Teachers’ intelligence mindset and teaching practices: A systematic review

Abstract

The different beliefs or assumptions teachers have about themselves and their students greatly influence their expectations, teaching methods, and how students view their own mindsets, and there is a scarcity of in-depth reviews that focus on how teachers’ intelligence mindsets affect their teaching methods and the possible impact on the learning environment. In this systematic review, we investigated how intelligence mindset influences teaching experiences. In contrast to previous reviews that highlighted intervention effects or student outcomes, this review takes a process-oriented perspective and synthesizes how teachers’ intelligence mindsets manifest in their affective dispositions, instructional practices, and professional development. Following the PRISMA framework, we collected data systematically from SCOPUS and Web of Science databases and imported the extracted studies into RAYYAN to review the titles and abstracts of each study against the inclusion/ exclusion criteria. Of the 1615 studies, we selected 24 studies published between 2017 and 2024 for the systematic review. The majority of the studies employed quantitative designs and were conducted across diverse educational contexts, particularly in Asia and Europe. The findings of this systematic review emphasize the significant influence of teachers’ intelligence mindsets on multiple aspects of teaching methods, classroom participation, and professional growth. Three main themes emerged from the review—affective constructs, pedagogical implementation, and transformative growth—illustrating how intelligence mindsets shape teaching practices. The findings suggest that teachers with a growth mindset see significant enhancements in emotional interactions, strengthen their teaching practices, and foster transformative development. These outcomes highlight the broad impact of cultivating a growth mindset, as it not only shapes teachers’ attitudes but also improves their instructional practices and personal growth.