Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and Growth Mindset Project at École Garibaldi Highlands Elementary School

December 2025: Jennifer Mansour, a Grade 5/6 teacher at École Garibaldi Highlands Elementary, recently shared  an inspiring project on Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) and Growth Mindset during the December public board meeting. Her initiative aimed to cultivate resilience and a deeper understanding of learning within her classroom.

The project began from an observation made by Mansour and her colleagues: a perceived lack of resilience in students. This led to a crucial question: "How can we support students to develop their resilience?" A turning point came during a field trip to a climbing gym, a moment Mansour describes as serendipitous. Here, she witnessed her students displaying immense resilience—giving maximum effort despite physical challenges and fear, and even celebrating failure as part of the process.

Upon reflection, students shared that they kept trying because they knew they would feel proud, found it fun, saw themselves improving, and felt the challenge was worth it. This led Mansour to the realization that kids are resilient when they see value in the task and believe they can improve.

With this insight, Mansour set two core goals for the school year:

1. Ensure every student feels confident and capable: This required Mansour to slow down her teaching pace significantly to allow all students to build confidence.
2. Teach concepts like growth mindset and neuroplasticity: Normalizing struggle and failure as inherent parts of the learning process was key.

To achieve these goals, Mansour implemented several impactful assignments:

• The Power of Self-Talk: Students learned how self-talk literally shapes the brain and influences behaviour. They explored positive and negative self-talk, and how it relates to fixed versus growth mindsets. They then created a positive mantra mural in the classroom, which students actively use to support themselves, especially during challenging tasks like math or writing.
• Understanding Neuroplasticity through "Baby Talk": Mansour taught students about neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to learn through repeated exposure. Using the analogy of a baby learning to walk, she emphasized that everyone starts by "not knowing" and improves with practice. She powerfully illustrated that just as no one would tell a falling baby to give up, students shouldn't tell themselves they're "not good at this" when facing difficulties.
• "Knowing" vs. "Not Knowing" Criteria: From the "baby talk" discussion, students collectively developed universal criteria for "not knowing" versus "knowing". When "not knowing," it's normal to be slow, need more time, or struggle to correct mistakes. When "knowing," actions are automatic, can be done in multiple ways, and mistakes can be self-corrected. This framework is now a constant reference in the classroom, helping students reflect on their learning journey.

Mansour's presentation highlighted how these integrated concepts have become part of the daily conversation in her classroom, fostering an environment where students embrace challenges and believe in their capacity to learn and grow.

Check out the video of the presentation at the December 10th, 2025, Public Board Meeting here.

The presentation slides are included below: