Teaching a growth mindset

Encouraging youth to engage in healthy living and helping them develop healthy habits is a mission of the 4-H program.  As parents, leaders, and mentors, we all want to do the best we can teaching youth healthy habits that will lead to a successful, happy, and fulfilled life.  Physical activity, healthy eating, and nutrition are all important to living a healthy life, but this concept encompasses more than that.  Healthy living also includes social and psychological health, taking care of the mind and forming habits that build healthy coping, learning, and relationship skills.  Brain science proves that our brain is like a muscle; the more we work it the stronger it becomes.  In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck presents the idea that children, similar to adults, possess one of two mindsets, and that mindset shapes the way they approach work, relationships, learning, and growth, among many other things.    
Youth with a fixed mindset believe they are smart or dumb, talented or not talented at something like football, playing the tuba, or painting.  These kids believe that there are gifted people and then the rest watch and cheer from the sidelines, unable to improve or get better because they are constrained by their lack of skill, intelligence, or talent.  Challenges are scary for children with a fixed mindset because they believe it will show their skill, intelligence, or talent as what it is, and it might result in failure.  For example, a math test will show that your child is either good or bad at math.
Youth with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe their abilities, (skill, intelligence, and talent) can improve with time and effort.  Instead of viewing challenges as judgements about worth, children with a growth mindset see challenges as opportunities to grow their abilities and become better.  In fact, growth mindset might be one of the most important skills for youth to develop to become successful.  According to Dr. Dweck’s studies, when students on opposite ends of the growth vs. fixed mindset continuum showed similar intellectual ability, their beliefs predicted school performance.  Likewise, a growth mindset is critical for forming good relationships and coping skills.  Sanford psychologist Dr. James Gross studied the effect of a fixed or growth mindset on emotions as teens transitioned into their first year of college.  According to his research, freshmen with a fixed mind-set about emotions were less able to manage theirs, and by the end of freshman year, they’d shown poorer social and emotional adjustment than their growth-minded counterparts.
After examining the research, it is evident that helping children develop a growth mindset is key for future success and healthy living.  Keep these pointers in mind as you help your child develop a growth mindset.

First, teach your child how the brain works, and encourage them to continue building their brain capacities.  Along with exercising the brain, debunk the myth that intelligence, talent, or skill is something we are born with and cannot be changed.  Try not to assign worth to intelligence, talent, or skill, this can inhibit development of the growth mindset.  Debunking the myth will help your child understand that practicing, studying, or trying again are all a part of the process to make them better.
Next, praise the process, not the result.  Straight A’s or mastering that piece of tuba music might take your son hours of study or practice and his best friend very little time.  Instead of praising the end result, make sure to praise your child’s persistence and courage to continue trying and working hard.  Ask your child to reflect on the challenges, obstacles, and successes that helped him accomplish the final result and praise those steps.  Further, help your child identify intrinsic rewards so they find their validation from themselves and not the outside world.  
Next, help your child find the value in failure.  Failure is a great learning tool and teaches your child to solve problems.  Celebrate failures and encourage problem solving, this will give your child the confidence to try new things or stick with a problem.
Lastly, model the growth mindset yourself and tell stories about your successes and failures and lessons learned.  Showing your children your growth mindset and helping them learn it themselves will ensure that they are developing healthy habits for the future.

The University of Wyoming and the United States Department of Agriculture cooperate.
The university is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.