In our classrooms at LEADPrep it’s important for all students to feel like they are part of a community, and that they have choices about how they learn. Being part of a community and part of a collaboration makes learning more meaningful is at the heart of a concept called benefit mindset.
Having a benefit mindset means that one not only seeks to fill their potential, but the choice is made to do that in a way that serves the well-being of all.
Benefit mindset is a “mindset that is redefining success from being the best in the world, to being the best for the world,” according to Ash Buchanan.
Of course, students are taught empathy – thinking about how their attitudes and actions affect others, and how to use that information to make conscious and conscientious decisions that benefit more than just themselves.
But there is more that we, as teachers and families, can do. We want our students to grow, so that what may start out as class projects or extracurricular obligations become enthusiastic, everyday acts of altruism. This does not happen in a vacuum.
One way that teachers at LEADPrep support students in their exploration of a benefit mindset is that they actually LISTEN to the students. They ask them questions, and help them think through problems to find solutions.
One great example of this would be our Calm Cave. Students identified a need for a quiet space within the school. They put their heads together and identified a space that would work. Then, with the help of some family members, the Calm Cave was created, and is now enjoyed by all.
Allowing students to propose, plan, and enact change teaches them that they can be agents of improvement.
At LEADPrep we want all our students to become agents of improvement, and live their lives with a strong benefit mindset.
