Every summer we provide all teaching staff with a book to help build their professional library.  Books we choose center around our philosophy here at Liberty and best teaching practices.  Our hope is that teachers can grow professionally through book discussions about the content in the books read. This year, Liberty teachers will participate in two book discussion meetings where teachers present on the 8 chapters of the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success written by Carol Dweck.  Dweck is an acclaimed psychologist that has researched the psychology behind students with a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.  Her research has facilitated great conversations among staff about how we praise students and the role we play in producing growth rather than fixed mindset students.

Have you or your children ever said, "I'm just no good at math." or "I am a horrible artist."?  Both of these comments are fixed mindset comments.  Students that say these things assume their abilities in these areas are unchangeable.  They take on an attitude that some people are good mathematicians or artists and others are not.  They believe these skills or qualities are unchanging.

The two mindsets that she discusses in the book are a fixed mindset where people believe intelligence and other human qualities are static and unchanging.  The other mindset is a growth mindset where people believe intelligence and personal qualities can be changed and developed.  While a fixed mindset person would see a challenge as something to avoid because it would reveal their weakness, a growth mindset person would see a challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow.

As teachers and parents, these ideas are integral to how we praise our children.  We should first point out the two mindsets so students are aware they exist.  The second thing we should keep in mind is how we praise our children.  Praise should not be centered on their intelligence but rather the effort it takes to become successful.  Studies have shown that intelligent students that were praised for being smart and natural "stall out" because if they are not successful the next time they feel they failed.  Struggling students that are praised for effort will continue to work hard because they are motivated by our encouragement and praise that working hard will make you successful.  These growth mindset students make more progress in developing their skills than a fixed mindset student.

Below is a link to a video explaining the book our teachers read over the summer.  While the video is a brief synopsis of the book, I would encourage you all to read this book as this information greatly benefits both parents and our teaching staff.  The better we can all work together and be on the same page the more successful our students will be.  CLICK HERE to view the video