33 Growth Mindset: Learning as a Process
Writing as a Process
In this course, our focus is on process, rather than solely product. What does that mean? Well, let’s start with writing since it’s a writing class. Your writing develops through a process of gathering evidence, freewriting, research, and revision (and more revision). We’re building essays one step at a time. In other words, you’re developing a process for writing, not just in this class, but in future writing—in college and beyond.
Learning as a Process
Regardless of what we’re learning, it’s a process. The idea of learning isn’t just for you to know stuff but to develop critical thinking skills and strategies that allow you to do and figure out stuff on your own.
Many teachers use Bloom’s (Revised) Taxonomy (2001) as a framework for levels of active learning and critical thinking. The measurable verbs provide a vocabulary to describe learning goals and to determine learning acquired, so they’re essential to how we teach lessons and the class as a whole. Note that it’s a flexible guide. Not all learning is linear.
Okay. Wait! That looks like the teacher is barely involved! Not true. We’re here to help you learn how to apply these strategies through practice, and you’ll learn from each other as well. Don’t forget that our focus in this class is on the process of learning, so our goal is to practice applying the strategies together so that you can continue to develop those practices and strategies on your own.
But we all make mistakes along the way. But that’s okay.
Embrace Mistakes as Sites of Learning
SPOILER: None of us knows everything. I said what I said.
Learning is a progressive and continuous experience of practice, application and transformation. Whatever it is we learn (sports, music, math, cooking, skateboarding), we learn it through practice. And since you’re practicing, you should not only expect to make mistakes but embrace mistakes. What?!
Most of us have heard that we learn from mistakes, but it sounds kind of like a cliché that teachers feed us to get us to do homework. Am I right? Well, it turns out that it’s true and supported by evidence.
Mistakes urge us to research, but most importantly, they allow us to apply critical thinking skills in terms of reflecting, analyzing, and evaluating our own work and learning process. We can identify areas for review or clarification on assignment requirements. We learn to ask questions. In other words, risking making mistakes make us the boss of our own learning process and growth.
So, be a boss! Embrace mistakes! The trick is to reflect on how to move forward.
Falling Isn’t Failing
How many of us have said: “I suck at math,” or “I’m a bad writer” (my favorite challenge!)? What if you’re just terrible at a subject? Are you, though? Or maybe you haven’t had practice?
Skateboarding: Fall Down 7 Times—Stand Up 8
Let’s think about something a little more on the fun side like skateboarding. Skateboarding isn’t something that we’re just good at immediately—not even close. Let’s imagine ourselves as someone who really knows how to skateboard and the journey we took to get here. How many times did we fall? How many times did we get back up?
My favorite movie about skateboarding is Lords of Dogtown (2005). It’s based on a true story about the Z-Boys skate team, Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams, who changed the world of skateboarding. And yes, they fell—often. How many falls do you count in the trailer?
So, back to the imaginary ‘us’ who skates with the Z-Boys…
How good were you at it the first time you tried to ride the skateboard?
Ride? (laughs) The first ten times I stepped on the skateboard, I kept having to step off because it was so hard to keep my balance. I didn’t know where to put my feet. It took me weeks to find that spot before I could even ride it. And once I could finally ride, the falls…
How many times did you slam (fall off your skateboard) the first few times you rode it?
Too many to count. Falling isn’t failure for skateboarders. It’s a badge of honor because it shows our determination and resilience. Boarders never bail.
Does it hurt to fall?
Yeah! But I’m dedicated. Every time I fall, I learn new ways to do turns and jumps. I don’t fall as much and I’ve learned how to roll so it doesn’t hurt as much when I do fall. Learning to fall is part of learning to skateboard because it improves technique and helps me to see my progress. You have to roll with it.
But wasn’t it embarrassing when you fell? Didn’t other skateboarders laugh at you, especially the ones who are really good at it?
No way! Skateboarders help each other up and help each other out. When someone falls, we help them up and show them how to do better next time. The only exception is when we’re competing. Even then, though, we’re always stoked about other boarders’ skills because we can learn from them.
Why didn’t you stop trying after the first fall?
I would have never learned to skateboard if I had stopped trying! You have bad days where it feels like you can’t get anything right, but then you realize later that you were practicing. And if you’re practicing, you’re learning.
Okay. Let’s stop to take that in for just a sec: If you’re practicing, you’re learning.
Now, imagine a world in which there were no ramps, no tricks, and no jumps in skateboarding. That was the world before the Z-Boys. What if they had stopped trying to learn to skate after that first fall? It would be a sad and boring world for us all.
The Z-Boys were just having fun, but they were also engaging in a growth mindset. So, what does that mean, exactly?
I Can’t Do This—Yet
Our mindset strongly influences our learning. When we have a fixed mindset, we see limitations. When we have a growth mindset, we see potential for growth. Watch this brief video, which defines a growth versus a fixed mindset.
As we saw in the video, we need three things to learn:
- Make a sincere effort.
- Incorporate learning strategies.
- Ask for help when we need it.
So, we’re good, right? You make the effort using strategies learned in class and ask for help when you need it. Boom! But sometimes, we’re going to feel ‘fixed.’ So, what do we do when that happens? Let’s talk about it!
