By Stephanie Lartey
Championing Continuous Growth
We owe it to the next generation coming up behind us to equip them with the skills they need to become the leaders of tomorrow.
I’m in this position myself at the moment and I definitely understand that preparing for university can be a big undertaking so I’ve spoken to a few students and asked them for their advice on how to prepare for university. Firstly, we’ll cover some of the basics you …
What is a growth mindset?
Zoe and I don’t believe that learning stops after school. If anything, true learning actually begins once you’ve left education, because that’s when you realise that everyday is a new learning experience.
In other words, that’s how we realised the importance of having a growth mindset. We believe that someone with a growth mindset believes that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.
Why is a growth mindset important?
I’m sure you’ve heard or read that having a growth mindset is important before. So instead of repeating the same rhetoric, how about we look at an example.
Let’s take a look at our first example; Ndidi, who unfortunately did not receive any of her UCAS offers for university this academic year.
If Ndidi had a fixed mindset, her response to the setback may look like this:
“I’m so discouraged by the fact that I didn’t get into any of my university choices. I’m not even going to bother applying again, I can’t take that level of rejection. I don’t even really want to go to university anyway”
If we unpack Ndidi’s response, we can see that she has attached the setback to a belief in her ability, and more importantly, how she values herself. This has made Ndidi disinterested, and ready to give up after the first hurdle. But can we really go through life this way?
Now how about if Ndidi had a growth mindset, what would her response have looked like then?
“I’ll admit, I’m upset that I didn’t get any of my university choices. I did have my heart set on going this year. Maybe this can give me a chance to gain some more work experience, and grow a bit more so I can apply again next year. I might even get into a better university for me next time!
In this instance, it is clear that Ndidi is still upset about not receiving any offers, as that’s a completely understandable reaction. But instead of stopping there, Ndidi has thought about how to reflect on the experience, and what she could do next time.
So why is it important to think the way Ndidi thinks in the second scenario?
Because life, especially after education, isn’t always a straight path. So it’s important to enjoy the journey and be ready to learn along the way.
How do we champion continuous growth at Doceo?
Having a growth mindset isn’t a one trick formula that happens over night, it’s a continuous learning process. Zoe and I are still learning ourselves, but we have come up with 3 key things we use to champion continuous growth, and we hope you’ll find them useful too:
- Be consistent in your learning process: This doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to learn everything at once, but try to take out 10-15 minutes a day to learn something new that’s not to do with academics
- Learn and teach others: We share tips every friday on our social media platforms, not because we have nothing better to do, but because we recognise the value learning and teaching others has.
- Be conscious of when you’re slipping into fixed mindset habits: we all do it, and that’s okay. But the distinction between someone with a fixed mindset and someone who has a growth mindset is recognising those slip ups.