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Instilling a Growth Mindset in South Africa

General Information

Project description

Among the education and psychology literature
that looks at the role of beliefs and school outcomes,
Growth Mindset theory (GM) posits that by helping
students shift their theory of learning to one where
intelligence isn’t a fixed state – but rather, that it’s
malleable, and something you can improve and grow
over time – students can become self-motivated to
improve both academic effort and outcomes. Teaching
youth how to foster a GM doesn’t just offer a potential
solution at low cost to student performance; it can
also change how youth approach other domains later
in life with crucial consequences for reducing poverty
and increasing equity, including improving labor
market outcomes.
In contexts where policy makers are looking for low-cost
and sustainable solutions to improve student outcomes,
behavioral science may offer a proven and scalable
solution in GM. In South Africa, the World Bank’s Mind,
Behavior, and Development Unit (eMBeD) partnered
with the Western Cape Government, the University of
California Davis, and Class Dojo to develop a series of
sessions and videos that would help primary and high
school students to develop a Growth Mindset. eMBeD’s
other GM interventions in Peru and Indonesia have
shown that, when adapted to the context, GM can have
extraordinary impact. We set out to see if the same would
hold true in South Africa.

Detailed information

Final report: Is there a final report presenting the results and conclusions of this project?

Yes

Final report

Pre-analysis plan: Is there a pre-analysis plan associated with this registration?

No

Additional information

<h3>Does a third party implement the intervention or is this a collaboration with another team?</h3><div class="csp"><p> Western Cape Government, the University of California Davis, and Class Dojo</p> </div>

Who is behind the project?

Institution: World Bank
Team: eMBeD, Mind Behaviour and Development team

Project status:

Completed

Methods

Methodology: Experiment, Field Experiment
Could you self-grade the strength of the evidence generated by this study?: 1
Start date: 09/01/2016

What is the project about?

Policy area(s): Education
Topic(s): Children, Youth
Behavioural tool(s): Educational Intervention, Growth Mindset

Date published:

25 June 2021

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