Developing a Growth Mindset

By Aaron Farrant, Head of School, The Christ School

At The Christ School we are committed to developing great learners. One of the primary attributes of great learners is that they have a growth mindset. So many people are quick to say they cannot do something or they lack the natural innate ability to be successful in different areas of their lives. As an educator, I see this in children all the time. Children will say they aren’t smart, or they “just aren’t good at math”. The truth is no one knows what a child can accomplish with the proper training, strategies, and effort. Despite this truth, children and adults often identify areas where a child does not start off strong and prematurely decide the child cannot or will not be successful in that area.

Here at The Christ School we reject that idea. There are too many cases in which people struggled at first, but after time and effort they excelled. In fact, struggle is the way people learn best. When we try something new there are usually high levels of failure and only after we keep working and trying do we become proficient and begin to experience sustained success.

Because of this truth, The Christ School is teaching children to have a growth mindset. We are teaching children to develop perseverance and how struggle and failure do not define them, but rather struggle and initial failure are a key step in learning. When children cannot do something right now it does not mean they will never be able to do it; it just means they can’t do it yet. As our students learn to embrace desirable difficulties they learn to work harder, persevere through challenges, and are better prepared to impact this world for Christ.