Building Growth Mindset Using Lessons from Sports in Out-of-School Settings

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Building Growth Mindset Using Lessons from Sports in Out-of-School Settings
Language: English
Authors: Sanlyn Buxner, Erin Turner, Ricardo Valerdi, Seneca B. Miller, Christina Baze
Source: Afterschool Matters. 2025 (39):41-52.
Availability: National Institute on Out-of-School Time. Wellesley Centers for Women, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481. Tel: 781-283-2547; Fax: 781-283-3657; e-mail: niost@wellesley.edu; Web site: http://www.niost.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 12
Publication Date: 2025
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Contract Number: 2005793
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Athletics, Cognitive Structures, Mathematical Concepts, Self Concept, After School Programs, Summer Programs, Program Effectiveness
Abstract: In sports, youth are coached to see persistence and hard work as important paths to personal improvement and success. They come to understand through practice that mistakes are tools to help them improve and that collaboration and teamwork are keys to success in team sports. These ideas about the importance of effort, persistence, mistakes, and collaboration are important components of a growth mindset, the belief that ability is not fixed but can be improved through effort. This paper describes a strategy of combining growth mindset principles, mathematics concepts, and sports examples to support students in shifting their mindsets about their own abilities. The authors share outcomes from implementing these activities at five out-of-school settings.
Abstractor: ERIC
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1475669
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In sports, youth are coached to see persistence and hard work as important paths to personal improvement and success. They come to understand through practice that mistakes are tools to help them improve and that collaboration and teamwork are keys to success in team sports. These ideas about the importance of effort, persistence, mistakes, and collaboration are important components of a growth mindset, the belief that ability is not fixed but can be improved through effort. This paper describes a strategy of combining growth mindset principles, mathematics concepts, and sports examples to support students in shifting their mindsets about their own abilities. The authors share outcomes from implementing these activities at five out-of-school settings.