Schools need to emphasize student growth rather than a "fixed" mindset. Growth is seen as coming from hard work and effort. Fixed is the concept that students are "smart" or not smart. In a growth culture, students work hard to improve themselves. In a fixed culture, students see their abilities (smart/not smart) as inherent and can't be changed.
From research by Stanford Psychologist Carol Dweck
"A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative
ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way,
and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an
assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed
standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a
way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A “growth
mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not
as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth
and for stretching our existing abilities."
