How Does Coding Help With Developing a Growth Mindset in Kids?
As per the research done by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. over 30 years ago, there are two kinds of mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset. In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.
In the current information and innovation age, coding has become an inevitable skill to acquire and we want to encourage coding for kids at an early age. Beyond the obvious reasons, one significant reason to teach how to code is to develop a growth mindset in kids.
The ability to program a computer and write code can help develop various aspects of the growth mindset in kids. Let me explain.
Embrace Challenges:
Coding is fun, creative, and of course, incrementally challenging. Why incrementally? Students start coding in any language with the simplest program. In Scratch, they make a sprite move and in Python, they would start with a “hello world” program. And as they progress, the complexity of the programming challenges increase. As the programs get more complex, they also are more fun and engaging, thereby preparing and encouraging the students to accept the challenges and solve the problem using code! Coding sparks a growth mindset in kids as they learn to embrace new challenges.
Persistence, Perseverance, and Patience:
“If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.” - Edsger Dijkstra
I love this quote for two reasons; 1. Because Dijkstra’s algorithm brings back my fond memories of learning Data Structures and Algorithms for the first time :) and 2. The best part of teaching how to code is to help and guide students to debug their code.
For a kid or a teen coder (and also adults), a code that is not running can be frustrating, to say the least. As an educator and a coach, my philosophy is to never give away a solution but rather, to nudge the students to debug and try to figure out a fix to the issue. This undoubtedly develops an immense amount of resilience in students and teaches them that persistence is the key to success.
Continued Practice Leads to Mastery:
Coding is one skill that anyone can learn, and everyone must learn. Like learning a spoken language, coding requires a repeated application. Moreover, the most amazing thing about computer programming is that there is no one solution to any problem.
“I haven’t failed, I have just found 10000 ways that won’t work” - Thomas Edison
There is room for improvement in any code and this allows students to apply various concepts learned in innovative ways, making them appreciate their own efforts eventually leading them to master the concept. One may argue that the growth mindset in kids is required to actually learn to code and while I agree, I also believe that encouraging students in the right manner can foster the belief that anyone can code if they continue to practice and keep at it! It is progress, not perfection, that matters!
Find lessons and inspiration in the success of others
An important aspect of the growth mindset is not to feel threatened by the success of others, rather to find inspiration. In our coding classes for kids, we often pair students collaborating over projects where one student may help another to debug a problem. And if they aren’t able to debug an issue, we refer to Google, stackoverflow.com, and other relevant community/forums. This broadens the idea of getting inspired by others’ code and reusing the code.
Parents often ask “Coding is not for my child. I don’t see them pursuing a career in Computer Science. So why teach them how to code?” I think we can all agree that not every child wants to or even should be the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. The resilience, grit, and problem-solving mindset gained from coding sets up the child for success in the future, whatever be the career or passion they pursue!