Learning how to Learn
There are three major sections on this page:
- Growth Mindset
- Self-Directed, Active, & Reflective Learning
- Understanding Learning Processes
Choose one of the sections that’s most relevant to your situation, read that section, and complete one learning activity in the section.
Growth Mindset
Key Takeaway
A growth mindset is the basis for learning how to learn. According to the University of Notre Dame’s page on Enhancing Growth Mindset,
“Growth Mindset leads to a desire to learn and therefore a tendency to
- Embrace challenges
- Persist in the face of setbacks (obstacles)
- See effort as the path to mastery
- Listen to and learn from negative feedback (criticism)
- Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others” [1]
“Greatness isn’t born, it’s made.” Do you believe this? Or do you believe that some people are just destined for greatness?
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, presents the idea that personal success comes down to a central belief about ourselves, which falls into two mindsets:
Those with a fixed mindset believe that we all have inherent traits, abilities and skills. These individuals try to prove their talents by being successful, and avoid situations that will highlight their shortcomings. “I’m just not good at math.” “She’s a natural-born leader.” “I’ve never been musically inclined.”
Those with a growth mindset believe that, while we are all endowed with different qualities, our abilities can be cultivated through concentrated effort. Individuals with this mindset are focused on developing and improving their inherent skills and talents.
While the fixed mindset avoids failure and seeks out success, the growth mindset embraces failure as a necessary means to achieving success. Dweck advocates for the latter mindset because it drives us towards self-improvement, rather than restricting us to our natural abilities. In other words, success is about learning versus simply proving that you are smart. Read more fully about fixed vs. growth mindsets in the article “How Your Beliefs Can Sabotage Your Behavior,” by James Clear.
Adapting a growth mindset means recognizing that success is not about avoiding failures, but rather about embracing them, taking on challenges, and not giving up. As author and art historian Sarah Lewis observes, “We thrive not when we have done it all but when we still have more to do.” In other words, it is our shortcomings that can drive us to be better. If everything comes easy, or if you are constantly reaffirming what you already know or are capable of, then you are also limiting your opportunities for personal progress and growth.
Watch Carol Dweck’s presentation on growth mindset below.
What kind of a mindset do you think you have? One quick way to analyze your mindset is to consider how you would react in the following scenario: You find out that you did really poorly on a research paper and, when you come out of work that same day, you find a ticket on your car. You send a text about the rough day you’re having to your friend who responds, but kind of brushes you off. What would your reaction be?
- “I feel like a reject, a total failure. I never seem to get anything right. The world is out to get me.”
- “I really need to try harder in class, maybe join that study group. Next time I’ll pay better attention to where I park. I wonder why my friend has been so distant; I should probably check in more often.”
Option 1 is an example of a fixed mindset: “I’m having a really bad day and there’s nothing to be done about it.” Option 2 is an example of a growth mindset: “I can work to make this better.” (Dweck 7-8)
For a fuller assessment of your mindset, take the Mindset Quiz by Carol Dweck.
No matter the outcome of your assessment, realize that you can more fully develop a growth mindset. Read about 25 Practices that Foster Lifelong Learning.[1]
Finally, read an article based on a study by Ellen Langer on the application of growth mindset: “How Our Beliefs Can Shape Our Waistlines”
Learning Activity for Growth Mindset
Introductory Level
Developing a growth mindset deals with re-framing how we think and how we talk about what we think.
Do the following two activities that deal with re-framing: [2]
- Brainstorm work-related things you think you are not good at doing. Is it interacting with others, writing reports, active listening in meetings? Once you have a list, then re-write each item on the list from the perspective of your best friend or a trusted co-worker.
- Brainstorm 3-4 things you do at work that you think negatively affect the outcomes of your work. For each action, explain how being mindful of the action can help you generate a more positive outcome at work in the future.
After you have completed each activity, choose one skill or action that you want to work with further in a positive way. Create an action plan to develop this skill or concept further, specifying your goal and identifying concrete steps that you will take.
Submit:
- results from your two brainstorming sessions
- your action plan
This video may help you create your action plan.
Learning Activity for Growth Mindset
Advanced Level
First, listen to a podcast or read the transcript of an interview with Ellen Langer on “The Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness” from the radio show On Being.
Langer focuses a lot on language and how a more conscious use of language can create mindfulness and a growth mindset.
Consider your situation at work or in a community group, somewhere you continuously interact with others. Identify a situation or person in this setting that continuously irritates you, for whatever reason. Use that situation as context to consider the following questions. [3]
- What do you typically — and privately — think when confronted with this person or situation in this context?
- How do you typically respond? What language do you use?
- How could you reframe your language to be more kind, supportive, and understanding, to remember that you’re only human, and to acknowledge things as they are, applying Langer’s concept that “the things that are happening to me are a function of my view of them?”
Based on your consideration, do a brief experiment for 1-2 days, consciously reframing your responses to this person or situation into more supportive language. Do you find any difference in others’ reactions and in your own?
Submit: a brief essay (4-5 pages) answering the three questions, explaining the actions you consciously took to reframe your response, and analyzing the results of your brief experiment. Conclude with an evaluation of the concepts of mindfulness and growth mindset.
Self-Directed, Active, & Reflective Learning
https://positivepsychology.com/growth-mindset/
From https://www.clickvieweducation.com/blog/teaching-strategies/growth-mindset-activities#Best-failure
3) Self talk
We can be our own worst enemies sometimes because we talk to ourselves in a way we would never communicate with another person. Being too hard on ourselves can make mistakes turn into incorrect beliefs about our abilities.
Activity:
- Start by having students write down some things they do not like about themselves or they believe they are not good at. Ask for volunteers to share some responses.
- Next, have students rewrite each item on their list from the perspective of their best friend. What would they say about each statement if their best friend was the one speaking those words?
It is a simple activity but quickly shows students how important it is to treat themselves with the same grace as they would for a friend. Mindfulness and Growth Mindset provides guidance and suggestions for how to rephrase negative statements with a more positive tone
This works equally great whether students do well or poorly on an assignment. Asking them to reflect on the steps and actions leading up to the results emphasizes how process impacts performance.
Activity:
- I ask students to identify 3-4 decisions or actions they feel affected the outcome of their work (e.g. asking questions, procrastinating, taking notes, etc.).
- For each item on their list, they should explain how this information can be used in the future to increase chances of success.
I love how this activity helps students acknowledge the numerous actions in their control that are involved in success or failure.
- Enhancing Growth Mindset, University of Notre Dame, https://learning.nd.edu/resource-library/enhancing-growth-mindset/#:~:text=Growth%20Mindset%20leads%20to%20a,al.%2C%202019). ↵
- adapted from ClickView's page on 9 Growth mindset activities, https://www.clickvieweducation.com/blog/teaching-strategies/growth-mindset-activities ↵
- Questions based on activities from the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. ↵
