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The Impact of Growth Mindset, Failing Forward, and the COVA Learning Approach on My Learning Journey

Our capacity to embrace challenges and remain optimistic, regardless of whether the outcomes are positive, difficult, or unfavorable, is deeply rooted in the growth mindset we develop. Growth is what separates stagnation from transformation and immaturity from maturity. A growth mindset allows us to view the world from a broader perspective, fostering intentionality in our actions to consistently produce meaningful results. It serves as the foundation of progress in any system or individual effort. Challenges are inevitable, but with a Growth Mindset Plan, we can navigate through the contextual realities that test our resolve. As Scott Jeffrey suggests, growth can be seen as a formula: Growth = Consistent Practice + Diligent Effort + Right Method. To truly transform, we must leap beyond old mindsets and adopt innovative perspectives. A fixed mindset cannot sustain transformational progress. By questioning cultural norms and traditions that may limit us, a growth mindset empowers us to challenge stagnation, reframe our thinking, and continuously grow.

The ultimate goal of learning is transformation—shaping students’ minds to make them relevant and effective contributors to their world. The COVA learning approach, combined with the assessment-as-learning model, fosters this transformation. It equips students with the ability to create, evaluate, analyze, and reflect on their learning. By leveraging tools like mobile phones, tablets, and laptops to build e-Portfolios, students gain choice, ownership, voice, and authenticity in their learning journey. This approach personalizes the learning process, ensuring it aligns with their unique needs and aspirations. The focus isn’t just on acquiring knowledge but on empowering students to think critically, synthesize ideas, and engage deeply with their learning, making it both meaningful and impactful in the digital age.

A growth plan for any organization or institution begins with a commitment to fostering lifelong learning. To drive innovation and achieve transformational goals, it is essential to leverage social and structural motivations and abilities effectively. Key objectives for implementing this vision include:

  1. Embedding Transformational Learning: Transformational learning should become a core value within educational institutions, ensuring that failures are seen as opportunities for growth at both individual and systemic levels. By normalizing feedback-driven growth, institutions can build a culture of resilience and continuous improvement.
  2. Building a Culture of Transformational Leadership: School leadership, teachers, and online platforms must work collaboratively to establish a culture that prioritizes and allocates resources toward transformational learning. The goal is to inspire both teachers and students to move “from learning to transformational leadership.” Transformational leaders not only apply their knowledge to solve real-world challenges but also remain relevant to their industries and create groundbreaking solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Adopting a growth mindset helps address the issue of students graduating without a strong sense of ownership over their knowledge, leaving them ill-prepared to contribute meaningfully to their world or industry.
  3. Implementing e-Portfolios: e-Portfolios should be fully integrated across all subjects for students enrolled in Ordinary and Advanced Level programs. These tools serve as dynamic platforms for students and teachers to document, reflect, and showcase their learning journeys, promoting deeper engagement and application of knowledge.
  4. Promoting Continuous Development: Ongoing personal and professional development in digital literacy and leadership is vital for both teachers and students. This ensures they remain adaptable and equipped to navigate an ever-evolving digital landscape.
  5. Transforming Classrooms: Classrooms should evolve into more student-centered learning environments. By adopting the COVA approach—emphasizing Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authenticity—teachers can drive transformational learning and empower students to take charge of their education, fostering innovation and critical thinking.

In alignment with Carol Dweck’s four steps for building a growth mindset, continuous engagement with teachers and students is essential. This ensures they learn to recognize the voice of a fixed mindset, understand that they have choices, and build resilience by responding with a growth mindset. By taking consistent growth mindset actions, educators and learners can drive innovative changes in areas such as assessment as learning, CLSE + COVA, transformational learning, and applied digital learning. It is equally important to adopt the right methods to avoid falling into the trap of a “False Growth Mindset” during the implementation of innovation plans.

For educators and students alike, embracing the right method means fostering learning that transforms their thinking and ensures relevance to the real world. Through the COVA learning approach, paired with assessment as learning, learners develop their capacity to not only apply knowledge but also to create, evaluate, and analyze. Reflection and synthesis of ideas become integral parts of their learning journey. Leveraging digital tools such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops to create e-Portfolios provides learners with Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authenticity, making the learning process deeply personalized and meaningful.

Meaningful connections are at the heart of transformational learning. The CLSE + COVA framework equips students and educators to connect knowledge with action, promoting innovation and transformation across various disciplines. This approach prepares learners to take on leadership roles, enabling them to drive organizational and systemic transformation in a hyper-connected world. By giving learners the freedom to choose, express their voice, and take ownership of their knowledge, educators foster an environment where growth thrives and the power of “not yet” becomes a motivator for overcoming fixed mindset limitations.

The transition from assessment of learning to assessment as learning is a key aspect of this approach. Encouraging learners to reflect, collaborate, and make meaningful connections enables them to synthesize ideas and address real-world challenges. Ultimately, the goal is to cultivate leaders and innovators who are not only relevant in their fields but also capable of solving problems and driving progress in an ever-changing world.

Learning Beliefs and Ideals:

The goal of true education should be to empower learners to be thinkers, designers, innovators, and transformers. Learning is foundational to thinking right, which helps with better choices and improved outcomes. If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow – John Dewey. They must be relevant to their world and become genuine problem solvers. But the way our world works is broken, we live in an emotionally wasteful generation. We are not ruthless about driving transformation of all our processes even at governance level and this is impacting on all sectors and Moreso, our educational institutions are not spared. We must build systems to ensure our students’ hearts, minds, and will power be engaged to buy into learning for powering improvements, innovations, and transformation in their fields.

To achieve transformational learning, the following four strategies focus on the learner, the learning process, their environment, and leveraging the digital space to foster transformative outcomes:

  1. Engaging the Whole Learner: Humans possess an incredible capacity for learning, achieving mastery when cognitive, emotional, and physical systems are consistently and simultaneously engaged. The concept of neuroplasticity underscores the brain’s ability to adapt and grow through deliberate and sustained learning practices. Engaging these dimensions holistically accelerates transformational learning.

 

  1. Shifting from Assessment of Learning to Assessment as Learning: Transformational learning thrives when learners take full responsibility for their education. In a student-centered learning environment, students become their own assessors, owning their learning process. They are empowered with choice and voice, challenging assumptions, and applying their knowledge in authentic, meaningful ways. By fostering analysis, synthesis, and critical thinking, learners use assessment not just as a measure but as a tool for ongoing growth and discovery.

 

  1. Leveraging Digital Platforms for Learning Transformation: The post-COVID-19 era has revealed unparalleled opportunities to harness digital platforms for personalized and blended learning. Digital tools and online education enable flexibility, collaboration, and accessibility, creating significant learning experiences that transcend traditional classroom boundaries. These platforms are powerful enablers of a more adaptive, engaging, and scalable education system.

 

  1. Creating a Significant Learning Environment (CSLE) with COVA: A significant learning environment is one where learners are given Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authentic applications of their learning. By collaboratively building meaningful connections and focusing on real-world relevance, educators can transform learners’ perspectives and empower them to create lasting change in their world. The COVA approach ensures that learning is deeply personalized, relevant, and impactful.

Reflection on these principles reveals the transformative potential of prioritizing learners’ ownership, choice, and voice through authentic learning opportunities. By integrating Assessment for Learning and Assessment as Learning, educators can cultivate a growth mindset in learners.

Advancements in digital learning systems also provide opportunities to address the limitations of generic vendor applications. Customizing learning management systems to align with these values ensures a focus on driving meaningful and impactful learning experiences. With an emphasis on formative assessment and feedforward communication, educators can support the development of learners’ mindsets, foster reflective practices, and encourage growth through authentic applications and ePortfolios. Transformational learning, when institutionalized, creates learners who are not only equipped with knowledge but are also empowered to make a difference in their world

Leveraging Technological Advancements

The goal is to leverage advancements in digital platforms to create a superior learning environment where learners have the freedom to choose, ownership of their learning content, a voice that is prioritized, and visibility that ensures authenticity. The knowledge gained should be practical and applicable, empowering learners to solve real-world or industry-related challenges effectively.

At Valdymas Intelligence, We conducted a short training titled “From Learning to Leadership”). This course connects the dots between transformational learning and leadership, showcasing how effective learning can engender true leadership and turn students into autodidacts. The content has been impactful, as it has been shared during teachers’ and leadership meetings, as well as with students.

References:

  1. To Own Your Learning You MUST Use Higher-Order or Deeper Thinking (Part 1) – Dwayne Harapnuik  – https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=9059
  2. Assessment OF/FOR/AS Learning – Dwayne Harapnuik – https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475
  3. Carol Dweck, Developing a Growth Mindset https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ
  4. The Power of Belief – mindset and success, Eduardo Briceno https://youtu.be/pN34FNbOKXc
  5. https://scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/
  6. Harapnuik, D. K, Thibodeaux, T. N., Cummings, C. D. (2018). Creating significant learning environments through choice, ownership, voice, and authenticity. (First ed.)
  7. Harapnuik, D. K., Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (2017). Using the COVA learning approach to create active and significant learning environments. In Keengwe, J. S. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Digital Content, Mobile Learning, and Technology Integration Models in Teacher Education.
  8. Start with why – how great leaders inspire action – Simon Sinek – https://youtu.be/u4ZoJKF_VuA
  9. Assessment of/for/as learning – https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475
  10. Harapnuik, D. K, Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (2018). Creating significant learning environments through choice, ownership, voice, and authenticity.
  11. The COVA eBook is an open educational resource (OER) and can be downloaded for FREE at https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=7291
  12. Harapnuik, D (2023, September). What is an ePortfolio. It’s About Learning. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=5977
  13. Applied digital learning – https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8517
  14. Assessment of/for/as learning – https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475
  15. Betsy Ng. (2018). The neuroscience of growth mindset and
  16. intrinsic motivation. Brain Sci. 2018, 8, 20;, https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8020020
  17. Harapnuik, D. K., Thibodeaux, T. N., & Cummings, C. D. (2017). Using the COVA learning approach to create active and significant learning environments. In Keengwe, J. S. (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Digital Content, Mobile Learning, and Technology Integration Models in Teacher Education.,
  18. O’Rourke, E., Haimovitz, K., Ballweber, C., Dweck, C., & Popovi´c, Z. (2014). Brain points: A growth mindset incentive
  19. structure boosts persistence in an educational game., 3339–3348.
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