Growth and Fixed Mindsets

Developing a Growth Mindset

            One of the most basic beliefs people carry about themselves has something to do with how they view and inhabit what they consider to be their personality, which can greatly influence our ability to get what we want out of life. In fact, much of who you are on a day-to-day basis comes from what is called your mindset, the view you have of your qualities and characteristics, where they come from, and whether or not you can change them. Dweck’s project is to encourage people of all ages to establish the most ideal mindset from an early age on in order to improve their abilities and potential through learning. Carol Dweck, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, argues praise can have a negative effect on students’ mindsets, harming their motivation to learn, explaining that it effects the child’s psychological thought process later on in life.

After reading “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn”, written by Carol Dweck, I have understood the importance of pushing children to develop the correct mindset from a young age on. In this article, two mindsets are introduced: growth and fixed. A fixed mindset assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are unchangeable in any meaningful way, often viewing talents as gifts – you either have them or you don’t. People with the fixed mindset also have a tendency to give up easily when facing a challenge, sometimes avoiding them altogether, ignoring useful negative feedback, and feeling threatened by the success of others. A growth mindset, on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence, but rather as a heartening springboard for growth and stretching our existing abilities, “viewing talents as potentialities that can be developed through practice,” (Dweck, 1).  They have a tendency to embrace challenges, see effort as the path to misery, and learn from criticism.  As a result, they reach a higher level of achievement, all of which gives them a greater sense of free will.

In Dwecks article, she assists that, “We need to correct the harmful idea that people simply have gifts that transport them to success, and to teach our students that no matter how smart or talented someone is – be it Einstein, Mozart, or Michael Jordan – no one succeeds in a big way without enormous amounts of dedication and effort.” (Dweck, 1) She provides some great examples of famous people who succeed with massive effort, and these people unquestionably have growth mindsets because they never give up after difficulties. They all had great accomplishments, but they didn’t rely on their talent to be successful.

In order to support her argument, Carol Dweck followed several hundred students through their transition into seventh grade, a time when academic work often gets much harder.