“I believe in myself.” “I can reach my goals.” Affirmations like these are woven throughout the language we use in tutoring.

These affirmations are part of our growth mindset focus as we help empower students experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness to become full participants in a learning journey that leads to a brighter future.

The stress and trauma of homelessness make it nearly impossible to absorb new information. Brightlane weaves social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care, and a focus on growth mindset throughout our school-day and after-school programs in shelters, community centers, and schools to help our students relax, regulate, absorb new information, and understand all that they are capable of achieving.

Why is growth mindset important?

Psychologist Carol Dweck developed the term Growth Mindset, and she shares that success comes from having the right mindset rather than intelligence, talent, or education. The five key elements of growth mindset are:

• embrace challenges
• persist through obstacles and setbacks
  
• view effort as a path to mastery
• learn from criticism
• find inspiration in the success of others.

Growth Mind-Set helps individuals reach ever higher levels of achievement because of the belief that intelligence can be developed.

A Fixed Mind-set may cause individuals to plateau early and achieve less than their full potential because of the belief that intelligence is static.

Students who lack resources often do not have the same educational advantage as their wealthier peers. Recent studies have demonstrated that growth mindset in students makes it less likely that their economic or environmental factors hinder their achievements.

Download the affirmations Brightlane uses with students here.

Read more about growth mindset and its impact on academic success in this EducationWeek article by Sarah D. Sparks. ‘Growth Mindset’ Linked to Higher Test Scores, Student Well-Being in Global Study.