This week the teaching staff of Mount Carmel Catholic College engaged in a day of Professional Development and Learning. The focus of the day was based on the principles of Growth Mindset and instilling this belief in our students. In education, having a growth mindset and a positive wellbeing goes hand in hand and is important for two reasons.

The first is the recognition that schooling should not just be about academic outcomes but that it is about wellbeing of the ‘whole child’, an approach highlighted in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. The second is that wellbeing is important because students who have higher levels of wellbeing are more likely: to have higher achievement outcomes at school and complete Year 12; better mental health; and a more prosocial, responsible lifestyle.

A+ Solutions (Educational and Psychological services) have published an article titled “5 Ways Parents Can Promote a Growth Mindset”.

The article is based on the research and work of Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck, and it states that helping children move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is not easy or simple. Author Courtney Evenchik, M.A., NCSP, Director of School Psychology Services, provides the following steps to support parents in the process of moving their child from a fixed to a growth mindset.

1.Have Daily Learning Discussions

a. Ask, “What did you learn today?” or “What did you try hard at today?” b. Praise for effort, persistence, perseverance, planning creative strategies, improvement and setting goals.

2. Do You Know Brains Can Grow?

a. Explain to children that our brains can grow stronger and our intelligence can improve throughout life

3. Encourage Risk, Failure, and Learning from Mistakes.

a. Failure teaches resiliency. b. Try not to fix everything. Let our youth experience sadness and disappointment.

4. Talk to youth about famous people’s failures.

a. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for lacking imagination and having no original ideas! b. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.

5. Encourage and Model Positive Self-Talk.

a. Say statements like, “Mistakes help me learn better.” b. Say, “I can always improve, so I’ll keep trying.”

Elevate Education

Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.