Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives of Growth Mindset: Developing Agency in Children

Abstract

THE INTEGRATION OF MINDSET THEORY into classrooms can assist children in optimising academic achievement, increasing their agency for learning. The development of a growth mindset allows children to exercise autonomy over their learning, helping them to develop positive lifelong learning habits for the twenty-first century. This paper explores early childhood teachers’ perspectives of mindset and the role of a growth mindset in developing children's agency for learning. Despite increasing research in this field, little is known about the perspectives that early childhood teachers have of mindset. This paper reports on the data from a study that describes teachers’ perspectives towards fostering a growth mindset in children in the early years of school. Ninety-five Western Australian early childhood teachers from Kindergarten to Year 2 completed a survey that examined their perspectives of growth mindset. The analysis revealed competing knowledge about what teachers believe about mindset, and their ability to implement it. The information shared by teachers has implications for quality learning and teaching in the early years.