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Cultivating Your Growth Mindset

Awarded to Peterson, Jessie on December 30, 2025 by Digital Promise.

Teacher leader develops and fosters their own growth mindset.

Criteria

Key Method

Teacher leader continuously strives to improve their practice through cultivating a growth mindset.

Method Components

In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck writes:

What are the consequences of thinking that your intelligence or personality is something you can develop, as opposed to something that is a fixed, deep-seated trait?

The Two Mindsets are:

Fixed Mindset

“Within a static view of reality, fixed traits organize the individual’s phenomenology; there is close correspondence between traits and actions—traits engender actions, which in turn imply traits. This view of the human reality has the advantage of being parsimonious, but it is not without its potential cost.” (Dweck, 282)

  • Traits are fixed
  • Ignore useful criticism
  • Avoid challenges
  • Effort is a waste of time Growth Mindset

“This dynamic, incremental view of human reality…may result in a lower degree of certainty when making behavioral predictions… Moreover, because human attributes are viewed as malleable, a high degree of certainty or closure may never be possible. However, compared to the static view, this view allows more room for change, and the mediational analysis fostered by this view may also suggest mechanisms for change… this view may reduce the likelihood of helpless responding and promote mastery-oriented coping in the face of aversive events.” (Dweck, 283)

  • Existing abilities can be stretched

  • Learn from mistakes

  • Embrace challenges

  • Effort is the path to mastery Strategies for developing and fostering a growth mindset

  • Assess your mindset using pre and post-assessment resources on growth mindset, and reflect on the data

  • Determine one or more characteristics of growth mindset to focus on based on self-assessment and reflection.

  • Utilize resources that will help you identify actions/activities to help improve and cultivate your growth mindset.

  • Establish a vision for what your improved growth mindset will look like and how it will impact your teaching practice.

  • Determine how you will measure the positive measurable change that occurred in your practice and the impact it had on students.

Assessment Details

To earn this micro-credential, you must receive a passing evaluation for Parts 1 and 3 and a “Yes” for Part 2.

Assessment

Overview

We experience moments of growth mindset and fixed mindset throughout our lives.

  • Share a few examples of areas in your life where you demonstrate a growth mindset and areas where you demonstrate a fixed mindset.
  • How do you see that same dynamic between growth and fixed mindsets in your classroom practice?

Overview

Please respond to the following:

  • From assessments and reflection, what did you learn about your current mindset? In which area of your professional practice have you chosen to improve your growth mindset?
  • How did you determine the area(s) of focus?
  • What was your strategy for developing your growth mindset?

Reflection

Moving forward, what are some other areas you would like to focus on to improve your teaching and/or coaching practice?

Reflection

How has your ability to foster your growth mindset ultimately impacted students?

Work Example

Please submit evidence that demonstrates your work on the growth mindset focus areas you identified In Part 1 (such as links to writing, audio, images, video, or other artifacts) including such items as:

  • Reflection on the development of your growth mindset
  • Reflection on what you have learned from the research and resource(s) and how your growth mindset was incorporated into your practice
  • Video clip of your growth mindset being incorporated into your practice
  • Annotated photos or documents of the work resulting from your cultivation of a growth mindset
  • Reflections from students/others you worked with on the impact of your cultivating a growth mindset had on them

Achievement Type

  • Achievement

Tags

  • Effective Coaching

Supporting Information

Supporting Research and Rationale

  • Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C.-y., & Hong, Y.-y. (1995). Implicit Theories and Their Role in Judgments and Reactions: A World from Two Perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6(4), 267-285.
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327965pli0604_1
    This is one of the seed psychology papers introducing mindset. Dweck is the person who initially suggested “mindset” in educational research.
  • Chase, M. A. (2010). Should Coaches Believe in Innate Ability? The Importance of Leadership Mindset. Quest, 62(3), 296-307.
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00336297.2010.10483650
    Coaching education and leadership training programs should consider focusing on helping coaches and leaders develop a growth mindset about their leadership abilities, and suggestions are offered for ways to incorporate the study of and emphasis on a growth leadership mindset in sport.
  • Thorsteinsson, G., & Niculescu, A. (2013). Examining Teachers’ Mindset and Responsibilities in Using ICT. Studies in Informatics and Control, 22(3), 315-322.
    http://sic.ici.ro/?page_id=1249
    In this rapidly changing environment, technology plays an essential role as it offers opportunities for online education and support for conventional education. However, acquiring and deploying a MLE is a difficult task that concerns teachers’ responsibilities and their mindset. The research indicates that teachers are not always able to make full use of ICT because they lack self-confidence, time for preparation and the technological skills needed to successfully manage the teaching-learning process inside and outside the classroom. Findings also suggest that there are other problems associated with new roles, role conflict and the perception of increased workload.
  • Fischer, G. (2000). Lifelong learning—More Than Training. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 11(3), 265.
    http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/~gerhard/papers/lll99.pdf
    Lifelong learning is more than just adult education or training—it is a mindset and habit people must acquire. Lifelong learners must adopt new frameworks to accelerate progress.
  • Day, C. (2000). Teachers in the Twenty-first Century: Time to renew the vision. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 6(1), 101-115.
    Calls for investing in lifelong learning across the community have increased. This paper considers the contexts and range of challenges for teachers in the twenty-first century and suggests that investment in maintaining their intellectual and emotional selves is key to the educational success of schools in changing times.
  • Upadyaya, K., & Eccles, J. (2015). Do teachers’ perceptions of children’s math and reading related ability and effort predict children’s self-concept of ability in math and reading? Educational Psychology, 35(1), 110-127. doi:10.1080/01443410.2014.915927
    http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01443410.2014.915927
    A four-year longitudinal study shows that when elementary teachers believed in growth mindset, their students had high ability in reading and math, and those students developed higher academic self-concept.

Resources