I’m not going to lie; I felt a little frustrated as I read the two meta-analyses on the growth mindset. I thought, “well then, why in the world did we read the growth mindset book and do so much work focused on the growth mindset?!?” Then I realized that I most likely would not have made it to this fourth course in the ADL Program without that opportunity to embrace my growth mindset.
As I move along in the program and contemplate how the growth mindset fits within my innovation and my daily interaction with students, I know that I have to help my learners understand the growth mindset and really work to overcome their fixed mindset voices, but creating significant learning environments has taught me that without carrying that mindset and those actions forward into a holistic learning environment the growth mindset won’t have the opportunity it needs to ignite the learners’ mindset. Everything I hope to do with my innovation to advising seeks to empower the learner to take ownership of this, their authentic learning opportunity. I want to model, foster, and cultivate their big-picture understanding of how they learn. I want them to seek and find the connections those opportunities and understandings provide in all aspects of life.
I cannot fully articulate the dichotomy that is in this program. It is one of the most challenging and frustrating processes for every assignment. There is so much to process, and you must seek as much context as you require to understand all the lessons available. The growth mindset revisited could not have come at a better time. As I wrestled through the 3 Column Table and UbD Template portions of Creating Significant Learning Environments, I appreciated every encouraging message of yet. I was grateful that I knew cognitively, based on research, that intelligence is something earned through hard work. As I reflect on my learning experience, I cannot help but keep asking:
“How do we make advising authentic?”
The choice, ownership, and voice this authentic innovation project provides me continues to inspire me to provide my learners with the same opportunity. I want to utilize the advising experience as potentially the first place a student could experience such an understanding of the learning process. From personal experience, I know the shift that takes place affects every other aspect of your life. You start seeing relationships, communication, and interactions all as potential opportunities to be a catalyst for change and improvements.
Advising is one of the first places students experience the university. Embracing the learners’ mindset will allow us all to aspire toward endless innovation goals as an institution.
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549–571. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617739704
The Advisor That Cares 
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