Why it's important that kids believe practice makes perfect

The belief that you can improve with practice is called a growth mindset.

This is the motivational factor most strongly linked to well-being, mastery, and grades, a new study shows.

Researchers from NTNU have looked at how different types of motivation are connected to how students perform in upper secondary school.

The researchers examined four factors: growth mindset, belief in one’s own abilities, passion, and perseverance when something is difficult.

It's not about being perfect

“One of the clearest findings in the study is that believing you can improve through practice is the most consistent motivational factor when it comes to grades and experiencing a sense of mastery in academic subjects,” says Birger Olav Sætre.

It's not about being perfect or never facing challenges, but about having a basic understanding that skills can be developed through effort and practice.

Sætre is a research assistant in psychology at NTNU. He is also the general manager and chairman of Tenn Gnisten (Ignite the Spark), an organisation that studies how students can thrive and improve at school.

Investigated four specific factors

Motivation consists of many different factors. In this study, the researchers focused on four specific aspects:

1. Whether pupils believe they can improve through effort (growth mindset).
2. How much faith they have in their own abilities (self-efficacy).
3. How strongly they want to perform well and remain engaged over time (passion).
4. How much they persevere when something is difficult (grit).

The researchers studied the links between these factors and well-being, perceived mastery, and grades in the subjects of Norwegian and physical education.

Belief that practice makes perfect is most important

The clearest finding was that pupils who believe they can improve through effort also enjoy their subjects more and perform better in school.

“Having this attitude was important in the subjects of Norwegian and physical education, and was more strongly associated with several outcomes than the other motivational factors we measured,” says Sætre.

Belief in one’s own abilities was especially important in PE, and was linked to both well-being and the feeling of mastering the subject.

“This makes sense, since this is a subject where pupils receive clear and immediate feedback on their skills and often draw on experiences from activities outside school,” says Sætre.

Other factors are less important

“Pupils who were ambitious and highly focused on performing well often excelled,” says Sætre.

But this had less impact on the pupils’ outcomes when the researchers accounted for the other factors.

“The same applied to perseverance. It helped somewhat, especially in terms of enjoying Norwegian class, but was less important than we expected in a general school context. At the same time, these factors can play a greater role in activities that pupils have chosen themselves and are passionate about,” the researcher says.

Boys showed greater perserverance

The researchers also found differences between boys and girls.

“Boys reported having more grit and higher drive to perform, but this did not result in them achieving better grades,” says Sætre.

This shows that the pupils who appear most goal-oriented are not always the ones who perform best academically.

“Girls, however, felt more confident in Norwegian and achieved better grades in this subject,” he adds.

Facing challenges can be beneficial

Ultimately, learning success relates to how pupils understand their own development and learning over time. You do not have to be constantly perfect, Sætre explains.

Facing challenges and making mistakes can be a natural part of learning and developing skills.

“Schools can therefore benefit greatly by helping pupils see that it's always possible to improve and understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process,” he says.

Reference: 

Sætre et al. The Motivational Predictors and Gender Differences of Academic Outcomes in Upper Secondary Education: Exploring the Role of Growth Mindset, Self-efficacy, Grit and Passion, Frontiers in Education, 2026. DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1708978

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Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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