Just Google “growth mindset” and it won’t take long to uncover the storm of controversy over this popular theory. It’s well-known by now that several studies have shown that mindset has a low effect size of 0.19 (Nottingham, 2018). Proponents say mindset is being done wrong; the opposition says growth mindset is worthless. So what’s true: does a growth mindset work—or doesn’t it?
Maybe that’s not even the right question. Maybe we should be asking: Even if mindset doesn’t have a high effect on achievement, does that mean it has no value in education—or in kids’ lives? What is the true value of a growth mindset?
James Nottingham and Bosse Larsson have tackled this question about the true value of growth mindset in their new book, Challenging Mindset (publishing July 2018). James will also be keynoting the Annual Visible Learning Conference, “The Story Behind the Data,” next week in Chicago. In the video below, James gives a preview of the book and his keynote.
In this video, James Nottingham discusses:
- Why does growth mindset have such a low effect size?
- Does a low effect size mean that something is bad for learning—or bad for kids?
- When does growth mindset really make a difference?
