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Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn't Work
David S Yeager1,2, Jamie M Carroll2,3, Jenny Buontempo2
1Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin.
Psychological Science
|December 22, 2021
Summary
Growth-mindset interventions are most effective when teachers also hold a growth mindset. Student success in developing intellectual abilities depends on supportive classroom environments, not just individual beliefs.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Growth-mindset interventions aim to foster the belief that intellectual abilities are malleable.
- Previous research on the National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM) focused on school-level moderators.
- The efficacy of growth-mindset interventions may depend on contextual factors beyond the student.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether students' growth mindsets require teacher support for effective implementation.
- To examine the role of teachers' mindsets as a moderator in growth-mindset interventions.
- To test the mindset-plus-supportive-context hypothesis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from the National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM).
- Examination of 9,167 student records matched with 223 math teachers.
- Statistical analysis accounting for potentially confounding teacher factors and Bayesian analysis.
Main Results:
- Student growth mindsets are more effective when teachers also possess a growth mindset.
- The results supported the hypothesis that a supportive teacher mindset is crucial.
- The positive effects of growth-mindset interventions are contingent on the classroom context.
Conclusions:
- Sustaining the effects of growth-mindset interventions necessitates supportive contextual factors.
- Teacher mindsets play a critical role in enabling students to benefit from growth-mindset principles.
- Classroom culture, specifically the teacher's mindset, is essential for growth mindset interventions to flourish.
Keywords:
adolescenceaffordancesgrowth mindsetimplicit theoriesmotivationopen dataopen materialspreregisteredwise interventionsMore Related Videos
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