Failure and the Growth Mindset

Try It

Pick an assignment, exam, or project and let your students keep working at it to produce something they’re proud of. Base any assessment on what ultimately is produced, not the quality of the work along the way.

Discuss It

In person or online, dive into these essential questions:

• How many of your courses or exams reward perseverance? Encourage kids to try bold things that might fail? Let a kid get an A when their grade is a C most of the way through the course?
• How can you integrate the growth mindset into all aspects of school?

Explore It

Check out the following resources to dig deeper:
Watch Carol Dweck’s TED Talk The Power of Believing You Can Improve or read her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success