Secondary educators who create a growth mindset environment : a qualitative descriptive case study.

In this qualitative descriptive case study, I describe growth mindset’s influence on secondary students in an extracurricular learning environment. While some secondary students face challenges such as poverty, lack of motivation, and societal inequities, they can cultivate a growth mindset created by secondary educators in a learning environment. Throughout this study, I discovered secondary teachers’ descriptions of students’ academic behaviors when incorporating growth mindsets as a pedagogical strategy. Through observation and semi-structured interviews, I obtained robust data from the secondary teachers related to the literature and theoretical framework. I used open coding to analyze the data and triangulation to establish validity while answering the research question. In this study, I found that secondary educators who create a growth mindset environment provide a supportive educational structure for students through skill development and progression. Secondary educators who create a growth mindset environment provide a supportive educational structure for students by growing their courage to lead and their ability to believe. Secondary educators developed student leaders and teams by growing the source of inspiration and the voice to communicate effectively. When educators influence students with the ability to believe through positive and constructive feedback, learners and teams develop by growing systems of practice and relationships of trust. Incorporating the growth mindset principles, results reveal that secondary educators describe students’ academic behaviors as integral to maintaining a positive pedagogical outlook. Furthermore, students’ demonstration of these academic behaviors is beneficial to teachers. I provide key recommendations, including a strategic plan of an instructional framework for professional learning, communication-organizational pathways and mentorship for educators and collaborative partners. As educators engage in professional learning to establish and sustain growth mindsets, mentoring can develop sustainable, healthy, and nurturing relationships that impact the learning environment. The tiered framework aids a holistic perspective for educators who inspire nurturing and equitable learning developments.