Fostering Growth Mindset in Students Through Challenging Times

By incorporating a growth mindset and Performance Character traits into daily student learning, Athlos students learn to focus on what they can control, even when outside life challenges occur beyond their control.

Growth mindset creates a foundation to weather storms in life.

As many adults have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, life challenges can come quickly and can have serious lifestyle changes. These outside influences can have a dramatic impact on children’s mental and physical health, making it difficult to foster a growth mindset in a child when outside circumstances are beyond their control.

A growth mindset is the belief that one’s intelligence can be grown or developed with persistence and effort– it’s a strategy that can impact their academic success and future life decisions.

However, according to Carol Dweck, a researcher on mindsets, “It’s important to note that a growth mindset isn’t a personal attribute or state of being, it’s a way of thinking or a coping strategy that we can apply in a given situation.”

By viewing a growth mindset as a coping strategy rather than an on/off switch, we can begin instilling foundational habits students can rely on to make the best of life circumstances, whether they be social, family, or personal challenges.

Athlos Performance Character traits are guidelines for positive behavior.

As much as adults want to protect children from grief and tragedy, they can’t, but they can serve as a source of stability and comfort. Providing learning supports is one of several great suggestions experts have for educators and parents to help students experiencing difficult times. These can include counseling, tutoring, daily check-ins, and intentionally structured mindfulness exercises.

Athlos schools not only offer counseling and support, but they also incorporate 12 Performance Character traits into daily lessons. Traits such as grit, courage, optimism, and social intelligence are especially helpful for students as they navigate conditions beyond their control.

As children (and adults) learn to manage new challenges in society today, Athlos Performance Character traits can act as guidelines for students while growth mindset strategies can provide the drive to apply these traits wherever they are.

A growth mindset relies on personal action.

As we move through this strange new world, students will be faced with many social, family, and personal challenges that may cause them to fall into a fixed mindset of fear and feelings of hopelessness. But by providing them coping strategies, learning supports, and guidance, supportive educators and parents help students establish growth mindset habits they can rely on to take personal control when their world feels out of control.

Here are a few additional resources and tips school administrators and parents can keep in mind when helping students maintain a growth mindset and work through life challenges:

• Be there. According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, one of the most important things you can do as an educator or a parent is to just be there for the child. You are their constant as they navigate this difficult time. The NCTSN also offers great resources for dealing with COVID-19.
• Find professional help. Don’t be afraid to bring in a counselor, therapist, or social worker; they are trained to help any student work through trauma, stress, and anxiety.
• Recognize the symptoms of stress. The American Psychological Association provides some research-based ways to recognize stress in children.
• Find the coping strategy that works for them. This should take time to research and determine what works for the child. Here’s a great tool educators and parents can use to determine coping strategies.