Mindset and Feedback Receptivity in a Team Facilitation Setting

The aim of this qualitative case study was to shed light on factors perceived by facilitators of adult learning to influence the transformation of their fixed/growth mindsets with the potential for enhanced or sustained feedback receptivity. This was achieved by exploring the experiences of a core team of facilitators of adult education in an elite Tier I University Based Coaching Certification Program (UBCCP) located in the northeast United States. Informed through an extensive review of the literature, I hoped to identify commonalities/differences among the various core team members (whose experiences are so varied) regarding their perceptions of high impact adult learning in this team facilitation context. Specifically, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore their experiences as a means of identifying, describing, and furthering an understanding of the factors perceived to promote the perspective transformation required to ensure the UBCCP program can be scaled efficiently, effectively, and most importantly, with integrity and fidelity.Toward that end, I collected relevant assessment data from each core team member to inform the one-to-one interviews. Data collection methods included document analysis, pre-interview data forms, the results of four survey instruments (two self-focused and two context-focused), and in-depth interviews (including verbal examples of each facilitator’s high and low point experiences in the UBCCP setting). A data analysis process was developed to examine the potential connection between mindset, feedback orientation, feedback environment, and the learning climate of the UBCCP. The study’s findings confirmed that an interplay does exist between an individual’s mindset and feedback orientation and the feedback environment. The study also confirmed that although that interplay appears to influence the learning climate to some degree, different factors, (e.g., professional development, psychological safety, etc.) have a greater impact on how the facilitators of adult education of the UBCCP are experiencing the learning climate. Finally, the study confirmed that mindset, feedback orientation, the feedback environment, and the learning climate are interconnected, and all contribute to the perspective transformation that leads to feedback receptivity.