- A Growth Mindset is “the idea that abilities can be developed,” (2:49) to quote directly from Professor Dweck. When someone has a Growth Mindset, they can be challenged without feeling like they are failing. In the TED Talk, Professor Dweck reported that the Growth Mindset, when taught at schools, caused a dramatic shift in learning and success of students on a national level. On the other hand, a Fixed Mindset is what Professor Dweck described as someone who “runs from the error. They don’t engage with it.” (2:40) These people are resistant to changing their abilities, and do not like it when something becomes difficult because they associate negative connotations with the activity. They feel badly about themselves, and refuse to put in the work to improve their knowledge.
- The ways to stimulate a Growth Mindset, according to Professor Dweck is to “praise wisely, not praising intelligence or talent,” (4:08). Another is to “Praise the effort, their strategies,” (4:16). Personally, I believe that intelligence is important to praise, but it is also very important to have a positive response to any effort put in as well. This is because I know intelligence is something people work on and expand. It is also important to note that every person is different, and different levels of support should be given out individually, not groups.
- I see Professor Dweck’s model of intelligence as less of someone having knowledge, and more talking about how much effort someone has to put into their studies to succeed. Professor Dweck stated, “Their biggest goal is getting the next A,” (3:17) in response to the Fixed Mindset which praised intelligence. I see this model as somewhat limited to a person’s potential. Yes, only striving for work that would give you an A with little effort in class is not very good, but grading is also a way for most people to check their understanding of class content. Getting an A is not easy, and it is not a bad thing to strive for an A in class. It may be easier for someone to get an A than others, but as Professor Dweck mentioned, you can also praise the effort someone puts into their work.
- I had a fixed mindset moment in my senior year of high school. I had been trying to do calculus for 2 hours before I got to a problem that I didn’t know how to solve. At first, I looked in the textbook for help, but after 15 minutes of coming up with the wrong solution, I started to shut down. I did not want to focus on the work because I felt it was too difficult for me to comprehend. So I took the failure and went to class confused. I did end up talking to my teacher about the problem, but not getting the right answer after a couple of minutes dissuaded me from putting any additional effort in.
Source: Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve | TED Talk
