Pre-Service Teachers' Mindset Beliefs About Student Ability

Introduction. We all have beliefs about our ability or intelligence. The extent to which we believe ability is malleable (growth) or stable (fixed) is commonly referred to as our mindset. This research is designed to explore pre-service teachers' mindset beliefs as well as their beliefs when applied to hypothetical student scenarios.Method. Pre-service teachers (n=113) from a teacher preparation program were recruited to complete the mindset survey as well as a survey to measure their mindset beliefs given a hypothetical student scenario.Results. Results suggest that pre-service teachers' mindset beliefs are overwhelmingly maleable (growth) and do not appear to change significantly from the beginning to the end of a teacher education program. However, mindset views for hypothetical student scenarios do appear amenable to influence and change from the beginning to the end of a teacher education program.Discussion and Conclusion. Pre-service teachers likely enter their preparation programs with a mindset belief that is unlikely to change over the course of their studies; however, the practical applications of their mindset beliefs to students and classrooms may be amenable to influences from their teacher preparation programs.