Show Notes, Episode 22: Growth Mindset

About this show:

If you have ever played buzz-word bingo, and had “growth mindset” on your card, you knew you odds of winning were good. But what is “growth mindset” all about? As an assistant principal, you probably already know where this is going. Yes, we want our kids to have a growth mindset, but if we can get our teachers to also have that growth mindset, then we will be in great shape!

Notable Quotes

Becca Silver

“once we use the word ‘have’ we make it a fixed quality, no matter what we are talking about”

“people have equated growth mindset with being enlightened and demonized fixed mindset”

“we all operate in a fixed mindset sometimes and the goal is to start noticing when we do it”

“Just because a teacher is doing well in their classroom and their classroom is under control doesn’t mean they are operating under a growth mindset. How do we know someone’s mindset? We listen to their language” 

“Mindsets are incredibly personal and they can be tied to our core identity. we are dealing with the way people think about themselves”

“our neurons, when we struggle and persist, and eventually succeed, they actually get stronger… our brains get stronger when we persist through struggle”

“We want to create a space where people feel safe to make mistakes… you want to ask yourself ‘do you as a coach or assistant principal create a psychologically safe space for people to struggle and make mistakes in your presence?”

“There are three things that I always recommend if you want to create a growth mindset culture that need to be normalized… Those three things are: mistakes, struggle, and feedback.”

“One of the most damaging things I see administrative teams do is only give feedback during formal observations… that builds a compliance culture.”

Frederick

“There are a lot of people that have built this whole narrative to convince themselves that they are worthy and they are good teachers and to open up and question that would be devastating for them”

“When you’re working with somebody, especially when it is hard for them, you have to keep breaking it down into smaller and smaller pieces”

“The structures of schools really aren’t set to nurture growth mindset in teachers and so if an administrator wants to change the culture to support growth mindsets, they have to change the system… First, we have to model what we are preaching, so we have to have that growth mindset. And I think we have to have accountability.”

“Observation doesn’t mean the same thing to you as it does the person being observed”

“If we want other people to be operating under a growth mindset, we need to be doing that as well”

Links:

Becca’s Website: www.thewholeeducator.com

Becca’s Instagram: @thewholeeducator

Becca’s Twitter: beccasilver_edu

My email: [email protected]

The Assistant Principal Podcast website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/appodcast.html

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Website: www.frederickbuskey.com

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