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- Carol Dweck’s TED Talk focuses on the idea that students need to be taught that they are on a learning curve and knowledge and understanding come with continuous dedication of time and effort. Dweck discusses how her research showed that students being told “not yet” rather than “you’ve failed” after underperforming, was better for the students’ mindset about their progress in the long run. Dweck has come to the conclusion that there are two main mindsets that a child can have about their learning, and that is either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is basically the mentality that your abilities are predetermined at birth and the amount of effort you put forth will not allow you to surpass those set levels of abilities. Dweck describes students with a fixed mindset as feeling as though they are “gripped in the tyranny of now” (Dweck 0:35) or, in other words, that the immediate demand for their success felt unescapable, cruel and unreasonable. A growth mindset disregards this feeling. This mindset is the “understanding that you are on a learning curve” (Dweck 0:07) and the personal knowledge that, with enough persistence and consistent effort, you can develop and improve your own abilities.
- After talking about what the concept of “yet” can do for the young students in our society, Dweck moves on to discuss what we as people, and especially educators can do to build a “bridge to yet”. The first thing she suggests is for us to “praise wisely” (Dweck 6:04), which she elaborates to define as not praising intelligence or talent, “but praising the process that kids engage in. Their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement” (Dweck 5:58). Dweck claims that the product of this praise is kids who are hardy and resilient, as they have learned how substantial effort and innovation can do substantial things for their progress. While I agree that celebrating these increased efforts is important and can help to change mindsets in children, I believe that intelligence and talent are still things that should be praised, recognized and admired. Dweck seems to have a goal of equality in the classroom and, while noble, I believe it unintentionally demonizes the concept of some people simply being extraordinary. I think that it is okay to praise any student for working hard, regardless of whether they are ordinary or extraordinary. Another way that Dweck suggests to help stimulate growth mindsets is by rewarding “yet”. This idea suggests that we should be rewarding students for “effort, strategy and progress” (Dweck) rather than immediate success. According to Dweck, this tactic produces “more effort, more strategies, more engagement over long periods of time, and more perseverance when they hit really, really hard problems” (Dweck 5:12). Overall, I agree with the notion that teaching kids “yet” rather than “now” will give them much greater confidence in their learning capabilities.
- When most people think of intelligence, they think of it as the natural mental grasp of complex concepts and ideas that not many people have. Dweck involves intelligence in the discussion as though it is something that we as people develop and create for ourselves. By definition, intelligence is “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills” (Oxford Dictionary). It is clear that Dweck’s definition is the more accurate one. However, Dweck finds that it is not enough to simply know that you can develop your intelligence, there must be incentive, “we realized that some kids would be overjoyed to hear you can develop your intellectual abilities, but others might not think it was the most exciting thing” (Dweck). This conveys the importance of teaching students what their intelligence can do for them personally, as well as teaching them that they can be intelligent. Giving people the power and confidence to know how to develop their own intelligence and grow in their abilities is what Dweck believes will create a nation of strong leaders.
- My freshman year of high school I was put into a regular track Algebra 1 class. While it was important that I take this class because it was informative and necessary for me in order to develop my knowledge and understanding of mathematics, the pace was slow and the students around me were unmotivated. I wanted to improve. I retaliated by registering for both Honors Geometry and Honors Algebra 2 for my sophomore year. I told myself that with enough hard work I could succeed with this challenge, however my mindset was still fixed. In the first semester of those classes, I completed all of my work although I didn’t understand it and my lack of understanding only embarrassed and frustrated me. It got to the point where my grades were dropping, and nothing but a good test grade could bring them up, so I had no choice but to seek out help from my teacher. Time after time, I would meet with my teacher and she would explain concepts to me, which I would slowly begin to understand. It was slow, but consistent, progress- necessary for growth. I relished in this feeling of understanding and continued to meet with her until I could succeed independent of her. I still remember when she told me the grade I got on my final with a big smile on her face, and my confidence was over the moon. This taught me the difference between simply working hard and working hard with a desire to learn and grow.
