My essay explored the different points of view pertaining to the growth mindset, and it's points of successes and failures. As I got deeper into the subject, I began to notice gaps in the effectiveness of the mindset. This led me to question how educators should properly enforce mindsets in a harmless way.
Mind over Bias
I was four years old and my little hands were trying to zip up my jean pants. After what seemed like forever to my mom, I finally did it: I zipped up my own pants. I was so proud, and my mom said with excitement, “You did that all by yourself!” I responded with my hands on my hips, “Well, I am a luhnu [learner].” My mom aimed at raising my brother and me on encouragement, not praise. Rarely did she ever say the words, “Good job!”, “You’re so smart!”, “You’re so talented!”. Instead, we heard, “You’re such a learner!”, “You worked hard for that grade! You should be so proud of yourself; I know I am!” Later, in high school, I remember sitting next to kids who got the same ninety-eight percent on their math test as me, but they immediately popped off with, “I didn’t even study, did you?” I responded with a careless, “Yeah but only for like five minutes.” I didn’t want them to know that I had studied for four hours. My confidence immediately went dropped and I became frustrated that I studied for hours to make the same grade they made without studying. When I expressed this frustration to my mom she said, “There is no shame in having to work hard for something.” This has stuck with me and helped me understand the importance and pride of hard work.
With my personal experience, I began my research with an understanding that a fixed mindset can only get someone so far in their life. However, I realize that some people naturally have easier access to their intelligence than others and that is not a negative trait to have. To have easier access to ones’ intelligence will put the individual ahead in grade school but as they mature, they will depend on that natural ability to get them through their pursuit in higher education and that is where the struggle will begin. Today, the kids I know who breezed through high school without studying or working hard are now struggling in college and have no idea how to study. This observation of how some people with fixed mindsets had some sort of success with their habits at points of their life made me wonder if a growth mindset is the answer to succeeding in academic pursuit.
My exploration began with, “Debate Arises over Teaching “Growth Mindsets” to Motivate Students,” by Lydia Denworth. Before reading this article, I believed there would be no controversy in implementing a growth mindset, but there is. There really are no negative connotations with having a growth mindset but the “hype” (Denworth) of it all seems to be what is off-putting to some audiences. Dweck, a featured author in Denworth’s blog article, believes that growth mindsets are key to improving the classroom and yes, some of the evidence supported that. The counterclaim made by Kraft changed my belief slightly when the growth mindset was implemented in an Asian culture of 600 students, the same results were not achieved (Denworth). After reading that failure of the reproducibility of the growth mindset change, Kraft made me think that there is more than one way to achieve that mindset and that each culture needs its own version of what a growth mindset is.
I agree with what the Denworth on the terms that implementing growth mindsets have positive affects in a learning environment. On the other hand, I believe the approach to teaching kids this growth mindset needs to differ with culture, age, and other variables. I disagree with the nay-sayers (Macnamara) who think that half a point doesn’t make a big difference because I think if there is a solid rise in grades in most students after the growth mindset is introduced, that is significant. When people discount improvement, no matter how small, it could halt more improvement to be made. For example, if I were trying to lose weight and I had lost 7 pounds my first month and someone were to tell me, “That’s not that much”, it would discourage me. This can be applied to students because if they heard their progress was insignificant, they would be discouraged. The last part of the article is where I agree the most, “tone down the hype and hone the details” (Denworth). This quote supports the naysayers and the advocates of growth mindsets simultaneously. After reading Denworth’s article I understand that even in 2019, that the cultural and economic environment of the student plays a huge role in their mindset; hence, directly affecting their success.
I then read Carole Dweck’s “Even Geniuses Work Hard.” I only thought that educating children on what growth mindsets were helped them acquire a growth mindset. After reading this article, Dweck helped show that there are more passive but much more meaningful ways to implement this mindset. I agree with Dweck’s strategies of implementing growth mindsets through encouragement-focus, and goal-focus actions in the classroom because if a teacher were to practice what they taught the students, the students can apply it easier (Dweck). Like I said in the introduction, my mom made sure to acknowledge my achievements and efforts without stroking my ego. This is what it looks like for a classroom to be focused on encouragement and goal setting. One of the examples that Dweck gave was how Einstein was a slow learner and took years to answer questions. He didn’t focus on success instead, he focused on the journey of learning (Dweck). I believe all classrooms should emphasize the Einstein-strategy and point students to the journey of learning rather than the destination they are trying to reach. In my opinion, the only strategy Dweck presented that was uncomfortable is where “succeeding” students write to “struggling” students. This makes me uncomfortable because it not only gives people an idea that there are students who are “winning” in the class (hence, implementing a fixed mindset and a focus on success) but it also assumes that there are students with no struggle at all. That is not true. I have all A’s, but I still struggle in multiple areas of my learning. Everyone who is learning is struggling. I think in order to better implement the growth-mindset is to hold an open discussion with the class where everyone feels safe to discuss their struggles.
However, as much as I want to believe that a safe environment to openly discuss struggles can be created, it cannot because of cultural, racial and social class bias. This led me to research about the relationship between emphasizing mindsets and personal biases in the classroom. These three biases play a huge role in implementing a growth mindset. According to Alfie Kohn, growth mindset “encourages us to blame a culture of poverty... rather than examine economic and political barriers” (“The Perils of “Growth Mindset” Education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system”). Kohn states that the solution this problem is not a change in attitude about oneself, but it is a “willingness to go beyond individual attitudes” and realize that a mindset can’t “dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements” (Kohn). Once this is addressed, a safe space to encourage growth mindsets can be established.
My second to the last source was “Debate Arises over Teaching “The Mindset Works”, I didn’t know the neurological evidence of the flexibility of the brain. When someone learns something the brain’s neural pathways “grow new connections” (“The Mindset Works”). When someone creates a habit, such as, working out every day or watching Netflix every day, those neural pathways “strengthen” (“The Mindset Works”). After reading this article, I understand that the brain is flexible physically and mentally. Meaning, the brain physically changes when ones’ thinking changes. This is supported by the fact that students’ grades increased after exposure to the concept of mindsets (“The Mindset Works”). Since the brain grows as we learn, wouldn’t it make sense that we have a mindset that reflects that?
In discussions of the neurological evidence of how the brain is built to stretch, grow, and change, I believe that it is beneficial to have a growth mindset. Not just for your success but for your health and confidence. “The Mindset Works” states that growth mindsets make you more resilient and I can concur with that based on personal experience (“The Mindset Works”). An example of this resilience created by a growth mindset is that when I was in eighth grade, one of my papers erased completely and I decided that instead of redoing it, I just took a zero for it because I believed that I didn’t deserve to put the effort in all over again. But just a couple weeks ago in college, one of my papers that I had spent hours formatting disappeared completely. Instead of giving up and getting super upset, I immediately began to redo it. I put in the effort with the resilience that had been built up all through high school and I ended up making a high A. I put the blame on this success to my growth mindset.
My last research source was Leticia Gasca’s “Don’t Fail Fast--- Fail Mindfully” presentation. I thought a failing business was just awful. Gasca presented the harsh reality of failure and the learning opportunity from that failure. She stated that failure has its consequences but once you share your failure with others, wisdom is gained, and a different perspective is reached. After listening to Gasca, I learned that sharing failure creates an environment of collaboration and intimacy with your team. Gasca also gave examples of how each culture and even gender views failure differently. When men experience failure, they normally start up a whole new business within the next year. The average woman, on the other hand, goes back to school. For example, the average American that experiences failure goes back to school. When the average European experiences failure, they go see a therapist. These few examples of differences in culture and gender reactions to failure support Kohn’s claim that culture plays a huge role in how we experience failure and learn from failure (Kohn).
I agree completely with what Gasca says about humans as creators in the terms that we must be open about our failures in order to learn, hear others’ perspectives and be better creators together. I also agree that failing fast is not the way because then it just gives people to throw away business after business apathetically but as Gasca says “failing mindfully” sheds a thoughtful light to failure and encourages people who are about to start a business to be conscientious about the effects it will have if it succeeds or fails. Failing with purpose relates to the topic of growth mindsets because it insinuates that the person experiencing failure would learn from the hardship and adjust. I agree with Gasca on this because it politely encourages us as creators (everyone is a creator) to "share our learnings [from failure] with the world” (Gasca). Sharing our failures with the world will cause growth for ourselves and help others grow without having to experience the same failure.
In conclusion, there are several upsides to having a growth mindset: more resiliency to change and problems, an increase in grades, a good work ethic and great study skills (“The Mindset Works”) (Dweck). But there is also an absence of scientific proof of the power of mindset and a necessity to further explore potential cultural gaps before stating that it is applicable in all circumstances. Based on the research above, I believe fully in having a growth mindset but not without the awareness of a child’s cultural and economic environment. From my experience, I grew up in a loving, middle-class home and the traumas I went through were completely unrelated to poverty or culture. That is why I believe the growth mindset was effective in my education. But kids who have struggled in terms of the economy, culture, and family dynamics, a mindset is simply a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. A consciousness of how a child is outside of their academic pursuit is what I believe classrooms should address before fully implementing the growth mindset in schools.
Works Cited
Denworth, Lydia. “Debate Arises over Teaching ‘Growth Mindsets’ to Motivate Students.” Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2019, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/debate-arises-over-teaching-growth-mindsets-to-motivate-students/. Accessed 20 October 2019.
Dweck, Carol. “Decades of Scientific Research That Started a Growth Mindset Revolution.” The Growth Mindset - What Is Growth Mindset - Mindset Works, The Growth Mindset, 2017, https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/Default. Accessed 20 October 2019.
Dweck, Carol. Giving Students Meaningful Work. Educational Leadership, Vol. 68, 2010 http://cdn-blogs.waukeeschools.org/maplegrovepdpost/files/2013/03/Even-Geniuses-Work-Hard.pdf. Accessed 20 October 2019.
Gasca, Leticia. “Don’t Fail Fast-Fail mindfully.” Ted Talk, uploaded by TED Salon: Brightline Initiative, June 2018, https://www.ted.com/talks/leticia_gasca_don_t_fail_fast_fail_mindfully?language=en
Accessed 20 October 2019.
Gross-Loh, Christine. “Don't Let Praise Become a Consolation Prize.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 16 Dec. 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/how-praise-became-a-consolation-prize/510845/. Accessed 20 October 2019.
K 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.com, 16 Aug. 2015, https://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/. Accessed 20 October 2019.
Swift, Louise. “Interactive Quiz: Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets.” The London Academy of IT Learning Blog, 10 Feb. 2015, https://www.londonacademyofit.co.uk/blog/interactive-quiz-fixed-vs-growth-mindset. Accessed 20 October 2019.
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