Fostering a Growth Mindset in Students and Teachers

Fostering a Growth Mindset in Students and Teachers

Session Overview

This interactive session goes beyond the typical “positive thinking” understanding of growth mindset to explore what truly happens within us when we are challenged to grow. Drawing from insights in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, the workshop delves into the emotional, relational, and unconscious dimensions of learning and change.

Participants will engage in reflections, case studies, puzzles, polls, and creative exercises designed to help them experience what growth actually involves — the frustration, resistance, playfulness, and discovery that accompany genuine learning.

The session also helps educators understand how their own emotional responses and mindset influence classroom dynamics, and how they can create environments where students feel safe to take risks, make mistakes, and ultimately grow.

By the end of the workshop, teachers will leave with practical classroom strategies and deeper self-awareness to nurture a culture of growth — both in themselves and in their students.

What Participants May Already Know

1. Growth mindset means “believing effort leads to improvement.”

2. It is often linked to positive thinking and encouraging persistence.

3. It is typically presented as motivational rather than emotional or psychological.

What This Session Will Offer That’s New

1. Psychoanalytic insights on growth (e.g., Winnicott on play, Bion on frustration, Klein on shame, Freud on repetition).

2. A new understanding of resistance and fixed mindset as natural protective responses rather than laziness.

3. Practical approaches to making growth mindset emotionally safe and relationally meaningful in classrooms.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand growth mindset as an emotional and relational capacity, not just a motivational slogan.

2. Recognise how their own mindset influences classroom climate and student engagement.

3. Identify emotional reactions to challenge and failure — in themselves and in their students.

4. Apply practical strategies to build psychological safety for learning and risk-taking.

5. Reflect on personal “growth edges” and commit to one actionable change in their teaching practice.

Certificate of Excellence to all participants.

For inquiries and registration, contact 9810680591 / 9958979922./ 9311798481