1.6 Cultivate a Growth Mindset in Yourself First (Required to earn certificate)

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  Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on March 11, 2024 at 11:01 am

  💬  Reflection/Discussion:

  • How can you authentically model a growth mindset through your attitude, behaviors, and teaching practices? How can you support and inspire other faculty and staff to cultivate a growth mindset and related behaviors in their academic department and college?

• Carrie Gheith (she/her)

  Member

  March 25, 2024 at 1:10 pm

  Having humility, flexiblity and openness to feedback from students when they are not feeling supported. Leading by example, sharing your experiences with positive growth mindset outcomes.
  Danesh

  Participant

  April 1, 2024 at 6:26 pm

  When teachers  include activities that model the thinking process, students inevitably see how  thinking is messy and working through problems is difficult. Even the teacher will have to undergo some struggle and overcoming of challenges in order to get a correct answer.
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  April 2, 2024 at 1:51 pm

  Great ways to show growth mindset! You could take this a step further by asking students to reflect on their own experiences where they have shown a growth mindset (everyone has these – it might be a hobby, a sport, or a skill where they have persevered and grown through practice) and then brainstorm what it would look like to apply the same growth mindset to their current academic class.
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  April 2, 2024 at 1:54 pm

  Danesh, I teach intro-level math, where it may seem like the teacher has all the answers. But I still see ways to display the “struggle” part of learning to my students by asking them to point out my mistakes or by verbalizing my thought process when I am presented with a new problem by a student. Do you have any other specific ways that an instructor can convey in their teaching that they are learning and growing right along with their students?
  Danesh

  Participant

  April 3, 2024 at 1:54 pm

  You ask a good question here. I teach critical thinking, a course about giving reasons for your beliefs. I often ask questions or raise issues that require students to take different considerations into account. In groups and as a class, I encourage them to make an all things considered judgment after many arguments are given. The process of making arguments can be slow and a little painstaking, even for me, who may not have all the arguments prepared beforehand. I made my earlier comments in the context of an activity such as this one. I’m hoping that there is some counterpart to teaching math!
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  April 17, 2024 at 12:11 pm

  I’m interested too in the second part of this question: “How can you support and inspire other faculty and staff to cultivate a growth mindset?” I held a workshop on learning mindsets at my campus last year, but I find that those events are somewhat self-selective – the staff and faculty who attend are already passionate about growth mindset and looking for ways to improve their own teaching effectiveness. Can anyone here speak to effective strategies for promoting an understanding of Mindset GPS within an entire department/unit?
  Denise Sands Baez (she/her)

  Member

  April 22, 2024 at 1:51 pm

  I teach a course about the relationship between “society” and Art, examining how each reflects and shapes the other with a historical survey of American musicals through the lens of the lens of the differing moral structures of liberals and conservatives.  When I created the course, I assumed I’d be moderating robust discussions of the cultural issues between the two camps.  Because I teach in a public American university in a blue-state city, my classrooms skew so heavily liberal that I sometimes find myself explaining/supporting conservative views I don’t necessarily agree with to make sure that every student has the emotional space to speak freely about their own views.  I tell my students from Day One that I’m not there to change anyone’s mind.  I’m there to help them understand why someone might disagree with them.

  As an adjunct lecturer, I seldom get to interact with my faculty colleagues, but I have regular meetings with my colleagues in Academic Advisement.  As a senior advisor, I am often asked questions by my colleagues.  I try always to validate them for asking the question–sometimes recalling when I’d struggled to learn how to apply a certain policy or a mistake I’d made by assuming that Policy Z was a logical extension of Policies X and Y when it was something very different because the circumstances that called it onto being were different.  I also try to connect my answers to material they already know because scaffolding increases the probability that the answer will go into long-term memory storage so they can build on it for the future.
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  May 1, 2024 at 9:30 am

  Hi Denise,

  One of the ideas from the reading in this section that came to mind as I read your post is “actively cultivating a growth mindset community or support system by connecting with like-minded colleagues”. When I was an adjunct lecturer, finding time for professional development opportunities at my college or even informal conversations with colleagues about courses and pedagogy was difficult, but extremely helpful. Do you see opportunities for this kind of community-building in advising or among the faculty (maybe even other adjunct lecturers?)
  Faiza Peetz

  Participant

  May 3, 2024 at 2:55 pm

  Thank you for highlighting the importance of fostering a community of growth mindset among faculty and staff. In response to your query about building such a community, I find that informal, cross-departmental discussions can be incredibly effective. These discussions can be centered around sharing experiences, challenges, and best practices in cultivating a growth mindset.

  Moreover, creating a structured mentorship program where more experienced faculty can guide newer members can also promote a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. Such programs can encourage open dialogues and provide a safe space for faculty to discuss their insecurities and learn from each other.

  In the context of advising, I see a significant opportunity for community-building through regular workshops or sharing sessions that focus on practical issues advisors face and exploring them through a growth mindset lens. These sessions could include case studies, role-playing exercises, and group discussions that reinforce the principles of a growth mindset and demonstrate how they can be applied in everyday interactions with students.

  Additionally, leveraging technology to create virtual communities can help overcome some of the logistical challenges adjunct lecturers face. Online forums, webinars, and shared digital resources can facilitate ongoing conversations and support among faculty who might not be able to meet in person regularly.

  Overall, the key is to create multiple entry points for faculty and staff to engage with growth mindset concepts and practice them in a supportive, collaborative environment.

   

   
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  May 7, 2024 at 2:35 pm

  These are good suggestions, Faiza! I especially think cross-departmental discussions can give us creativity and a fresh perspective on the challenges we face within our own field. I also noticed your recommendation of a mentoring program for junior faculty – my department does not formally do this, and I often wished for a mentor in my first year of full-time teaching. Thankfully I have found that senior faculty are often willing to talk and help if junior faculty take the initiative to reach out to them.
  Tim Leonard (he/him/his)

  Participant

  May 7, 2024 at 3:00 pm

  I think the more we can find time for collegial conversations, the better we will all be. I think all departments need to think about carving out even 15 minutes of departmental meeting time to give faculty a chance to share what they are doing in their classrooms. It could be focused – so, for example, one meeting we could focus on what you are doing to encourage growth mindset, and in another, we might focus on strategies for effective group work etc.

  I also love the idea of having mentors for new faculty. I was lucky enough to have one when I started and found it quite helpful.

  The bottom line – we need more opportunities to share our practices with others!
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  May 12, 2024 at 3:10 pm

  Yes – I second making time for it in department meetings. This could be setting aside time for an informal discussion or, more formally, asking a faculty member to present on specific strategies that they have found useful. Besides cultivating a growth mindset in the department, this also can help the faculty member grow their presentation skills… not to mention their CV/resume. Growth all around!

   

  

   

   
  Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers)

  Member

  May 12, 2024 at 3:17 pm

  Hello Danesh – I used to teach Critical Thinking as well (at Laguardia)! Do you find that sometimes students want to know what your position is on an issue? What do you think would promote growth in this situation? (I am not quite sure myself and usually wonder how to respond when it happens.)
  Elizabeth Klein (she/her)

  Member

  June 11, 2024 at 7:02 am

  I practice growth mindset by attending conferences, PD’s, engaging in online modules (like this one) and constantly reading and thinking about growth mindset. On the cognitive and emotional level, I strive to past the hurdles that were discussed in the video clip (i.e., negative voices, defeating thoughts and insecurities).

  To model growth mindset, I provide professional development for the adjunct lecturers in my program. We discuss successes and where we would like to grow. In between meetings I share articles or blog posts of interests. In terms of students, I always take the time to model growth mindset within the scope of our major projects, by showing them how they can improve or if no improvement is needed, how they can obtain or use extended resources.
  Seth Lehman

  Member

  June 12, 2024 at 1:56 pm

  Hi Elizabeth, it sounds like you are doing well at providing both adjunct lecturers and your students with effective strategies and appropriate resources for growth. I would love to hear more about how you provide professional development for adjunct lecturers: this is a need within my department as well. Is this a formal mentoring or development program?