Welcome to Chapter 4 of Mindsets in the Classroom by Mary Cay Ricci: "Why is Critical Thinking Important in a Growth Mindset Class Culture?"
This post is part of a book study blog hop so to get caught up, you may want to check out these posts first:
Chapter 1: What are Mindsets, and How Do They Affect the Classroom? by Brigid from Math Giraffe
Chapter 2: What Are Some Ways to Begin Building a Growth Mindset School Culture by Ellie from Middle School Math Moments
Chapter 3: Why is a Differentiated, Responsive Classroom Important to a Growth Mindset Culture by Leah Cleary
Think back to when you were in school...
Can you name one of the "smart" kids from your class? How about one of the "not-so-bright" kids from your class? Were they always the "smart" or the "not-so-bright" kid? I can easily name classmates that fit into these categories and, as far as I can remember, they were always "that" kid. It's easy to fall into the fixed mindset culture where we think that people have fixed abilities and levels of intelligence.
A growth mindset culture challenges the fixed mindset perception by believing that a person's intelligence can grow and develop. Growth mindset is a very interesting concept. It means that, as teacher, we actually need to challenge our own personal mindsets about our students and what they are and are not capable of.
I think back to my teaching days. One of the major differences between my lower and upper level high school U.S. History classes was the amount of critical thinking opportunities I gave my upper level classes versus my lower level classes. My upper level students were expected almost daily to engage in critical thinking while my lower level students only had the opportunity once a week or so. In Chapter 4, Ricci explains a project where children in 53 classrooms were given the opportunity to engage in critical thinking by playing carefully chosen computer games. The results were really staggering! Low performing students showed huge growth in reasoning and the teachers perspectives of these students changed dramatically. And after her project, Ricci concluded that a growth mindset culture and increased opportunities for critical thinking can make a significant impact on students and their schools.
I would love to see a project like this take place at the high school level. What would be different? What would be the challenges?
I suspect that a major challenge is that by high school, students have bought into the fixed mindset culture:
They are the smart kid.
They just don't "get" math.
English is too hard for them.
Dates just don't stay in their brain.
Almost more challenging than the mindsets of high school students, is that of high school teachers. If we want the mindsets of our students to change, our mindset has to change, as well. One way to change is to incorporate more opportunities for our students of all levels to engage in critical thinking and actually believing that they will be successful. However, Ricci notes in Chapter 4 that she doubts that simply increasing the amount of critical thinking engagement will do anything unless it is accompanied by a growth mindset culture. So, the two must be incorporated together.
Intrigued by a growth mindset culture and want to learn more? Here are some great resources for middle and high school teachers:
How to Weave a Growth Mindset into School Culture by Katrina Schwartz
Even Geniuses Work Hard by Carol S. Dweck
6 Ways to Teach Growth Mindset from Day One by Angela Watson
Ready to learn about Chapter 5? Head over to Brittany's post at The Colorado Classroom.
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