By now you’ve probably heard the latest buzz words in the education field even if you’re not an educator. Words like “growth mindset” and “grit” have become popularized by Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth’s books and TED talks and everyone from Coach Pete Carroll to Microsoft are using them to inspire and lead teams of people.

Meanwhile education researcher John Hattie, whose Visible Learning offers an evidence-based approach to teacher training, has done significant research to examine the relationship between certain metrics and student achievement. According to his research, our usually championed “class size” has only a .21 effect size. At the same time, student's self-reported grades have a 1.33 effect size and teacher estimates of student achievement have a 1.62 effect size (the greatest factor of all 195 characteristics on the John Hattie Visible Learning ranking guide). This has led to increased focus among educators on involving students in their learning and elevating teachers' expectations of their students.

So why is having a growth mindset, perseverance, and grit important for the classroom? Why are teachers investing time learning ways to make these characteristics a part of their classroom environment?

The evidence is clear – when students (or adults or football players or executives…) know what they need to learn, invest in their own learning by goal setting and self-monitoring, they’re more likely to achieve and they’re creating a mindset of goal-orientation for the future."

What does this look like in the classroom?
Seeing failure as a part of the learning process. When we teach kids that they can fail, it creates an atmosphere of safety. Students know they can try and try again.

Creating clear goal orientation. Students need coaching to know academically where they are currently, where they are going, and a plan to get there. Teachers can provide scaffolds for students to build the capacity for even our youngest learners to set goals in the classroom and monitor towards an achievement.

Receiving timely, specific feedback is key. If students are expected to self-monitor, they need to know current data fast. Teachers can provide this by making assessment a regular part of their daily classroom practice.

Teacher mindset has an impact on student achievement. This seems obvious but is imperative to student achievement. Teachers must believe in a growth mindset, not just teach it.

Language is important. How teachers qualify answers makes a difference. Rather than giving a “right” or “wrong”, teachers ask questions, dive deeper, and develop understanding.

Take a community approach. Involving students in their learning alongside parents, support staff, teacher colleagues, and administration is key. These are not “my kids” and “your kids” but rather our kids.

Integrating growth mindset and perseverance character work in the classroom is resulting in higher student resilience, self-efficacy, and grit when facing challenges- things, this author hopes they take into the future.

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Original contribution by Stevie Kramer, K-12 educator for 13 years and has served as a staff developer, mentor, and master teacher.  She is a Teach for America alum ’05 corps where she taught in Brooklyn, NY.