Much of the early part of the class I’m taking was spent in talking about the growth mindset, and how vital that is to life-long learning. Which makes sense for a class targeted to professionals who are reinventing themselves.
Growth mindset in a nutshell: People’s theories about their own intelligence have a significant impact on their motivation, effort, and approach to challenges. Those who believe their abilities are malleable are more likely to embrace challenges and persist despite failure. The book – the website – the TED talk
And yes, I said all the right things, because I know the right things to say about growth mindset and fixed mindset and all that … but honestly, the whole thing seems like just another set of buzz words. I mean, what am I going to say? Yes, I avoid challenges and do not value learning new things?
But then I read the recommended article – Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset, and I’ve got to say, it changed my mind on some things.
Made me think I should go read the original book, for one thing, instead of getting all the internet re-interpretations of what growth mindset is. Also, the article is well written, so it’s likely a well written book.
But mostly it was this paragraph:
A growth mindset isn’t just about effort. Perhaps the most common misconception is simply equating the growth mindset with effort. (…) We need to remember that effort is a means to an end to the goal of learning and improving. Too often nowadays, praise is given to students who are putting forth effort, but not learning, in order to make them feel good in the moment: “Great effort! You tried your best!†It’s good that the students tried, but it’s not good that they’re not learning.
Because that is exactly my objection to the “yay, good effort!” mentality that growth mindset seems to encourage, though I’d never phrased it so succinctly.
So I might be giving growth mindset a fresh look. Probably not a bad thing to do as Eleanor gets closer and closer to school age.