Promoting Students' Growth Motivation

Abstract

This chapter focuses on classroom environments and teacher practices that promote students’ growth motivation. Growth motivation centers on a focus to improve and grow and the belief that ability is malleable. It encompasses several similar concepts in motivation literature—growth mindset, incremental theory of intelligence, learning goals, and mastery goal orientation. Importantly, growth motivation can itself be grown; however, the effectiveness of interventions to foster it depends on characteristics of the learning environment. We outline comprehensive features of classroom environments and teacher practices that promote students’ growth motivation. Using the TARGETS framework, we present research evidence of how teachers can translate beliefs about the malleability of intelligence and ability, the value of challenge and effort, and the goals of learning and self-improvement into discourse and practices in ways that emphasize these beliefs to students. We illustrate with classroom examples from these studies.