JAN
8

A Growth Mindset in the Theatre Classroom

By Lavinia Roberts 

Lavinia Roberts is a theatre teacher and award-winning playwright who’s passionate about arts education and about creating zany, engaging, and meaningful plays for schools and community theaters. 

Why a growth mindset?  It’s a New Year and that means new opportunities for growth and a growth-mindset.  Students with a growth mindset recognize that:

• skills can be developed
• failure is a learning opportunity
• feedback is useful
• peers can be a source of inspiration
• effort, emotional resilience, and perseverance are the keys to mastery

Students who are willing to learn from their mistakes and embrace growing not only take direction better and develop their skills further, but also become better friends and classmates.

On the other hand, students who believe that their abilities are innate and unchangeable have a fixed mindset and struggle to grow.  They avoid challenges, disregard feedback, are jealous of their peers, and take failure personally.  That’s why a growth mindset is vital for student success on stage and off.  It’s one of those incredible life skills your students can learn from theatre that they will carry with them always.

So get your growth on!  Here are some acting activities to nurture a growth mindset in your theatre classroom:

Growth-Mindset Accountability Buddy

Put students in pairs at the beginning of class and have them briefly share a way — big or small — in which they want to grow that day/week/unit.  At the end of the period, have them briefly touch base with their “accountability buddy” about what concrete choices they made toward their growth goal.

Throughout the semester, give them time to set new goals and have regular check-ins with their buddy!

A Cheer Circle

Have the troupe stand in the circle.  Go around and have each student share a way in which they grew that day/week/unit or improved at something in class.  After each person shares how they have grown, uproariously cheer for them as a class for some positive reinforcement!  Make sure it’s clear that the class does not value perfection but rather learning from our mistakes and improving.

Group Gratitude

After working together on a group project, scene work, or even a small group in-class discussion, have participants share one challenge and one thing they are grateful for about each member of their group, and how they handled the challenge.  Encourage them to be specific about the challenge and what they are grateful for.

This activity can be a good way for students to discover or reaffirm ways they are showing up that are enriching others around them.

Growth Mindset Affirmations Vocal Warm-up

Affirmations are positive statements that challenge unhelpful thinking patterns.  Saying positive affirmations can disrupt negative thoughts, lower stress, and improve emotional resilience.  So why not say some growth-mindset affirmations as a class as a vocal warm-up?

Have the students stand at the edge of the stage or front of the classroom, make sure their posture conveys confidence, and practice projecting their voice to the back of the theatre or classroom.  Give them short growth affirmations to say in unison as a class.

Examples of possible growth-mindset affirmations include:

• I learn from my challenges.
• I am an actor.
• I always try my best.
• I aim for improvement, not perfection.
• I grow from my mistakes.

If you have a mirror in the space, you could also have them say the growth mindset affirmations to their reflection.  Feel free to let students come up with their own growth mindset affirmations to say on their own or for the class.

A growth mindset is well worth developing this upcoming year as it will enhance student learning, create a better classroom culture, endow students with a valuable life skill.  So best wishes for the New Year ahead!  And may it bring new student growth!