Dweck's Theory of Mindset

Carol Dweck's Mindset Theory

According to Carol Dweck (2000), there are two approaches and beliefs to intelligence: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset view intelligence as innate and fixed from birth. Those with a growth mindset believe intelligence is flexible; we can learn and improve through perseverance.

Fig. 1 - Carol Dweck explored different mindsets to learning.

Dweck suggests your mindset impacts how you react to successes and failures and your motivation to engage in new challenges that can help you develop. Let's explore the fixed mindset versus the growth mindset further.

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset Theory

A fixed mindset is characterised by believing that our abilities can't be changed; they are innate. We are either talented or untalented, which determines our outcomes. A growth mindset is a belief that our abilities are flexible and can change through practice; our mistakes as learning opportunities.

To explore each mindset further, according to a fixed mindset, we are either talented or untalented, which determines our outcomes.

A growth mindset involves seeing your mistakes as learning opportunities instead of indicators of your worth.

Dweck's Mindset Theory and Success

As you can see, people with a growth mindset might be more motivated to learn than people with a fixed mindset because mistakes are inevitable in learning. Greater motivation and a more positive attitude can, in turn, predict greater academic success.

Your mindset can change depending on the context; a person can hold a mindset more on the growth side for one activity than on the fixed side for another due to previous experiences with those activities.

If your teachers told you that you're not talented at math, you might adopt a belief that to be successful at math you need to be talented.

Fig. 2 - Your mindset can change depending on the context.

The good news is our mindset can change; by being self-aware of how we react to new challenges and failure, we can reframe our thoughts to see failure as an opportunity to learn rather than evidence of our lack of ability.

Dweck's Mindset Theory: Nature and Nurture

Dweck's theory highlights the importance of nurture, our environment, thoughts and the effort we put in when faced with new challenges. According to Carol Dweck, adopting a mindset that encourages growth and a positive attitude to learning is perhaps more important than our innate potential.

Dweck's Mindset Theory: Praise and Self-Efficacy in Learning

What we are praised for, often early in childhood, affects our mindset towards learning.

Praising achievement

If we are praised for our successes and labelled as "bright children," we begin to only value experiences that confirm that we are talented instead of looking for learning opportunities that come with a risk of failing. In the long-term, that fixed mindset attitude is not beneficial for our development.

Praising efforts

Educators should praise learners for their efforts rather than for achievement to facilitate a growth mindset. Focusing on rewarding effort encourages children to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them; it facilitates the development of persistence and resilience in learning, which is characteristic of the growth mindset.

Moreover, praising learners for their effort instead of achievement can increase their sense of self-efficacy, making them more confident when approaching challenging situations in the future.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Dweck's Mindset Theory

Could the solution to increasing students' performance be as simple as changing their mindset? On the one hand, mindset theory could equip young learners with self-efficacy and self-esteem to help them succeed at school and later in life. On the other hand, many have criticised the approach for being too simplistic.

Evaluation Points of Dweck's Mindset Theory

Let's consider some of the evaluation points of Dweck's mindset theory, analysing the educational implications, issues with reductionism, and mixed evidence.

Educational Implications

Dweck's mindset theory provides educators with clear takeaways for their classrooms. Teachers should encourage effort instead of achievement, create a safe environment for making mistakes and always remind students that if they are not good at something, it only means that they are not good at it yet, but by all means can improve.

Many studies have supported mindset-based interventions in educational contexts to effectively predict performance, even cross-culturally (Sisk et al., 2008).

Reductionistic Approach

Some critics of Dweck's theory argue that this approach reduces success to mindset and ignores other important factors like children's access to education, resources, socio-economic background and other privileges.

An approach only focusing on mindset can shift the blame on kids from disadvantaged backgrounds or with fewer resources instead of acknowledging the role of an unfair system. If we assume that everyone's performance can be explained by their mindset, then we need to assume all other factors are equal for everyone, which is often not the case.

Mixed Evidence

While Dweck's studies showed the potential positive impact of mindset interventions on students' performance, many studies since have failed to replicate the results. The effects are usually smaller than predicted.

However, some still argue that even minor improvements make a difference in real life. Overall, the effectiveness of mindset-based interventions is still under question.

Fig. 3 - Changing mindsets may help those wishing to improve their abilities.