Implementing Growth Mindset (Practice) in Schools: An Exploration of Teachers' Views Using a Grounded Theory Approach

Growth mindset has become a highly popularised term within education and wider fields. An initial literature review highlighted that Carol Dweck and colleagues are a dominant presence within the research and little research has
been undertaken within the UK. This doctoral thesis aimed to address this shortcoming, through exploring how schools have implemented mindset theory, and what they perceived to be most useful, from the perspectives of teachers.
Using critical realism as an ontological and epistemological underpinning, this research adopted grounded theory methodology to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of growth mindset practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants from different mainstream schools, all of whom were directly responsible for mindset application. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed following the principles of Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) approach to grounded theory. Findings from this study suggest schools’ interpretation of growth mindset varies, but key mechanisms were highlighted, depicting the ideal conditions for which to influence the beliefs of children and young people. A theory, grounded from the data is proposed, providing a framework for which to base future mindset initiatives in school.