What Is a Growth Mindset -- and Why Does It Matter for Students?

When it comes to learning, mindset matters, and a growth mindset over a fixed mindset can make all of the difference. When students believe they can grow, they’re more likely to stay motivated, engaged, and resilient.

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can improve through effort, practice, and the right strategies. Instead of thinking, “I’m just not good at math,” a student with a growth mindset thinks, “I can get better at math if I keep practicing and find strategies that work for me.”

This perspective shifts the way students approach school: challenges become opportunities to grow, mistakes turn into learning moments, and effort is seen as a pathway to success.

Why does this matter for executive function? Because planning, organization, and time management are skills that develop over time—not overnight, and they take practice and commitment. A growth mindset helps students persist when these skills feel hard to master, and they are less likely to simply give up when school gets challenging.

Growth mindset can also be helpful for a child's social-emotional health, allowing them to maintain a positive self-image even when they make (inevitable) mistakes as they grow.

With younger children, developing a growth mindset can start with easy steps, such as the repetition of growth mindset affirmations like:

• I have grit, and I don't quit

• FAIL = First Attempt In Learning

• I make mistakes and I learn from them

For older children, it may take more coaching to move them from a fixed to a growth mindset, so you can start small with helping them to step back from a failure by talking them through how they could do better and giving them the opportunity to practice that. This may look like encouraging your child to complete test corrections (if allowed by the teacher), or reviewing an assignment that they did poorly to identify what skills they need to work on.

At Aspireon, our academic coaches use growth mindset principles every day. We help students see setbacks as stepping stones and guide them in building sustainable strategies for learning. If your child needs help with battling negative school attitudes, a growth mindset combined with Executive Function development can make all of the difference. Talk with us today about how we can help your child to thrive.