The importance of a growth mindset
The power of positive thinking is indeed powerful, and Carol Dweck has done the research to prove it. Dweck has coined the phrase Growth Mindset, which "...is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others." (Dweck, 2016). From a young age most students and people are taught the words ‘smart’, and ‘dumb’ and they’re constantly being compared to other people and told what percentile their intelligence lies in. However, with a growth mindset students would have a completely different experience with life and success.
Having a growth mindset is the true drive beyond many people's success, whether they were conscious of this or not. In fact, after reviewing resources, and the many conversations about this topic I came to a realization. The "Growth Mindset" is surprisingly an intrinsic conversation I had with myself as an 8th grader. Much like the resources explained, I was always told that I was intelligent, and gifted etc., so I thought I didn't have to try to be smart. Well as I started to fail 8th grade math, I heard a message basically saying that if you constantly told yourself you were bad at something, that you would be. I decided to change my mindset and it did work, rather well - I made an A in all my math courses except for Algebra 1. My point is that I actually applied these principles and it worked. However, I would still say that I am still a fixed mindset person most of the time. Until watching these videos, I never realized what exactly my previous success was based off of, unlike Josh Waitzkin, the master chess player turned martial arts guru.Unlike him, it took me until I learned about the phrase ‘growth mindset’ to realize I needed to establish those principles elsewhere in order make my way to success. Similar to Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple intelligence, I believe that people aren't black and white -fitting into one box or the other- instead that they're intelligence exists in either one or multiple abilities. I think this depends on what the subject is, such as my fixed mindset towards math, but my growth mindset in the sciences. Due to progress in the neuroscience field, we know that the brain is malleable, as is our ability to change our mindsets, and our intelligence. What this also means is that with a growth mindset all people alike can test their brains’ plasticity through education and experiences. The more people experience and allow themselves to form opinions and have thought, the more intelligent they are. I think it’s crucial to adopt the growth mindset consciously as a sort of mantra when it comes to one's own abilities, because without it, with a more fixed mindset, your possibilities are rather limited. Terry Waghorn even said that a fixed mindset "means success is all about showing how smart or talented you are. It's all about validating yourself. Something new is something to be avoided, as it may expose weakness." (2009). This is because the learner’s with fixed mindsets are afraid to show that they’re not ‘smart’ or ‘intelligent’, or any other adjective that they’ve always been told they were. Therefore it is pertinent to change that mindset and get each individual on the path to true success and growth! Now you might ask yourself 'If it's pertinent to change this, then how do I change it?’ Thankfully, Dweck developed a four step plan to change your mindset, an. If you refer to the infographic to the right, you will see more information on these steps and then in my blog I talk about my personal growth mindset plan. As an educator I have already begun putting this into place for myself and my students, by learning and teaching to recognize the fixed mindsets we have. I showed them the TED talk by Eduardo Briceno and his power of belief - which demonstrates actual people like Josh Waitzkin with a growth mindset, and the power it has. I spoke on the behalf of Dweck and her research, explaining that it was something that we were familiar with and that it was scientifically proven. I also have begun to collect a tab of resources of inspirational videos and articles that speak about this growth mindset and the power of yet, that are appropriate for both my high school aged students and their parents. These messages resonate with me personally and I plan to share their power daily with everyone who will listen. I will do this by not only implementing them with the speaking the message of yet to my students, but also by demonstrating my abilities to accomplish things I never thought were possible. The biggest example to date is taking on this course and my Master's of Education, I decided to take this journey although I was unsure of my abilities to succeed, even in this assignment. Despite what my grade will be I am training my brain to see it as a learning opportunity, whether it be a success or failure. Dweck, C. (2006) Mindset the new psychology of success. New York, NY: Ballatine Books Waghorn, J. (2009) Are you trapped in a fixed mindset? fix it! Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/20/mindset-psychology-succcess-leadership-careers-dweck.html#24f6505f11ad |