I have seen the posters. I have sat the assemblies. I have watched the ads telling us about growth mindsets and how to develop one, and I'm sure you have too. But what we don't do is apply it to ourselves to help benefit our lives, however, there is no reason to blame yourself.

The growth mindset is a deep topic that has many layers to it and is extremely important to have today. While we might blame other things on our weaknesses, it all links back to one thing – our mindset. To benefit our school every boy must acquire a growth mindset.

I'm not saying that boys aren’t getting told how to apply a growth mindset. It is that we do not understand how to efficiently apply it to ourselves using specific skills to achieve them. The growth mindset is crucial to a developing brain.

Many students at Toowoomba Grammar School are not applying a growth mindset with affects nearly everything in their school life from curricular to co-curricular. This is because at school we are not spending effective amounts of time learning how to achieve a growth mindset. While researching for this article I have asked many peers how to apply a growth mindset. Every single time I have gotten the same answer "I don’t know". This should not be the case. After all these assemblies, what has been the outcome?

There are many studies supporting the research on growth mindsets, and it is extremely important to developing minds. A study from Bernhard Schroeder showed that “People with a growth mindset will view challenges not as bad things but rather opportunities to benefit their learning”. Schroeder's research also showed that “With a growth mindset boys will learn from failing. For example, if you don’t reach a goal, you haven’t failed, you have learned”.

A growth mindset is a crucial element of modern life. We must apply better measures to ensure that students have a growth mindset.

How can we unlock the key to flourishing within our school? The solution is to spend more time on students’ knowledge of growth mindset and how to gain one.

This would be possible if the well-being subject expanded to all grades. A growth mindset would also be an important topic, having many lessons on it over the course of the year. Learning the facts and, using real-life examples of people who have used them in their life will help students apply them in their life.

There is significant evidence of other schools implementing growth mindsets and benefiting from it. A report from Dr Dweck said, "Researchers started noticing that teacher practice has a big impact on student mindset,-choose a challenge and increase achievement." This strategy must be used within our school.

Moving forwards our School must bring in more specific learning time during school about gaining growth mindsets. It would also be beneficial if parents learnt more about the topic to teach their children. This change needs to be made as it will greatly benefit our school. As it will allow our students to learn from challenges and learn from failure.

We must teach our students about growth mindsets, we must create a good learning environment to teach us growth mindsets, and we must allow the school’s students to flourish. Parents and staff must guide our boys to a growth mindset.

- By Patrick Hoare - Year 9 TGS Student

Bibliography:

Schroeder, B. (2019, July 12). 12 Advantages of a Growth Mindset That Accelerate Your Career. Forbes. 12 Advantages Of A Growth Mindset That Could Accelerate Your Career (forbes.com)

‌Dweck, C. (2017). Dr. Dweck’s Research into Growth Mindset Changed Education Forever. Mindset Works. The Growth Mindset - What is Growth Mindset - Mindset Works