Growth Mindset
Understand that capabilities can be developed through practice, strategies, feedback, and opportunities to improve.
Not yet.
— Carol DweckMastery progression
Interprets difficulty as a lack of ability and avoids tasks where they might make mistakes.
Accepts that they can improve, though they need support to use feedback and sustain effort.
Seeks strategies, learns from mistakes, and recognizes progress based on practice and evidence.
Promotes a culture of improvement, precise feedback, and appropriate challenges for themselves and others.
- Recognize a skill they did not have before
- Accept a simple correction
- Try a second version with support
- Distinguish identity from a specific performance
- Use feedback to decide the next adjustment
- Choose appropriate challenges, not only easy tasks
- Name strategies that explain progress
- Sustain growth beliefs after repeated failures
- Seek useful criticism without experiencing it as a threat
- Create environments where others also feel encouraged to improve
Questions that activate it
Tap a card to see the coaching guide
What part can you improve with a different strategy?
Tap to flipAvoids empty effort messages.
Tap to returnWhat is this mistake showing you?
Tap to flipTurns failure into information.
Tap to returnWhat feedback can you use right now?
Tap to flipMoves the belief into action.
Tap to returnWhat skill have you already developed before through practice?
Tap to flipConnects past progress with the current challenge.
Tap to returnWhat challenge is difficult but possible?
Tap to flipLooks for the learning zone, not comfort or blockage.
Tap to returnA growth mindset weakens when reduced to praising effort; it requires feedback, strategies, and real opportunities to improve.
Mindset KitIdeas for developing it
- Give comments about strategy, process, and next step
- Ask for a revision after receiving feedback
- Create analysis routines: mistake, cause, new strategy
- Show successive versions of the same piece of work
- Offer tasks with graduated difficulty and an option to improve
- Compare personal progress against previous evidence
- Use language of 'not yet', strategy, and practice
- Avoid fixed praise like 'smart' and replace it with evidence of process
Resources and tools
Free lessons and practices on growth mindset for teachers, students, and families.
Work GalleryWebsiteMetacognition and Self-Regulation — EEFEvidence on strategies, monitoring, and feedback that make improvement operational.
Exit TicketWebsiteUDL Tips for Fostering Expert Learners — CASTIdeas for promoting reflection, agency, and growth as a learner.
Agreement Scale