ABSTRACT
The way adults respond to children’s successes and failures influences children’s attitudes toward learning, self-esteem, and academic outcomes. Children with a growth mindset tend to be more open to learning from mistakes, accepting feedback, focusing on learning for the sake of learning, and embracing challenges, while those with a fixed mindset avoid challenges, discount the significance of effort, focus on performance goals, and feel threatened by others’ success. Furthermore, success requires grit or perseverance, and dedication to long-term goals despite setbacks. This chapter is dedicated to exploring the concepts of growth and fixed mindset, their relationship with grit, and the evidence that links mindsets and grit with successful outcomes in school and broader psychological well-being. The development of a growth mindset is discussed along with other motivational findings to reconcile positive affirmations with the theory of mindsets. A review of guidelines for fostering a growth mindset is also provided. Altogether, it appears that growth mindsets develop in environments where growth mindsets are lived in, experienced, modeled, discussed, and taught by adults who children trust.
