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Change can be a very scary word for someone. It can also be very hard to accept change, and different people/personalities will respond to it differently. Someone that takes change as an opportunity to learn and grow likely approaches things with a growth mindset. Someone that struggles to accept change and apply the change likely approaches things with a fixed mindset.

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In this video, Simon Sinek breaks down reactions to change and how different types of people react to change and embrace it. I really liked when he said that people aren't inherently afraid of change, they are afraid of extreme change. People are afraid of change that could harm them or what they are trying to achieve. He then listed three different types of people and how they react to, embrace, and promote change around them.

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Navigate and Embrace Change | Simon Sinek

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Change in education is inevitable. It is going to happen whether you want it to or not. We are constantly being given different curriculums or ways of teaching things to be more effective as well as the public's perceptions and influence into what is important to be taught in schools. This article discusses the different ways schools and leaders in education can help teachers respond and embrace the change that will inevitably come.

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As a teacher in New York City, I know the life of a school is always full of challenges. It's natural to enter into a pattern of simply reacting to each challenge as it arrives. Sometimes this works out, but when the volume of challenges increases, our reactions often become less thoughtful and can potentially create additional problems. Getting beyond this very human tendency-and creating systems that prepare us to anticipate challenges and respond thoughtfully-is an essential element of teaching and leading successfully.

In the current political climate, those of us inside schools can expect to face an increase in the challenges affecting our day-to-day work. Teachers and school leaders will be on the front lines, managing funding and policy changes that might hit us directly, as well as those that will affect us indirectly through their impact on our students and neighborhoods (the targeting of undocumented immigrants, for example).

We cannot know exactly what's in store. But I know this: Where top-down leadership has fallen short under "normal" circumstances, it will fall even shorter during tumultuous times. To survive, schools must create structures that position everyone-especially teachers-to respond thoughtfully, purposefully, and quickly to difficult situations. When such structures exist, empowered teachers, supported by administrators, will be willing and able to continue their meaningful work with students (and one another) as challenges ramp up.

A Blueprint of the Possible

The school where I teach- The Renaissance Charter School , a preK-12 public charter school in Queens-offers a blueprint for engaging and empowering teachers. In planning this article, I set out to write more generally about structures that empower teachers, but as I reflected, I realized that the practices in my current school offer a particular balance of structure and flexibility that makes them the most effective example I've seen of teacher empowerment.

Over 13 years, I've taught in four very different New York City public schools. I've taught in places where there were few opportunities for teacher leadership and almost no time in the schedule for collaboration, and where change came from the top (and many teachers actively ignored directives). I've experienced teacher leadership roles that consisted too much of delivering administrators' ideas to fellow teachers, creating tension rather than empowerment. I've also taught in a school that provided generous time for teacher collaboration. Teachers in that school did amazing things with that time-but there was a lack of schoolwide structure, and teachers were responsible for more than we could handle on top of our teaching loads.

I don't mean to claim that my current school is a utopia where change is easy and no conflicts arise. But we do have sustainable processes in place for teachers to share ideas, raise questions and concerns, get support from colleagues, and take collective action to respond to students' needs. It's a sustainable system because teachers can make significant changes within it while the framework stays intact. The teacher leaders can change, the issues at hand can change, but the processes remain consistent.

Many Channels for Communication

Renaissance Charter is an educational environment that responds thoughtfully to challenges in part because teachers are constantly in communication with a wide variety of colleagues around common interests and concerns. Teachers collaborate within several different configurations. All teachers are members of a "cluster" and a PLC, and many additional teams meet formally. For instance, I'm formally part of the following teams:

I also co-coordinate our middle school student council. Each advisory elects a representative to the council, which meets biweekly during lunch to plan events and initiatives in response to student interests and concerns.

There's a great deal of overlap between the membership and focal points of these various groups. Cross-pollination occurs naturally. For example, there's a flow of communication between student advisories, advisors, student council members, and cluster members. Advisors facilitate discussions in advisories at least once a week on topics that students choose. Advisors discuss student concerns (with discretion) in our monthly meetings. Student council representatives bring ideas and concerns from their advisories to the student council meetings; they also present updates on students' initiatives and concerns at some teacher meetings, and then take feedback back to their advisories. Communication travels along many paths, not just from the top down.

Learning and Responding Together

This horizontal communication helps us respond well to challenges and strengthens teachers' professional development. This year in a Cluster 2 meeting, for example, participants looked at student achievement data in reading and math. The school's administration didn't direct us toward a particular process or outcome; it's simply a tradition that clusters and PLCs observe and respond to available data, using a particular protocol. One salient point that emerged from our discussion was that we all agreed some students' reading abilities were holding them back in all academic subjects, and that we needed to go beyond what individual ELA teachers could accomplish in their classes and to take action as a team. Content-area teachers expressed an interest in having more tools to help struggling readers in their classes.

Our middle school literacy intervention teacher decided to bring the issue to the ELA professional learning community by choosing it as the focus of her teacher-practice presentation, which was coming up on the PLC's calendar. She hoped that talking about the problem with this PLC would give her ideas about ways to support struggling readers, which she could then share with the cluster. Our English Language Arts PLC used a protocol called that allowed us to explore this question and formulate advice for our colleagues in other content areas.

In addition to bringing ideas back to Cluster 2, the communication and work around this issue has travelled organically to the social studies PLC, the RTI team, and the coaches meeting-and those are just the groups I'm aware of. In a recent Cluster 2 meeting, ELA teachers shared what we were focusing on in our classes, and content-area teachers shared practices they were using to support literacy in their classes. There was much common ground. We read part of a text on disciplinary literacy developed by the New York City Department of Education, which a social studies teacher had recommended, and discussed it using a protocol called The Final Word .

This is just one of countless examples of how the structures at Renaissance support teacher collaboration and spread knowledge in response to a problem that arises. This example represents a large issue that doesn't have an easy solution, but the key is that teachers became engaged and are driving the school forward. We're gladly digging into issues that matter to teachers and students, without anyone deciding for us that we should do so.

Our teacher-powered structures and reflective processes also help us notice and respond more quickly to issues that come up in the outside world and affect our students. For example, in the fall, students in advisories took part in lessons on self-esteem. We do this lesson sequence every year, but this year when the advisors debriefed in a subsequent meeting, we noticed an uptick in students who expressed distress about their body images. In some discussions that happened in the advisory groups, students had brought up comments about women's bodies from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump that had recently been made public.

Individually, we might not have realized that this was troubling many of our students, but having the chance to share and analyze information together made a need become clear. Following this advisors meeting, the advisory planning committee met (as we do monthly) and adjusted the curriculum to include additional time and resources for supporting students to challenge stereotypes perpetuated in the media around, in particular, female bodies-stereotypes that can aggravate already sensitive points in our own families or communities. Being able to take small but immediate steps like this to help our students build confidence and self-awareness during difficult times contributes to a strong school community.

The Power of Protocols

You'll notice I've mentioned discussion protocols. The use of protocols to guide team collaboration at my school may well be the glue holding everything together. I believe these protocols are a key to thoughtfully responding to challenges and changes.

When I came to Renaissance, I assumed I was already familiar with protocols. To a certain degree I was, but I hadn't participated in a community that actively uses a variety of protocols to guide collaborative work. Protocols differ from agendas created for a specific meeting or workshop. They are communication processes that have a stated purpose-such as sharing a dilemma or looking at student work together-and can be applied to any situation with that common goal.

At Renaissance Charter, we use a collection of protocols available from the School Reform Initiative (SRI). Different educators in the field created each protocol to respond to particular situations, and members of the SRI community have practiced and refined these tools. Most teacher leaders at my school have been to an SRI conference, where attendees participate in short but intense PLC groups and gain experience facilitating group sessions using a variety of protocols.

Although each one is different, all effective discussion protocols do the following:

Slow us down. The pace in most schools is hurried. Good protocols ensure that we have time to think throughout the collaborative process. This supports everyone having a voice, because many people need time to think or write before they're comfortable speaking. I'll admit that at first, I found this aspect frustrating. I was used to moving faster in generating solutions to problems. However, I've found that my thinking has deepened, and I'm less reactionary as a result of consistently participating in protocol-based PLCs.

My school has used the protocols and other SRI tools as a resource for PLCs for more than 20 years. The longevity of this relationship speaks to the power of these practices to adapt to the times.

Tending the Flame

Working in an environment that's both structured and flexible, one where teachers' voices and minds are at the center of most thinking and decision making, I feel energized and supported-ready to respond to whatever changes surface. Setting up conditions like this for more teachers is crucial if our profession is to be prepared for the future.

In 2010, I was part of a team of teachers who, with Center for Teaching Quality founder Barnett Berry, co-wrote the book Teaching 2030: What We Can and Must Do for Our Public Schools-Now and In the Future (Teachers College Press, 2013). In our writing sessions, we talked about the changes we imagined would happen to schools and teaching in the coming decades and voiced our concerns about some of the ways we saw the tides moving. One of my fellow authors, Shannon C'de Baca, said, "With all this change, who will be the keeper of the flame? Who will make sure that public education serves all of our nation's students?" This powerful image gave us all pause. Of course, we determined that teachers would be the keepers of the flame.

Staring down the next three years to 2020, wondering how public schools and all our students will fare, I know that because my colleagues and I have created solid structures through which we communicate, explore challenges, and think our way toward solutions, we're poised to weather the storm. We will not only survive, but we'll also engage thoughtfully with students and one another every day. We're ready to adapt, fight when necessary, and stay focused on what matters most.

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Empowering Teachers to Respond to Change

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With high levels of change expected, schools must set up structures that help teachers share their best thinking and manage change effectively.

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Think about how change can be hard for adults. Now imagine how hard change can be for a child, and then throw a global pandemic on top of that. This article describes how educators could help support students dealing with the changes the pandemic brought about. However, I believe these methods and ideas can be applied to other change children may have going on around them.

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Our country, our schools, and our students are facing incredible adversity right now. The COVID-19 pandemic has already produced the largest disturbance our school system has ever seen. Schools shut their doors to in-person learning this spring, quickly entering the tumultuous, uncharted territory of online education. Across the nation, educators and their students grappled with the transition from in-person lessons to teaching on unfamiliar online platforms, all while facing anxiety about health, job security, and a changing nation.

Now, we are entering a new school year that will bring new uncertainties and learning formats, likely including hybrid structures that combine distance learning with part-time in-person instruction. There will also be an array of new policies, procedures, and guidelines. With an absence of unifying leadership from the federal government, districts and schools have been left with the unprecedented task of figuring out how to keep students learning while maintaining their physical and mental health in the midst of a global crisis.

It's not exactly a recipe for calm, focused learning.

Even in the face of these daunting challenges, however, educators can continue to effectively support students and their families. Indeed, schools have a unique capacity to ease anxiety for students while serving as models of resilience during a historically challenging time. As civic leaders in whom students and families place their trust, educators can take concrete steps to reduce stress, cultivate productive coping mechanisms, and build a generation of resilient and well-adjusted children.

To help build students' resilience, educators must first be realistic with them about the uncertainties we are facing.

The Stockdale Paradox can help shed light on why this is important (Collins, 2001). This theory dates back to the Vietnam War, when James Stockdale, a U.S. naval officer, was held captive and tortured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese for seven years. Later, asked how he survived such a difficult time, he said his ability to maintain a realistic view of his situation was critical to his survival. Prisoners who were overly optimistic fared worse.

"They were the ones who always said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' Christmas would come and it would go. And there would be another Christmas. And they died of a broken heart," Stockdale said.

To educators who are used to looking at things through a highly positive lens, the Stockdale Paradox may seem counterintuitive. But though it may sound dramatic to compare COVID-19 lockdowns to prisoner-of-war experiences, the premise is the same. Initially, students were told they might be returning to school in two weeks. Then it was a month. Then graduations were canceled. Then, before they knew it, classes were out for the summer with uncertain plans for a return to school in the fall. There is no guarantee of when things will return to "normal." And though students are certainly not being held captive, some of their most basic needs-from socializing with friends in the cafeteria to having sleepovers on the weekends-have been stripped from them.

Rather than sugar-coating the situation, teachers must help students learn to cope with a new, often disappointing, reality without losing hope for brighter days ahead. They should focus on helping students make the most out of a difficult situation and highlight the importance of maintaining their safety. At the same time, educators should caution students to limit their exposure to the news and social media (which can exacerbate worry) and encourage them to find creative ways to stay busy.

Schools can also help students and families deal with anxiety over the continually shifting instructional-delivery plans by setting realistic expectations for blended classrooms and virtual learning. Remote learning is fundamentally different from classroom-based learning, and it should be treated as such. Whereas a typical school day is a full eight hours, elementary school kids should be reasonably expected to participate in only one to two hours of online education daily; for middle and high school students, the limit should be two to three hours and three to four hours, respectively.

Indeed, being realistic and intentional about change also means helping students adapt to new instructional routines and settings. We can't just implement new learning formats without acknowledging the uncertainty and stress they might bring. Some additional ways to help students adjust to changing learning routines include these:

Recognizing that unfamiliar and new routines can be anxiety provoking. In particular, students with a history of trauma may have a range of reactions, including hypervigilance, increased irritability, or withdrawing. It is crucial for educators to validate their frustration, maintain consistency, and hold high expectations in a kind and clear way.

Explaining to students why these new routines are necessary. Educators can empower students by emphasizing the ways each student plays a key role in keeping everyone healthy and safe.

Explicitly teaching new routines and processes to students. It may be beneficial for the school to send videos to students and families so that students know what to expect. Keeping lines of communication open with families and students is also vital.

Infusing joy into new routines. Though safety protocols are important and serious, we can allow students the freedom to build joy into new structures. For example, students may come together to make up a class song to sing while washing their hands or decorating their desk dividers.

Incorporating virtual movement breaks and centering techniques (such as deep breathing exercises or activities using the five senses.) For students in a heightened, overwhelmed state, this approach can help to calm the autonomic nervous system.

Emphasizing students' strengths. Because new processes can be overwhelming, teachers should ensure they are also infusing their lessons with areas for students' competency to shine.

Validating children's questions and worries

This fall, students will be filled with questions and concerns, ranging from "When can I go to the playground?" to "Will I ever be able to have a normal high school experience?" to "Ms. Jones, are we all going to die?" Children may vocalize these concerns, or they may act out in ways that are seemingly inappropriate. As educators, it's important for us to recognize that behavior is communication, which can be especially challenging in an online or blended-learning environment.

Children who act out in difficult ways are often expressing underlying emotions and anxiety (Minahan & Rappaport, 2012). As educators, we must step back and play detective: What is the child really trying to tell us? We should respond to their questions and emotions with authenticity, honesty, and empathy. Teachers can learn that it is OK to validate a child's emotions without validating their inappropriate behavior. For example, when a student is running around the room rather than focusing on the class, a teacher might say, "It's so hard to be looking at the screen! And it's hard to be so far away from you! Let's take a movement break and then we'll figure out how to do this problem."

Some teachers may even choose to be vulnerable (while remaining developmentally appropriate and respecting boundaries) regarding their personal struggles during COVID-19. This strategy may help build relationships and allow for open discussion.

It may also be useful to employ a approach when validating students' questions and emotions. A concept originally derived from improvisational theater (Moshavi, 2001), "Yes, and" is a way of taking a difficult situation, recognizing the challenge, and working productively with that struggle. It can help educators model how to hold competing emotions: "Yes, I am upset because school is not going to be the way it used to be, and I'm looking forward to seeing you and my other students and growing together."

A colleague of ours recently sent a photo from her daughter's fifth birthday celebration, which was celebrated during quarantine. The photo depicts a young girl in a birthday crown, sitting in a dark hallway with only a single spotlight illuminating her.

The photo was a reminder that we are indeed living through dark times. But the spotlight on this child shrouded in darkness reminds us that, as educators, we need to shine the light and find the way for our students. Even during a pandemic, there is reason to have hope. Our kids deserve that.

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap ... and others don't. London: Random House.

Minahan, J., & Rappaport, N. (2012). The behavior code: A practical guide to understanding and teaching the most challenging students. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Moshavi, D. (2001). "Yes and ...": Introducing improvisational theatre techniques to the management classroom. Journal of Management Education, 25(4), 437-449. doi:10.1177/105256290102500408

This article is excerpted with permission from ASCD Express, a free email publication for K-12 educators by ASCD, in the July 9, 2020, issue, "Ready for the Restart: Supporting Students Amid Change."

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Helping students cope with change and disruption

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Learn how to help students cope with change during the COVID-19 pandemic. Get teacher tips from ASCD on how to reduce stress and build resilience in students.

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There are so many opportunities for growth in education. Some of these opportunities are presented to teachers in the form of required professional development, but there are other opportunities available outside of what is required, especially in the digital age we are currently in. The opportunities for growth are endless.

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This TED Talk discusses professional development for educators, and how it is important to treat the educator as a learner as well. We will never know everything, and there are always opportunities to grow. This is why professional development opportunities are so important.

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Professional development - nurturing the teacher as learner: Tai Basurto at TEDxWellsStreetED

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This article provides some great resources for educators seeking out professional development!

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Teachers want to be the best they can be at their job, and they know that education is a lifelong process. But meeting professional development requirements can often feel like a hassle rather than something that's meaningful. Districts offer (and require) plenty of their own PD, but they may not cover topics that really interest or benefit you. That's why it's helpful to be able to track down professional development for teachers that's truly a good use of your time.

Use these resources (recommended by fellow teachers!) to find PD on a variety of topics, both in person and online. A few tips:

Each state and/or school district has different PD requirements, and one may accept a PD activity that others don't. Be sure to verify what you'll need.

Remember that grants may be available to help offset costs if necessary.

If you need continuing education credits (CECs or CEUs), be sure to find out if the program offers them and if your district or state accepts them. Similarly, if you need a certificate to document your completion, ask about it in advance.

The 40 Hour Teacher Workweek is a 52-week program that helps you streamline your teaching, one area at a time. Essentially, it's a yearlong professional development endeavor focused on increasing productivity. The goal is cultivating a more productive mindset to help you succeed, no matter what you teach. At the end of the course, you will receive a professional development certificate to document up to 104 credit hours. See our review of this innovative professional development for teachers here.

Nat Geo's free online courses teach you how to motivate your students to ask deep questions and think like National Geographic Explorers. They also teach you how to design inspiring lesson plans that turn your students into scientific storytellers who connect with diverse researchers and take action to solve global challenges. Teachers can earn graduate credits for many of these courses through one of National Geographic's university partnerships. See our overview of the courses here.

The free online course at Modern Classrooms (developed by two public school teachers) helps teachers interested in implementing self-paced, mastery-based learning in their classrooms. The course itself is self-paced, and you can earn a certificate indicating you've completed 5-10 hours of PD. See our review of this course here.

Teachers in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group love EdWeb! They recommended it more than any other page for terrific free teacher PD on a huge variety of subjects. "Lots of helpful webinars to watch with printable certificates available after viewing (the lists will tell you which ones have PD certificates available)," says Molly K.

The William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University offers a variety of free online courses and webinars. Their courses are self-directed and self-paced and provide certificates and potential CEC/CEU offers.

NGPF is dedicated to helping all students learn how to manage their personal finances, a key executive-functioning skill that's often not taught in schools. They offer free online courses and videos, along with the lessons and materials teachers need to get their students started on the path to financial responsibility.

For a fee (currently $29.99/month or $199/year), teachers have access to professional development created by teachers for teachers. You can try one free live class per month, but to unlock all content and earn certificates, the relatively small monthly fee is worth it. Attend live trainings or listen to recordings on topics that truly interest you, presented by fellow educators.

Looking to take more detailed courses that really dive into educational topics? Consider the Heritage Institute. You'll earn both PD hours and CEU/CEC credits. Courses are self-paced, and you have six months to complete them. Prices vary by class, with different courses discounted each month, so check back regularly if there's a subject that interests you to see if the price has dropped.

PLB offers robust self-paced online PD courses, and can even help you get the credits you need to renew your teaching license. Their site provides the information you need, state by state, and ensures you get the certificates or transcripts to meet your requirements. Prices vary based on courses, with a free class on Keeping Kids Safe that you can take to see if PLB is right for you.

BER has live online events, plus in-person classes around the country. You can also watch recorded events or take online courses. You'll get PD hours for each, and may be able to earn CEC/CEU hours depending on your state. Prices vary by event or course, with discounts for signing up three or more people at the same time.

Complete online PD workshops at your own pace, with 16 weeks from the time of enrollment to finish. Choose from instructors you like and topics that will truly help you become a better teacher. You'll earn PD hours and may have the ability to gain graduate level credits too. Costs vary by workshop, starting as low as $39.

Choose between instructor-led and self-paced courses that last six weeks to an entire year. Topics include child development, classroom technology, math and science, and reading and writing. Six-week courses start at $115, earning you 24 course hours.

Looking for more professional development for teachers? Check out the best 2023 educational conferences!

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12 Top Resources for Professional Development for Teachers (Including Free Options!)

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Discover professional development for teachers that will earn you the hours you need and help you be more successful in your career.

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How you view change really comes down to your mindset. Are you someone that sees a challenge and gives up, or do you embrace the challenge? There are two types of mindset: fixed and growth. People with a fixed mindset are going to see change approaching and want to run. They are going to view it as something they can not do. People with Growth mindset will embrace the change. They will view it as something they don't know how to do yet, but they can learn.

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This article discusses fixed and growth mindsets and their reactions to change in their life. It also discusses how you can change your mindset from fixed to growth.

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Why Change Is so Hard — and How to Deal with It

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Change will always feel slightly uncomfortable. The trick is using your mindset to interpret the change as an opportunity to grow.

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Change is something that is going to happen in life. It is the inevitable. How we react, and whether or not we grow from it is what is important, and it is optional. We control how we react to change that comes at us. It is important as educators to adopt the growth mindset and take change head on and grow from it. This is the example we need to provide our students with so they to can learn to have a growth mindset and adapt to change.

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This video does a really great job discussing the difference between change and growth. Change is the situation you are presented with, but growth is the effect of the change. When someone says "you've changed", thats not really true, because the correct thing to say is "you've grown".

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Let's NOT confuse GROWTH with CHANGE | Tim Ross

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This TED Talk by Carson Byblow is a great description of growth mindset and why it is important. It is a great message for people of all ages told from the perspective of a child.

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The Mindset of a Champion | Carson Byblow | TEDxYouth@AASSofia

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This article discusses the difference between change and growth as well as how to recognize which you might need.

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Change vs Growth: Knowing Which You Need

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Explore the key differences between change vs growth and discover which one you need in your personal and professional life.

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This article discusses how growth mindset is a key to successful teaching. It talks about what it is, adopting it, and then teaching it. If an educator is able to demonstrate growth mindset the students will be more likely to pick up on it. Having a teacher and students that have a growth mindset will produce a classroom willing to learn together and help each other learn.

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It's no wonder that Carol Dweck's (world-renowned Stanford University psychologist) concept of a 'Growth Mindset' has become so popular in teaching over the past few years. The idea that your intelligence isn't fixed, is a powerful one.

But, what really is growth mindset? Why is it important? Is it of real value in the classroom? And, where can you explore it further?

What is growth mindset?

Growth mindset is the idea that your intelligence isn't fixed, and seeing challenge or difficulty as an opportunity to improve and learn. People who have adopted this way of thinking believe, not that they can't do something, but that they can't do something YET!

So, it's basically about getting pupils to believe in themselves, right? Wrong!

If anything, it's more about a teacher's own mindset, the expectations they have for their students, and the way in which they help them to develop an awareness and understanding of their thought processes, i.e. instill in their students a love of learning.

Why is growth mindset important for learners?

Dweck's findings suggest that students will learn more, as well as learn faster and more thoroughly with a growth mindset.

In her TED TALK, Dr Dweck explains a study where children were taught that, as they push to the edge of their comfort zone, their brains can form new stronger neural connections. Her studies showed significantly improved achievements in a wide range of age groups and settings, particularly disadvantaged students.

Can adopting a growth mindset be useful for teachers too?

Adopting a growth mindset isn't exclusively beneficial to students. Teachers also stand to gain a great deal, especially when it comes to professional development.

Some argue that it is the key to successful CPD, because CPD should be approached with the same attributes of a growth mindset; with hard work, a focus on improving and embracing failing as a chance to learn. If teachers do approach CPD this way, they're far more likely to improve than if they see professional learning as an obstacle, something to fear and avoid it.

Others, however, believe that it is more nuanced and not something you can just adopt. It needs to be embraced culturally in a school, rather than just by individuals.

5 attributes of a teacher with a growth mindset:

1. They take responsibility for improving their practice.

2. They see setbacks and feedback as an opportunity to learn and grow their skills.

3. They actively seek learning opportunities and new challenges.

4. They have positive and high expectations of their students.

5. They use growth mindset language when teaching and with themselves.

How to teach growth mindset in the classroom - is it even possible?

Despite its popularity, the concept has recently come under fire. In fact, efforts to replicate Dweck's work in the classroom have all but failed because, according to Dweck, you can't actually 'teach' growth mindset, it's more subtle than that.

Dweck insists that it is less about telling pupils what to think, and more about showing them.

"Growth mindset is about embodying it in all the everyday practices that educators do. Presenting material with students' understanding that you think they can all learn it to a high level. It's collaborating with students, and giving feedback to them on their learning processes. It's about helping children to relish challenges, because the challenges can help them grow their abilities."

So is there value in teaching the concept of growth mindset at all? Growth mindset may not need to be taught explicitly, but children of all ages can benefit from being taught the language of meta-cognition, which allows them to be aware of their own thoughts and of how they make decisions about their own learning and effort.

Making mindset learning effective

Developing a growth mindset is more effective when it's rooted in subject pedagogy and from a more stealthy approach. With that in mind, the following are worth considering in your classroom:

Think carefully about the language you use in every interaction with every student

Use the right kind of praise; praising children's intelligence harms their motivation and this ultimately harms their performance

Reward effort and what can be accomplished through study, practice, perseverance and good strategies

Set high standards; challenge students from the start

Allow students to learn from mistakes and develop perseverance and resilience, effectively engaging in deliberate practice

Use feedback effectively, signposting students to use the correct subject-specific learning strategies, then allow them time to act on this specific feedback

Coming back to your own growth mindset, a great starting point for this is to regularly and honestly reflect on your teaching and the effect it has on your students. A very effective way is by recording your lesson on video (e.g. with IRIS Connect). You can then watch back your lesson and look at it from a whole new perspective. Once you get over the initial awkward minutes of observing how you look and listening to the sound of your voice, you'll start to focus on the teaching and learning that's happening in your classroom. You can then critically analyse your practice and identify areas of improvement. You may even want to take it one step further and share the video with a colleague or coach for feedback and bring your own growth to a whole new level.

Where can you explore growth mindset further?

For more information and resources exploring growth mindset and what it looks like in the classroom, download our free guide to developing a growth mindset.

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Growth mindset: the key to successful teaching?

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Growth mindset has become increasingly popular over the past few years. But why is it so important to students and teachers? And can it actually be taught?