Dweck’s ideas on fixed and growth mindsets

• Dweck’s is a learning theory because she focuses on how children learn in the classroom and what influences their ability to succeed.
• Dweck suggested that people have one of two mind-sets- Fixed and Growth
• Fixed 


  which means they think their intelligence is innate and therefore cannot be changed.
• Growth


  Which means they can develop their intelligence overtime. They realise that not everyone has the same potential. There is also an understanding that people do not achieve their success without dedication, practice and constantly challenging themselves to improve.
• Dweck suggested that nearly every successful athlete and musician has a growth mind set- allowing them to see failure as a challenge to improve, having the resilience to cope with setbacks and have a positive attitude towards working hard and practising their craft.
• Talented people who have a fixed mind set maybe at a disadvantage because they won’t see the need to practice and try to improve.
• students who have a fixed mindset are most concerned with looking intelligent, they avoid doing things that they could potentially fail at, instead of seeing them as learning opportunities.
• Failure can affect their self-esteem, making them believe they are not as intelligent as they originally thought. They do not like making an effort as they believe that ability is innate and they therefore should not need to practise.
• Students with a growth mindset believe that with effort and practice, they can improve. They view setbacks as challenges and opportunities to learn from their mistakes.
• Dweck suggests that teachers should encourage their students to take their time to become proficient at new skills and teach the idea that being able to do something quickly is not necessarily a good thing, as it suggests the skill has not been deeply learnt. It is not how quickly students learn new skills but that with practice and effort they can improve.
• Having more than one mindset 


  individuals can hold different mindsets for different abilities. Someone can have a fixed mindset for one subject and a growth mindset for another
• Reducing Bullying

  Trzeniewski and Dweck (2013) investigated the benefits of a growth mindset on reducing aggression and bullying. They found that students in the incremental theory intervention group (growth mindset group where students were taught that they had the potential to change their behaviour), behaved less aggressively and demonstrated more pro-social behaviour then the control group.
• Mueller and Dweck (1998) investigated the effect of praise on achievement
• Children praised for their intelligence

  Chose a problem-solving task that allowed them to continue to succeed rather than choosing ones that would challenge them
• Performance goal

  A goal that focuses on the outcome of a task rather than the process of completing it
• Children who are praised for intelligence


  Value performance
• Children praised for effort

  Demonstrate more value for learning opportunities
• Praising for effort

  Leads to a growth mindset
• Praising for intelligence

  Leads to a fixed mindset
• A child with a fixed mindset will think that if they have reached the limit of their intelligence then they won’t be able to develop any more