Growth mindset
A chart from InnerDrive’s The Language of Growth Mindset
Pioneered by Stanford psychologist, Carol Dweck, Growth Mindset is a way of approaching challenging tasks that leads to increased abilities and achievement. On the other hand, a Fixed Mindset assumes that our intelligence and abilities are fixed and cannot be measurably improved through effort and hard work.
Growth Mindset has become a “hot” topic in elementary education around the country. Many school districts have embraced it and their teachers emphasize it in their classrooms. In Jenny’s First Catch, Jenny’s character models the Growth Mindset in her words and actions. She never gives up, but instead works hard, tries new strategies, and asks for help from others. Jenny and the other characters, such as Marjory, do not say that Jenny can’t do something, but that she can’t do it YET – leaving the door open for learning and discovery.
When I was first writing Jenny, I was not familiar with the Growth Mindset concept. As part of my editing process, I took my book draft to Ms. Perilman’s 4th grade class at Granby Elementary in Worthington, Ohio. I read the book aloud and received terrific, honest feedback from my target audience!
At one point a child said, “I think that Jenny has a Growth Mindset”. That set me on a path of discovery about the concept and the need for more books that model the language for children. I re-wrote several sections of the manuscript to strengthen Jenny’s Growth Mindset and added the “word bubbles” at the end as reinforcement. All in all, I think Jenny is a better book with the addition of the Growth Mindset language and I thank the students in Ms. Perilman’s class!
Additional Resources on growth mindset
A chart from Carol Dweck’s best-selling book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success