Mindset On My Mind

Carol Dweck's Mindset: The New Psychology of Success found its way to my pile of favorite professional books shortly after I read Peter Johnston's Choice Words. That was in 2006. Almost 10 years later, this is an idea that still seems to surround me.

Mindset is all over Pinterest and Facebook in fantastic infographics like this one:

Image from Jackie Gerstein

Mindset is all over the educational news:

• "100% is Overrated" from The Atlantic challenges us to stop referring to others as "smart", writing, "When people perform well (academically or otherwise) at early ages and are labeled smart or gifted, they become less likely to challenge themselves. They come less likely to make mistakes, because they stay in their comfortable zone and stop growing. And their fixed mindset persists through adulthood."  
• Dawn Wilson's blog post for Learning Forward reminds us, "Choose your words carefully. Once shared, they are irretrievable."
• A survey by the National Center for Learning Disabilities found that "strong support from parents, a strong connection to friends and community, and a strong sense of self-confidence" - not an IEP or a 504 plan - are the most important factors for predicting a success. Sounds like a growth mindset to me.
• In a recent article for EdWeek, Carol Dweck encourages each of us to "legitimize the fixed mindset". Basically, she suggests we view ourselves as a mix of fixed and growth mindset and that we recognize the triggers that make us move into a fixed mindset.
• This book, Awakened: Change Your Mindset to Change Your Teaching, is on my "To Read" list.

My most recent idea about mindset is its connection to formative practices (aka formative assessment). Formative practices cannot be truly successful within a school if students, families, and educators don't share a growth mindset. We use formative practices to gather information about where each student is in his/her journey to understanding. We use the information to inform our teaching. Sounds like a growth mindset for students and educators. 

I'm thinking about starting some new professional learning about formative practices with growth mindset. What do you think?

(I'm also thinking about blogging about each chapter of Mindset - one chapter per month. Would anyone want to read and write along with me?)