I have heard this idea before and am familiar with Professor Dweck's research, but I had never seen these specific videos explaining the concept in more detail.
I have mostly seen this concept discussed in terms of Dweck's thoughts on praise. At El Sistema, we make a conscious effort to recognize students' efforts, perseverance, and progress, rather than their initial talents or successes.
I myself struggle with maintaining a growth mindset rather than a fixed one; I have a natural knack for academic measures of intelligence, so I was often praised for being "smart" as a kid. I now know that intelligence is a largely arbitrary concept that is widely misunderstood, and I'm a strong believer in the theory of multiple intelligences. Just because my intelligence presented itself in the form of good standardized test scores doesn't make me more intelligent, and certainly not more valuable, than someone whose intelligence resulted in different forms of success. However, I often felt pressure as a "smart" kid to maintain my results, so I really identified with Professor Dweck's description of the children with fixed mindsets, including their frustrations and fears regarding failure.
Luckily, as I've gotten older, I've learned to embrace challenge! Learning about the idea of a growth mindset and understanding the source of some of my anxiety regarding failure has DEFINITELY helped me become a happier, more confident person. In fact, I've found that the areas in which I am not so naturally inclined, but learned to work hard for success , are more rewarding and less stressful.
The biggest example of this in my life is music! I'm no prodigy; I have to work extra hard in a lot of ways in order to be successful in this field. However, I've had some great teachers along my path who have taken care to give me the exact right kind of praise: recognition of effort. Thanks to them, I've learned to approach every challenge as an opportunity to learn!
I hope that throughout this, my last semester of class, I can continue my growth as a student and as a person. I'm really ecstatic to have this course to keep me on check with my personal goal of maintaining a growth mindset. :)
My pup demonstrates his unwillingness to accept limitations in any form.
Picture by K Crego, made on cheezburger.com
Hi Kayla!
ReplyDeleteYou are one of the few people I know of that had heard of the growth mindset before this class. It makes sense though since you have such an interesting place of employment that is challenging the standards of learning. I really like the concept too. I try to remember to set the stage for raising my daughter in the growth mindset. I hope it catches on and spreads like laughter!