Changing PerspectivesA study found that many 10-year old students consider cheating to be a better way to improve their test grades than studying more (Dweck). According to a theory developed by Stanford psychology professor Dr. Carol Dweck, this is due to the prevalence of a “fixed mindset” in today’s students. Dweck’s theory outlines two opposing mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset believe that people are born with a set amount of intelligence that cannot be changed (Barshay). In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is something that can be improved and developed through effort and problem-solving strategies (Barshay). Dweck states that students with a growth mindset perform better academically because they see challenges as learning experiences rather than evidence of inadequacy (Dweck). I personally agree with Dweck’s theory and believe that adopting aspects of a growth mindset can be beneficial to someone who is struggling with school. In the past I had a fixed mindset and was easily overwhelmed by school work that took any effort at all, while changing my views in college has made it so that I can cope and successfully do things I would have previously given up on. Developing a growth mindset has helped to make me a better college student because I can now see that challenges are meant to be persevered through, not taken as a sign of failure.
One way that adopting a growth mindset has made me a better student is that I no longer base my self-worth on how well I’m doing academically. According to Dweck’s theory, children develop a fixed mindset when they are praised only for the results of their actions, such as getting an 'A' on a test, instead of acknowledging the effort and studying it required to earn that positive result (Barshay). This type of praise causes them to believe that their success is due to inherent (i.e. fixed) qualities such as being “smart”, and to base their self-worth on these qualities (Dweck). I agree with this, as I was considered to be “naturally” smart as a child and as a result developed a fixed mindset. As a result of developing a fixed mindset, many children believe that they are naturally good and bad at certain things and that struggling with school means that they aren’t smart and have no chance of improvement (Barshay). Accordingly, when school work became harder for me in high school and I had to work hard to even get mediocre grades, I shut down and started to feel worthless and depressed because I wasn’t “smart” anymore. Adopting a growth mindset in college, however, has helped me to move past those feelings of self-doubt even when I don’t receive as high of a grade on an assignment as I would have liked. Although I may not have the capabilities of a genius like Stephen Hawking, growth mindset still allows anyone to apply themselves and become their best selves. Growth mindset is about looking to the future and seeing your own potential, instead of dwelling on past failures. Adopting a growth mindset has also helped me to no longer give up on challenging tasks as easily. Throughout my childhood I never had to put effort into doing well in school as getting good grades just seemed to come naturally to me. As a result, because I didn’t have any experience with having to struggle at something before I became good at it, I would give up on any hobbies or activities that were difficult before I even had a chance to begin improving. Dweck’s ideas support this negative aspect of having a fixed mindset, showing that fixed mindset children show a greater tendency than those with a growth mindset to give up on challenging tasks and base their self-worth entirely around the end result instead of acknowledging their own progress (Barshay). The growth mindset addresses this issue, and encourages teachers and parents to praise students for their effort and the strategies they used to accomplish a task (Barshay). Dweck also encourages teachers and parents to work with their children to help find problem solving strategies that work for them, instead of pushing a child to continue putting in effort without results (Barshay). I agree that doing well in school is often more about being willing to put in effort and having good study habits than it is being inherently smart or talented. If I don’t do as well on an exam as I would have liked, instead of giving up and deciding that I’m just not good at that subject and "That Is That," I reflect on what I did to prepare and think about strategies I can use to do better on the next exam. For example, in Anatomy & Physiology I got an exam grade that was below what I was happy with. I thought about how I had studied for the exam and realized that I hadn’t reviewed the lecture PowerPoints like I had in the past, and that was why I had struggled with the multiple choice section of the exam. For the next exam, I made sure to incorporate reading the lectures into my study schedule and as a result my grade on that exam was significantly higher. I feel that adopting a growth mindset has greatly helped me to stay motivated and maintain a good GPA in college, instead of giving up like I would have in high school. Although Dweck's theories are widely considered to be valid, there are still some that disagree that students' mindsets are as important as she proposes. Alfie Kohn, for instance, states that, “no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements.” He argues that a major flaw in the idea of fixed and growth mindsets is that it places the blame of doing poorly solely on the student’s mindset and fails to address possible problems with the learning environment that may be inhibiting the student’s learning ability (Kohn). I agree that Dweck’s theory is not perfect, but think that there are clear benefits to it that should be acknowledged. Growth mindset, far from being philosophical speculation, is based on the legitimate scientific concept of neuroplasticity. As explained by Sentis in their YouTube video about neuroplasticity, the way we see our lives and feel about situations actually is influenced by our frame of mind: Say we think about something differently -- learn a new task or choose a different emotion. We start carving out a new road [within our brain]. If we keep traveling that road, our brains begin to use this pathway more, and this new way of thinking, feeling, or doing, becomes second nature. (Sentis) So, for instance, a student can to an extent choose to abandon bad study habits or feel less stress and anxiety about test taking simply by changing his or her mindset. Dweck has also done studies with children in non-ideal learning environments and found that growth mindset teaching is still beneficial to them; one study revealed how a class of Native American students improved from the worst performing class of their district to the best (Dweck). Additionally, Dweck acknowledges that parents and teachers can play a part in a student developing a fixed mindset, and stresses the importance of praising a student’s effort and process as well as positive results (Barshay). While Dweck’s philosophy is not perfect, I don’t believe there is yet a better alternative to the growth mindset. I believe that having a growth mindset has helped me to accomplish more than I could have with a fixed mindset. For me having a fixed mindset made it easy to give up on things, since I couldn't be faulted for not being born good at things like playing the flute or doing gymnastics. Now that I have a growth mindset, though, I’ve become a more motivated, responsible person because I know that if I want to succeed at something it’s up to me to put in the effort. Even though I’ll never be as talented as some people, I can still become better than the person I was yesterday. Works Cited Barshay, Jill. "Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says." U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/23/teachers-parents-often-misuse-growth-mindset-research-carol-dweck-says>. Dweck, Carol. “Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing That You Can Improve.” TED, Nov. 2014, Web. 21 Feb. 2017. <www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve>. Kohn, Alfie. “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system.” Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc., 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.salon.com/2015/08/16/the_education_fad_thats_hurting_our_kids_what_you_need_to_know_about_growth_mindset_theory_and_the_harmful_lessons_it_imparts/> Sentis. “Neuroplasticity.” YouTube. YouTube, 6 November 2012. Web. 23 April 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpfYCZa87g>
0 Comments
Changing Perspectives A study found that many 10-year old students consider cheating to be a better way to improve their test grades than studying more (Dweck). According to a theory developed by Stanford psychology professor Dr. Carol Dweck, this is due to the prevalence of a “fixed mindset” in today’s students. Dweck’s theory outlines two opposing mindsets: the fixed mindset, and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset believe that people are born with a set amount of intelligence that cannot be changed (Barshay). In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is something that can be improved and developed through effort (Barshay). Dweck states that students with a growth mindset perform better academically because they see challenges as learning experiences rather than evidence of failure (Dweck). I personally agree with Dweck’s theory and believe that adopting aspects of a growth mindset can be beneficial to someone who is struggling with school. In the past I had a fixed mindset and was easily overwhelmed by school work that took any effort at all, while changing my views in college has made it so that I can cope and successfully do things I would have previously given up on. Developing a growth mindset has helped to make me a better student because I can now see that challenges are meant to be persevered through, not taken as a sign of failure.
One way that adopting a growth mindset has made me a better person is that I no longer base my self-worth on how well I’m doing academically. According to Dweck’s theory, children develop a fixed mindset when they are praised only for the results of their actions, such as getting an 'A' on a test, instead of acknowledging the effort and studying it required to earn that positive result (Barshay). This type of praise causes them to believe that their success is due to inherent (i.e. fixed) qualities such as being “smart”, and to base their self-worth on these qualities (Dweck). I agree with this, as I was considered to be “naturally” smart as a child and as a result developed a fixed mindset. As a result of developing a fixed mindset, many children believe that they are naturally good and bad at certain things and that struggling with school means that they aren’t smart and have no chance of improvement (Barshay). Accordingly, when school work became harder for me in high school and I had to work hard to even get mediocre grades, I shut down and started to feel worthless and depressed because I wasn’t “smart” anymore. Adopting a growth mindset in college, however, has helped me to move past those feelings of self-doubt even when I don’t receive as high of a grade on an assignment as I would have liked. Part of the growth mindset theory involves the concept of neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to adapt and form new habits by strengthening and weakening pathways between neurons (Sentis). Although I may not have the capabilities of a genius like Stephen Hawking, neuroplasticity still allows anyone to apply themselves and become their best selves. Growth mindset is about looking to the future and seeing your own potential, instead of dwelling on past failures. Adopting a growth mindset has also helped me to no longer give up on challenging tasks as easily. Throughout my childhood I never had to put effort into doing well in school as getting good grades just seemed to come naturally to me. As a result, because I didn’t have any experience with having to struggle at something before I became good at it, I would give up on any hobbies or activities that were difficult before I even had a chance to begin improving. Dweck’s ideas support this negative aspect of having a fixed mindset, showing that fixed mindset children show a greater tendency than those with a growth mindset to give up on challenging tasks and base their self-worth entirely around the end result instead of acknowledging their own progress (Barshay). The growth mindset addresses this issue, and encourages teachers and parents to praise students for their effort and the strategies they used to accomplish a task (Barshay). Dweck also encourages teachers and parents to work with their children to help find problem solving strategies that work for them, instead of pushing a child to continue putting in effort without results (Barshay). I agree that doing well in school is often more about being willing to put in effort and having good study habits than it is being inherently smart or talented. If I don’t do as well on an exam as I would have liked, instead of giving up and deciding that I’m just not good at that subject and That Is That, I reflect on what I did to prepare and think about strategies I can use to do better on the next exam. I feel that adopting this attitude has greatly helped me to stay motivated and maintain a good GPA in college, instead of giving up like I would have in high school. Although Dweck's theories are widely considered to be valid, there are still some that disagree that students' mindsets are as important as she proposes. Alfie Kohn, for instance, states that, “no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements.” He argues that a major flaw in the idea of fixed and growth mindsets is that it places the blame of doing poorly solely on the student’s mindset and fails to address possible problems with the learning environment that may be inhibiting the student’s learning ability (Kohn). I agree that Dweck’s theory is not perfect, but think that there are clear benefits to that should be acknowledged. Growth mindset, far from being philosophical speculation, is based on the legitimate scientific concept of neuroplasticity. As explained by Sentis in their YouTube video about neuroplasticity, the way we see our lives and feel about situations actually is influenced by our frame of mind: Say we think about something differently -- learn a new task or choose a different emotion. We start carving out a new road [within our brain]. If we keep traveling that road, our brains begin to use this pathway more, and this new way of thinking, feeling, or doing, becomes second nature (Sentis). So, for instance, a student actually can to an extent choose to abandon bad study habits or feel less stress and anxiety about test taking simply by changing their mindset. Dweck has also done studies with children in non-ideal learning environments and found that growth mindset teaching is still beneficial to them, in one study allowing a class of Native American students to go from the worst performing class of their district to the best (Dweck). Additionally, Dweck acknowledges that parents and teachers can play a part in a student developing a fixed mindset, and stresses the importance of praising a student’s effort and process as well as positive results (Barshay). While Dweck’s philosophy is not perfect, I don’t believe that there is yet a better alternative to the growth mindset. I believe that having a growth mindset has helped me to accomplish more than I could have with a fixed mindset. Having a fixed mindset made it easy to give up on things, since you can’t be faulted for not being born good at playing the flute or doing gymnastics. Now that I have a growth mindset, though, I’ve become a more motivated, responsible person because I know that if I want to succeed at something it’s up to me to put in the effort. Even though I’ll never be as talented as some people, I can still become better than the person I was yesterday. Works Cited Barshay, Jill. "Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says." U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/23/teachers-parents-often-misuse-growth-mindset-research-carol-dweck-says>. Dweck, Carol. “Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing That You Can Improve.” TED, Nov. 2014, Web. 21 Feb. 2017. <www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve>. Kohn, Alfie. “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system.” Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc., 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.salon.com/2015/08/16/the_education_fad_thats_hurting_our_kids_what_you_need_to_know_about_growth_mindset_theory_and_the_harmful_lessons_it_imparts/> Sentis. “Neuroplasticity.” YouTube. YouTube, 6 November 2012. Web. 23 April 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpfYCZa87g> I worked alone to compose my academic mindset project. For me, I think this is both a good and bad approach. Good, because I work best when there aren’t any distractions like other people being around doing annoying people things. Bad, because I think it’s beneficial to have someone to proof-read your work / make suggestions about things to add or remove, etc..
The most difficult part of my writing process was probably working up the resolve to get started. It takes a lot for me to start school work since I’m such a big procrastinator and I just got into a new video game (Stardew Valley). I tried to overcome this by closing my internet browser so I would be less tempted to keep wasting time. I think this worked somewhat, but in the future I might install one of those browser add-ons where you can block yourself from certain websites to help with procrastination. I wrote the majority of this project Wednesday night and finished it up Thursday when I got home from class. I think this was definitely a BAD approach since I was really tired Wednesday night after I got home from work and stressed out Thursday afternoon since I had just spent all day in class and had to get ready to go to work again that night, and I knew I probably wouldn’t have enough time to finish it after I got home from work that night so I had to really focus. I started out writing my paper in my living room, but then moved to my room. I feel like my room has a better atmosphere for writing papers; I have blackout curtains so it's very dark and calming. I chose to write my argument about being in favor of the growth mindset 1) because I really believe that having a growth mindset has some benefits, even if it definitely isn’t a perfect solution to students doing poorly in school, and 2) I feel like there’s more scientific evidence in favor of the growth mindset, so it was easier to find facts to back up my argument than it would have been had I written my paper more in favor of a fixed mindset. In the future I’m going to work on sticking to some sort of schedule when it comes to doing projects instead of doing them last minute. It’s hard, though, since work and school takes up a lot of my time and I have to sacrifice spending time on some of my hobbies if I want to get schoolwork done in a timely manner. Changing Perspectives A study found that many 10-year old students consider cheating to be a better way to improve their test grades than studying more (Dweck). According to a theory developed by Stanford psychology professor Dr. Carol Dweck, this is due to the prevalence of a “fixed mindset” in today’s students. Dweck’s theory outlines two opposing mindsets: the fixed mindset, and the growth mindset. Those with a fixed mindset believe that people are born with a set amount of intelligence that cannot be changed (Barshay). In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is something that can be improved and developed through effort (Barshay). Dweck states that students with a growth mindset perform better academically because they see challenges as learning experiences rather than evidence of failure (Dweck). I personally agree with Dweck’s theory and believe that adopting aspects of a growth mindset can be beneficial to someone who is struggling with school. In the past I had a fixed mindset and was easily overwhelmed by school work that took any effort at all, while changing my views in college has made it so that I can cope and successfully do things I would have previously given up on. Developing a growth mindset has helped to make me a better student because I can now see that challenges are meant to be persevered through, not taken as a sign of failure.
I consider Dweck’s theory about mindsets to be valid and worth considering when attempting to improve academically. According to Dweck’s theory, children develop a fixed mindset when they are praised only for the results of their actions, such as getting an 'A' on a test, instead of acknowledging the effort and studying it required to earn that positive result (Barshay). This type of praise causes them to believe that their success is due to inherent (i.e. fixed) qualities such as being “smart”, and to base their self-worth on these qualities (Dweck). I agree with this, as I was considered to be naturally smart as a child and as a result developed a fixed mindset. I never had to put effort into doing well in school as getting good grades just seemed to come naturally to me, and because I didn’t have any experience with having to struggle with something before I became good at it I would give up on any hobbies or activities that were difficult before I had even had a chance to improve. I quit gymnastics and playing the flute for this reason. Then when school work became harder around high school and I had to work hard to even get mediocre grades, I couldn’t quit so instead I shut down and started to feel worthless and depressed because I wasn’t “smart” anymore. Dweck’s ideas support this negative aspect of having a fixed mindset, showing that fixed mindset children show a greater tendency than those with a growth mindset to give up at challenging tasks and base their self-worth entirely around the end result instead of acknowledging their own progress (Barshay). Now, to do well in college I have to develop more of a growth mindset attitude towards things. I see that doing well in school is often more about effort and good study habits than being inherently smart or talented. If I don’t do as well on an exam as I would have liked, instead of giving up and deciding that I’m just not good at that subject and That Is That, I reflect on what I did to prepare and think about strategies I can use to do better on the next exam. I feel that this attitude has helped me greatly to stay motivated and maintain a good GPA in college, instead of giving up like I did in high school. Although Dweck's theories are widely accepted, there are still some that disagree that students' mindsets are as important as she proposes. Alfie Kohn, for instance, states that, “no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements.” He argues that a major flaw in the idea of fixed and growth mindsets is that it places the blame of doing poorly solely on the student’s mindset and fails to address possible problems with the learning environment that may be inhibiting the student’s learning ability (Kohn). I agree that Dweck’s theory is not perfect, but think that there are clear benefits to that should be acknowledged. She has done studies with children in non-ideal learning environments and found that growth mindset teaching is still beneficial to them, in one study allowing a class of Native American students to go from the worst performing class of their district to the best (Dweck). Additionally, Dweck acknowledges that parents and teachers can play a part in a student developing a fixed mindset, and stresses the importance of praising a student’s effort and process as well as positive results (Barshay). While Dweck’s philosophy is not perfect, I don’t believe that there is yet a better alternative to the growth mindset. I believe that having a growth mindset has helped me to accomplish more than I could have with a fixed mindset. Having a fixed mindset made it easy to give up on things, since you can’t be faulted for not being born good at playing the flute or doing gymnastics. Now that I have a growth mindset, though, I’ve become a more motivated, responsible person because I know that if I want to succeed at something it’s up to me to put in the effort. Even though I’ll never be as talented as some people, I can still become better than the person I was yesterday. Works Cited Barshay, Jill. "Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says." U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/23/teachers-parents-often-misuse-growth-mindset-research-carol-dweck-says>. Dweck, Carol. “Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing That You Can Improve.” TED, Nov. 2014, www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve. Accessed 21 Feb. 2017. Kohn, Alfie. “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system.” Salon. Salon Media Group, Inc., 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. <http://www.salon.com/2015/08/16/the_education_fad_thats_hurting_our_kids_what_you_need_to_know_about_growth_mindset_theory_and_the_harmful_lessons_it_imparts/> The article “Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners” […], published by Chicago University, discusses the four academic mindsets: belonging, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and relevance/purpose. The relevance/purpose mindset is the one I consider to be most important. For me to be motivated to do work, I need to be able to see what I’m getting out of it. I can’t stand doing pointless busywork. In high school there were so many instances where I would look at an assignment and think “what is the point of this???” There were a few times where towards the end of the semester I would just stop doing work if I knew I had a high enough grade in the class that the missed assignments wouldn’t matter. It wasn’t even about being lazy, I just couldn’t see how doing these weird assignments was be worth my time. On the other hand, now I don’t have a problem with having to study hard and do a ton of work for a class like Human Anatomy and Physiology because I know that the material is directly relevant to nursing. Knowing that the material I’m learning is going to be relevant outside of the classroom someday makes me feel like I’m actually accomplishing something by learning it, and not just throwing away a bunch of hours of my life for a handful of credits. It makes me want to focus on actually learning the material well and not just cram for the unit exam. I mean, cramming for the exam can definitely still earn credits but it’s more stressful and leaves you with that feeling of ~~what am I doing with my life~~ at 2 am. So, relevance/purpose is the most important academic mindset to me since without it I’m unable to fully apply myself or motivate myself to truly learn.
According to psychology professor Carol Dweck, there are two mindsets a person can have about intelligence: the fixed mindset, and the growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that a person is born with a set amount of intelligence or talent that cannot be changed. People who ascribe to the growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that a person can gain intelligence through putting in effort and working on their skills. Growth mindset is generally regarded as the “correct” mindset to have, although it is not without its faults. The articles “Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says” by Jill Barshay and “The Perils of “Growth Mindset Education” […] by Alfie Kohn discuss how adopting a growth mindset is not a solution for any problems a student may be having, as it can be applied incorrectly (e.g. giving hollow praise to students for effort even when they are not improving) and doesn’t address issues such as a poor learning environment.
I consider myself to have a mix of the fixed and growth mindsets. I believe that people are born with a certain level of intelligence and can improve themselves to a point, but some people will never be as smart as others. I do agree with the growth mindset idea that effort is the most important part of succeeding in academics (and life), though. Even someone who has an exceptional amount of intelligence or talent at something can’t go very far if they don’t apply themselves, and I think that anyone can follow their dreams (even if it’s something they’re “bad” at) if they are willing to put in the work required. |
Charlottebuckle up homestuck cause this is my blog Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|