Children’s beliefs about whether ability can develop are shaped by repeated classroom messages. This explanatory mixed-methods study examined whether student-perceived teacher feedback (SPTF) formed an indirect pathway between teachers’ growth mindset and children’s mindset in early primary classrooms. Matched data were obtained from 75 teachers and 1,097 students aged 7–9 years in five Chinese primary schools; interviews were conducted with 15 teachers and 60 students. Given the 2-1-1 nested structure, multilevel mediation was the primary analysis, supplemented by cluster-adjusted path models. Teachers’ growth mindset was positively associated with classroom-mean perceived process feedback and negatively associated with perceived personality feedback. Both feedback components showed significant theory-consistent indirect associations with children’s cognitive and contextual mindset indicators. Cluster-adjusted sensitivity analyses yielded the same substantive pattern. Interviews suggested that process feedback was experienced as actionable guidance, whereas personality feedback was interpreted as identity labelling and a cue to fixed competence. Findings identify children’s interpretations of teacher feedback as a plausible classroom pathway linking teacher beliefs with children’s mindset. Because the design was cross-sectional, the indirect effects should not be interpreted causally.
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