Dweck (2012) defined 'resiliency' as “any behavioral, attributional, or emotional response to an academic or social challenge that is positive and beneficial for development, such as seeking new strategies…or solving conflicts peacefully…” (p. 303). Resiliency not only benefits a student’s ability to evolve their intelligence, but it can also provide them with the tools necessary to overcome many of the challenges of life in a positive manner.

Growth mindset has become a popular buzz word in education over the last decade, as well as a process that might provide possible solutions for educators in combating pervasive issues such as, “academic underachievement,” and “peer exclusion and victimization,” (Yeager & Dweck, 2012, p. 302). Educators who support a growth mindset and incorporate these principles into their instructional practice have produced students who adopt stronger beliefs about mindset and who maintain these beliefs over time (Schmidt, Shumow, & Kackar-Cam, 2015). Aditomo (2015) demonstrated that “growth mindset about academic ability prompts students to adopt a learning goal and attribute outcomes to effort, which in turn buffered again demotivation" (p. 214).

In recognition of the many benefits of instilling growth mindset principles into instruction and the classroom culture, the author set about restructuring a digital literacy skills development course for secondary level preservice teachers in the spring of 2018. The course provides for study and application of literacy, including new and digital literacies, to teach all content area courses across a standards-based curriculum. As part of the initial implementation, the course now also focuses on understanding the characteristics of fixed mindsets; strategies to develop a growth mindset; and application of growth mindset strategies to increase academic success in their courses and future classrooms. In addition to this course, the author also teaches the same students in curriculum and instruction courses. The goal is to continue to focus on these principles and foster continued growth until the preservice teachers complete their student teaching.

This session will include: a brief outline of the body of literature with regards to growth mindset; a description of the initial process the author navigated in order to incorporate growth mindset principles into a digital literacy course; as well as the outcomes, student reflections on growth mindset in the classroom, lessons learned, and discussion about the modifications that will be made for future iterations of the course.

Keywords:

Growth mindset, Teacher training, New literacies.