Same mindset, different pedagogical strategies: A case study comparing Chinese and finnish teachers

Abstract

Given that little is known about the correlations between teachers' mindset and their pedagogical strategies, in this article, we explore Chinese and Finnish teachers' mindsets and their pedagogical strategies from the perspective of praise and adaptive teaching. This study was conducted in two Chinese schools (N = 50) and one Finnish school (N = 77) with instruments of the mindset inventory, praise scale and adaptive learning scale (PALS). The results reveal that Chinese and Finnish teachers' preferences for pedagogical strategies differ even though they hold the same growth mindset, which confirms that teachers do not necessarily utilize growth mindset messages even though they endorse a growth mindset. While Finnish teachers prefer pedagogical methods in accordance with growth mindset pedagogy, Chinese teachers seem to apply mixed strategies reflecting both growth and fixed mindsets. The results imply differences within Finnish and Chinese teacher education regarding the internalization of the principles of growth mindset pedagogy.