The concept of fostering a growth mindset is becoming a more common phrase when we contemplate how best to prepare our youth for the future.

What exactly is a growth mindset? And why is it important to today’s youth?

A growth mindset is when students believe that their abilities can be developed,” says Carol Dweck, a renowned Stanford University psychologist who coined the phrase “growth mindset” after decades of research on how children and teens become successful. Dweck is the author of the groundbreaking book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, which explains that success and achievement isn’t as much about children’s abilities, but more about their attitudes toward learning.

Children who develop growth mindsets gain critical life and social skills, confidence and conflict resolution abilities that can help them succeed. On the other hand, youths with fixed mindsets might accept early failures as apermanent barrier and avoid challenge and failure.

To prepare youth for careers in a complex and rapidly changing world, we need to help them to learn and adapt … to think differently and interact with others in new and creative ways.

How can we best help our kids develop a growth mindset toward life and its challenges? If we adopt a collaborative attitude with the youth in our lives, we commit to nurturing deep, emotional connections with them. By frequently asking young people “What matters to you?” we provide a range of conversation-starters and materials to present them with a full view of how they can thrive: It is the key to encouraging youth to self-reflect about their potential, their strengths, as well as the barriers that might inhibit their own positive growth and development.

Camp Fire Central Oregon strives to provide a place where youth can thrive, based on a proven framework for thriving, a research-based, measurable approach to youth development. Our programs implement a framework that enables youth to achieve their full potential. We call it “Thrive{ology}”:

1. Identifying Sparks—-Identifying and growing what ignites passion in each child, and creating environments that nurture them.

2. Growth—Helping kids to adopt a growth mindset—and the belief that they can learn new skills and that they can be developed.

3. Goal-setting—Help kids to build an ability to set and achieve a goal – big or small.

4. Reflection—Create an opportunity for youth to reflect on their activities and outcomes.

Any caring adult can implement these concepts to help youth build confidence in resolving conflicts, and encourage them to understand that they don’t have to be “born with” talent to become good at what inspires them. More importantly, they develop a mindset that if they do not at first succeed, to not give up.