Does teacher support predict students' growth mindset? A random intercept cross-lagged panel model.

Abstract

Background: Teachers' role in fostering students' growth mindset (GM) is increasingly acknowledged among researchers and practitioners. However, the questions of how teachers support students' growth mindsets and whether this influences adolescents' perceived mindsets have yet to be comprehensively addressed.

Aims: The main objective of this study was to investigate the predictive role of teachers' support for students' growth mindset (TSGM) on students' growth mindset (GM). Moreover, students' GM may influence their experiences of teachers' supportive encouragement, suggesting a bidirectional relationship between TSGM and students' GM.

Sample: Self-reported data were collected from a sample of 1760 adolescent students aged 13-16 (grades 8-10; 49% female and 51% male; Norwegian lower secondary school).

Methods: Random intercept cross-lagged panel modelling was used, with the within cross-lagged TSGM parameters and student GM predictions separated from the stable between parameters for the same variables across three waves.

Results: TSGM predicted students' GM, while students' GM also predicted TSGM in a bidirectional moderate manner across lower secondary school. A positive bidirectional correlation of stability in TSGM and GM across time was also found.

Conclusions: While TGSM's importance in predicting individual student GM was supported, student GM also had a predictive role in TSGM. This bidirectional relationship suggests that students who hold a GM are more likely to experience teachers as supportive. This suggests a self-reinforcing cycle for GM-oriented students and emphasizes that teachers must recognize students who might struggle to engage in mindset-enhancing interactions and impress on them that their abilities are malleable.