The growth mindset is a core value of the digital age. Children and adults are encouraged to embrace mistakes, learn from them, and build on them rather than try to avoid or remove them.
This emphasis on failure and improvement is especially true for future-facing professions such as STEM fields that thrive off of experimenting with new ideas and testing hypotheses before finding success.
However, how does this mindset influence learners in the classroom?
Do students who embrace failure see it as an opportunity to learn and improve? Are those who struggle to see their mistakes as a sign that they need more support or encouragement?
The growth mindset encourages learners to understand their failures as opportunities for personal improvement instead of seeing failure as a signal that they need to change things altogether.
Let’s explore how embracing failure in the classroom can benefit students, whether struggling or excelling. Let’s take a look.
Growth Mindset Mistakes
Learning from mistakes is an essential lesson of the growth mindset. More specifically, learning from mistakes can help students avoid repeating those same mistakes on their own and others in the future.
This is especially true for students in STEM fields, who have to learn how to experiment with new ideas and test hypotheses before finding success.
But what happens when someone refuses to see their failure as a chance to learn? What happens if they continue to believe that they are not making any progress?
For this reason, a growth mindset encourages learners to understand their failures as opportunities for personal improvement. Instead of seeing failure as a signal that they need to change things up altogether.
You see, many learners may be struggling due to the rigidity of their rules or the lack of feedback on how well they’re progressing (or not progressing) at a task.
Learning from mistakes can help them overcome these obstacles and gain more momentum towards reaching their goals.
Developing a Growth Mindset in Students
In order to truly embrace the growth mindset, teachers must establish rules that encourage students to take risks, experiment with new ideas, and fail.
If students are rewarded for persistence and commitment, they will be more likely to follow through on challenging tasks.
Some of these rules include giving students time-outs when they’re struggling with a particular task, allowing them to replay a difficult lesson if they feel lost in the process, or taking their time on assessments to have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
A teacher who encourages her students to embrace mistakes is essential for fostering a growth mindset in her classroom.
This is because the growth mindset emphasizes learning from failure and not avoiding it.
Students should take risks and use challenges as opportunities for personal improvement rather than worrying about what happens if things don’t go well or trying something else entirely.
When learners are encouraged to embrace failure and see it as an opportunity for personal improvement, they will reach higher levels of success because they understand how to deal with challenges and failures effectively.
Benefits of Growth Mindset in School Children
The growth mindset has a powerful effect on students. Researchers have shown that students with a growth mindset are more engaged, have better self-esteem, and are more motivated to learn than their peers with a fixed mindset.
Additionally, it’s been found that those with a growth mindset get better grades and are less likely to drop out of school.
What does this mean for students in the classroom? With a growth mindset, learners will be more willing to make mistakes as they persist through learning instead of giving up or dismissing failure as an anomaly.
This means learners can continue developing their skills even when encountering difficulties, which is essential for future-facing fields like STEM.
Better Results in School
According to a study by David Yeager, failure leads to better student learning outcomes.
When teachers provide feedback about their mistakes and encourage students to take positive action towards improving them, the learning experience improves.
However, this doesn’t mean that teachers should ignore the mistakes of students who are struggling.
It’s just as important for teachers to help struggling learners develop strategies for success rather than abandoning them entirely.
This way, they can learn from their mistakes and progress towards success in school.
More Approachable and Happy
Students with a growth mindset are more likely to have improved self-esteem, which is crucial for their success in school and beyond.
Students who embrace mistakes can become less stigmatized or seen as a liability by their peers.
In contrast, students with fixed mindsets may feel threatened by the idea that they might not be able to succeed at something easily, leading them to block out potential solutions and solutions to their problems because failure isn’t an option.
These students may also struggle with motivation due to frustration and anxiety over setbacks.
A growth mindset encourages learners to try new things and explore the world around them.
They’re more likely than others to try something they haven’t done before because they know they won’t be judged if it doesn’t go well.
For example, if a student is trying out a piece of software, they might make mistakes while learning how the software works and how best to use it.
This is okay because it’s part of figuring out what works best for them as learners.
Failing fast: A growth mindset encourages learners to experiment with new ideas and implement them quickly to learn from mistakes made when trying out ideas.
It also allows people to fail quickly without fear that the whole project will be shut down due to one bad attempt at making it work without fail.
When trying something new like this, those with growth mindsets see failures as opportunities for personal improvement rather than signals that change.
Can Do Attitude
Growing up, I was always encouraged to try new things. The more I failed at something, the more my parents would tell me that I could do it and that just meant that I needed more practice.
With this mindset, there is never a point where I become satisfied with anything.
Failure was simply a way of learning; to learn faster, the person needs to keep trying again and again.
This mindset allowed me to experiment with different subjects in school and even from doing them as well as taking on new careers after high school.
If you are having trouble learning something, then chances are it’s because you are being discouraged by your ability to constantly succeed.
When you feel like you can’t do something, it becomes easier for your brain to see the failure compared to when you feel like you can fix any issue or make every outcome work out perfectly.
With that said, be mindful of how much help students need to push through their struggles with a growth mindset.
If they need extra help but aren’t getting it, then they might not have taken on the right challenge yet or might not have been presented with the right support system during their time in school.
Conclusion
Students who have a growth mindset can learn from their mistakes and grow to become successful. With a growth mindset, students can tap into their strengths and focus on their higher potential. This is especially important when students are in academic areas, such as science and math, where they must work to develop a deeper understanding of the material that may be difficult to comprehend. In addition, students with a growth mindset are more likely to have a better relationship with teachers and their peers. When they feel happy and accepted in their environment, they can approach learning more easily and with tenacity. They will also be happier with their performance in school because they’ll believe they can do it.