Stanford's PERTS Taps Private Partner To Spread Growth Mindset

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 01/27/16

Stanford University's Project for Education research That Scales (PERTS) has partnered with ClassDojo in an effort to bring "growth mindset" to millions of students across the country.

"The idea of growth mindset, researched and popularized by Professor Carol Dweck and colleagues at Stanford University, is the notion that intelligence and abilities can be developed over time," according to a news release. "The opposite is a 'fixed' mindset, which is the belief that these abilities are innate and can't change. Research has shown that when students possess a growth mindset, and see challenge as an opportunity to learn, they are more likely to persevere when faced with setbacks."

ClassDojo is a platform designed to help build a community of teachers, students and parents for each classroom. It is in use in half of all schools in the United States, according to information released by the company.

As a result of the partnership, ClassDojo has created a series of five animated videos that will be made available for free to teachers. The videos will be the first in a series, dubbed "Big Ideas," that aim to bring new research to the classroom using characters students know and love.

The series will follow Mojo, the platform's monster mascot, and his friend Katie as they explore the idea of a growth mindset. Each video is accompanied by a lesson plan for activity-based learning.

"Seeing my students take on a growth mindset — tackling challenges head on, with a fearlessness for learning — is exactly why I got into teaching," said Stephanie Smith, a teacher in Tennessee, in a prepared statement. "It's exciting to have such a simple way to bring this important idea to life. For kids it's as delightful as watching a Pixar movie, and yet the message they'll learn is so powerful. It's a breath of fresh air!"

"When children believe their abilities are tied to things they can't change, the windows of opportunity surrounding them shut one by one," said Dave Paunesku, executive director of Stanford PERTS, in a prepared statement. "ClassDojo's reach and mission to help teachers, parents and students transform education from the ground up made it the natural partner for us to share this concept with teachers at a massive scale."