Growth Mindset for Mentors

Developed in collaboration with MENTOR. This toolkit can help mentors understand growth mindset and how to apply growth mindset strategies to many of the challenges that youth and adults face in life.

Number of lessons 17
Designed for Mentors
Time to complete 60 min

Topic 1: What is a Growth Mindset?

Learn about a growth mindset and why it can be especially helpful as a mentor.

What do you think about your abilities?

What role do you think intelligence and natural ability play in our lives?

The basics of growth mindset

Learn about what growth mindset is and how it helps us learn.

Why adopting a growth mindset matters for youth

Learn about why this mindset is so beneficial to young people and how mentors can help.

Growth mindset beyond the classroom


Topic 2: How Mentors Support Growth Mindset

As a mentor you have a unique opportunity to instill a growth mindset.

How mentors and growth mindset go hand-in-hand

Mentors are in a perfect position to teach and model effective growth mindset strategies.

Embracing your own growth mindset journey

Working on your own mindset will help you support a mentee in this work - so how can you apply this mindset to your life?

Activity: Strategy box

Simple exercise to help youth identify strategies that have worked for them in the past that they can apply to new problems and challenges. Can be helpful when youth feel "stuck" or lacking in ability.

Meeting Your Mentee Where They Are At

A short lesson on meeting your mentee where they are currently at with growth mindset.

Teaching Growth Mindset to Mentees

Help mentees adopt a growth mindset is by spending some time directly teaching them about the neuroscience of brain plasticity.

Topic 3: Key Strategy: Using Growth Mindset Language

Messaging can be a powerful tool for encouraging growth mindset.

In “praise” of using the right support language

Learn how providing particular types of encouragement and feedback are critical to your mentee’s mindset.

One powerful word for growth mindset

This simple strategy can really help mentees be receptive to growth mindset messages.

The right message in the right situation

Explore different scenarios that might come up in your mentoring relationship and how to reinforce a growth mindset at critical times.

Topic 4: Key Strategy: Reframing Challenges, Failures, and Mistakes

Learn how your feelings about mistakes can help you turn setbacks and failures into opportunities.

What do you think when the going gets tough?

How do you feel about making mistakes? The “lessons” you learn from a mistake say a lot about your mindset.

The importance of reframing mistakes

How we handle adversity and setbacks in life holds the key to maintaining a growth mindset.

Using mistakes and failure to your advantage

Your mentee won’t succeed at everything; here’s how mentors can turn these moments into positive experiences.

Topic 5: Additional Tips and Strategies

Other tips for mentors to support growth mindset

Reinforcing growth mindset in the course of a mentoring relationship can be challenging; these tips can help.

Additional Resources for Mentors

This page provides additional resources for Mentors from the Mindset Kit.

Developed in collaboration with MENTOR

Piloted by City Year

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