How to inspire growth mindset using neuroscience (5 steps)
"One thing about human intelligence is absolutely certain: it is malleable, meaning it can be changed through exposure to new information or even by looking at what you already know in a new way. There is no limit to what you can learn, and, contrary to what some may think, nobody's brain has ever been "filled." -Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek, The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain Growth mindset neuroscience is about a belief in the changeability of the human brain and our ability to increase our intelligence and abilities. As MIT’s Teaching + Learning Lab puts it: "students who believe they can substantially increase their intelligence and ability through experience and effort (‘growth mindset’) often react to academic challenges by allocating more effort, experimenting with new approaches, and seeking feedback" A person’s mindset and their belief about intelligence is shown to influence their behaviors and responses to failures and challenge. (Dweck, 2006; Paunescu et al.2015). Mindset is listed as one of the most powerful leverage points to change, according to systems thinking expert Donella Meadows. When we increase our understanding of neuroscience and neuroplasticity, our mindset toward learning and intelligence changes. You can listen to this article as a mini-podcast! Click here for Spotify Click here for Apple Podcasts Or listen directly below on the media player: Here are 5 suggestions and resources for how to teach the neuroscience of growth mindset #1 - CULTIVATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY Before growth mindset... focus on trust and psychological safety in a learning environment. Without a sense of psychological safety, human nervous system architecture is wired to keep us on the defensive. This lowers our access to the features of the brain and body needed for learning, innovation, problem-solving and creativity. The suggestions below are ways we can increase psychological safety: * understand and talk about neuroplasticity (gives people hope that they can change and improve) * celebrate mistakes (allows people to iterate and experiment without fear of being judged) * praise effort (helps people see that it is in the trying and the showing up where growth happens, and that effort is within their locus of control) * spark self-transcendent purpose (offers a new source of motivation that can help someone persevere through challenges) An additional way we can increase a sense of psychological safety with others is to be as authentic as we can be. When we teach about growth mindset but we don't challenge ourselves to learn new things, or embrace our own mistakes, the people we are teaching can pick up on that. For us to authentically teach growth mindset, we need to be able to explain from a standpoint of a beginner, someone who is ‘starting from scratch’ and going through the many learning dips, discomfort and awkwardness of learning a new skill, habit, belief or behavior. That’s why it’s important to learn new things that challenge you,