An Introduction to Growth Mindset and its link to SEN.

Within the educational setting, teachers are continually expected to take responsibility for their students’ grades and progress. As a teacher progresses through their career the expectation is that a continually higher percentage of students per class will meet their target grade. Students who do not meet their target grade have therefore not made expected levels of progress and, consequently, staff have to explain why the student has underperformed. More critically, the teacher is required to explain what they are changing (within their practice) to ensure improvements in future results. This pressure is particularly focused within the sixth form setting where teachers see students for just one to two years of their educational journey, and from where students leap into the adult world of work and further education.

In recent years, it has been noted that students who perform badly compared to their predicted grade are often those with little confidence or who believe their intelligence to be a static matter, that is, they have a fixed mindset (Dweck, 2008). This is not, however, perceived by educational institutions as a recognized reason for the failure of the student and therefore cannot be noted as a reason for their failure. This consequently leads to staff facing the possibility of failing their performance management (which requires upwards of 80% of students to meet their target grades) as they are unable to justify the failure. In addition to this, it appears that little to no support or Continuous Professional Development opportunities exist to rectify the problem.

This study is looking to create an understanding of how mindset can either enhance or hinder educational achievement (Hochanadel, 2015; Aditomo, 2015; Schroder, 2017), discover its prevalence amongst the Special Educational Needs population and discern various methods to overcome a fixed mindset to allow higher achievement (Martin, 2015; Ricci, 2016). Growth mindset is a topic that has been on the periphery of education since it was proposed by Carol Dweck in 2006. In recent years the research into this area has grown and schools and other places of education have begun to take notice; yet very little research exists in the link between growth mindset and students with Special Educational Needs. The benefits of growth mindset, and its prevalence amongst the special needs population is yet to be researched. This research will build on the work of Dweck (2008) (who defined growth mindset) by expanding the definition as well as researching the benefits of growth mindset, taking into account the SEN population. The research is looking to link the benefits of growth mindset to the specific characteristics of the Special Educational Needs population, that is, its aim is to understand how to overcome fixed mindset and develop a growth mindset in those with SEN as well as documenting the benefits this imbues. The research will focus especially on those with Special Educational Needs, with students involved in the work being sampled as 50% neurotypical and 50% listed on the Special Educational Needs register.


An extension of this original research is now taking place involving more schools and, in the medium term, expanding to research effective interventions to encourage a growth mindset within students with Special Educational Needs with the aim of improving both their academic abilities and their quality of life.

Aditomo, A., (2015) Students' Response to Academic Setback: "Growth Mindset" as a Buffer against Demotivation. International Journal Of Educational Psychology. 4(2) pp. 198-222.

Bailey, R. A., (2017) The prevalence and benefits of a growth mindset in students with Special Educational Needs (Masters Dissertation), University of Roehampton: Roehampton.

Dweck, C., (2008) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. London: Random House Digital, Inc.

Hochanadel, A, & Finamore, D. (2015) Fixed and Growth Mindset in Education and How Grit Helps Students Persist in the Face of Adversity. Journal Of International Education Research. 11(1) pp. 47-50.

Martin, A.J., (2015) Growth approaches to academic development: Research into academic trajectories and growth assessment, goals, and mindsets. British Journal Of Educational Psychology. 85(2) pp. 133-137.

Ricci, M., & Lee, M. (2016) Mindsets For Parents: Strategies To Encourage Growth Mindsets In Kids. Waco: Prufrock Press.

Schroder, H., Fisher, M., Lin, & Y., Lo, S., Danovitch, J. & Moser, J. (2017) Neural evidence for enhanced attention to mistakes among school-aged children with a growth mindset. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 24 pp. 42-50.