How can teachers influence their students’ (mathematical) mindset?

Abstract

Interventions aimed at fostering students’ growth mindsets have been carried out in 21 classrooms (with a focus on Grade 7 and Grade 10) in the Netherlands. The intervention consisted of three main elements: introduction to neuroplasticity, the importance of learning from errors in learning processes, and growth-mindset feedback. Before and after the intervention, the students finished a questionnaire, and during the intervention, students and their teachers were interviewed. Results indicate that the students’ mindsets tended to be more towards a growth mindset after the intervention, in particular for the Grade 10 students. Students were very positive about the intervention, especially the neuroplasticity and the attention for and learning from errors. Teachers and students valued the changes in attitudes and interactions with a new language for teaching and learning mathematics.