There are those rare individuals in this world who are “born” with special abilities. We believe their brains work differently. Einstein, Stephen Hawking, or any other brilliant physicist or scientist. There are those who gather information more quickly than others, and those who have the ability to remember almost anything learned. Then, there's me (kidding).
It's common to look at somebody with these abilities and think, “Man, if only I had that brain, I could be a brilliant mathematician.” There are also many in this world who are so fascinated by a subject or topic, but convince themselves they'll never be able to be that person or have that PhD in mechanical engineering because they're just not smart enough.
“It is the belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constructive, determined reactions to setbacks. “ -Carol S. Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
This is a very important and true quote from this article: Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn . She explains that many students (and people) believe intelligence is fixed (or, a fixed mindset). Because of this, they see challenges as threatening and worry about how much of this fixed intelligence they possess. They also see setbacks as a bad reflection on their level of intelligence. On the other hand, there are those who believe intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and education. They believe that everyone can improve their abilities through hard work and learning; and having setbacks is a way of getting smarter.
“We found that students with the two mindsets had radically different beliefs about effort. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward (and correct) idea of effort — the idea that the harder you work, the more your ability will grow and that even geniuses have had to work hard for their accomplishments. In contrast, the students with the fixed mindset believed that if you worked hard it meant that you didn't have ability, and that things would just come naturally to you if you did. This means that every time something is hard for them and requires effort, it's both a threat and a bind. If they work hard at it that means that they aren't good at it, but if they don't work hard they won't do well. Clearly, since just about every worthwhile pursuit involves effort over a long period of time, this is a potentially crippling belief, not only in school but also in life.”
So, where do you fall? I automatically placed myself in the fixed mindset while reading this article; because it sounded like me. Having this fixed mindset is probably one of the biggest reasons why I have yet to graduate college and why I had average grades in school. When I'd fail, I'd see myself as dumb and give up. When I found a subject or a topic fascinating, I'd shove it aside because I believed I'd never be smart enough to reach it.
Gary's different. He most definitely has a growth mindset. When Gary fails, he sees it as an opportunity to grow and develop even more; another step to getting smarter. He went into college with a plan, and came out as the outstanding graduating senior of his college (and was valedictorian of his high school). We we'd discuss school, we'd clash. He constantly had to tell me I'm not as dumb as I tell myself I am. He had to tell me over and over again that with the right motivation, you can do and learn anything, whether it's physics or the alphabet. My self-esteem always got in the way. I wasn't bad at math; I just needed to think a little harder. When it got “too hard”, I gave up and assumed I was dumb; and the cycle continued. Sometimes it still does.
It's common to look at somebody with these abilities and think, “Man, if only I had that brain, I could be a brilliant mathematician.” There are also many in this world who are so fascinated by a subject or topic, but convince themselves they'll never be able to be that person or have that PhD in mechanical engineering because they're just not smart enough.
“It is the belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constructive, determined reactions to setbacks. “ -Carol S. Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
This is a very important and true quote from this article: Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn . She explains that many students (and people) believe intelligence is fixed (or, a fixed mindset). Because of this, they see challenges as threatening and worry about how much of this fixed intelligence they possess. They also see setbacks as a bad reflection on their level of intelligence. On the other hand, there are those who believe intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and education. They believe that everyone can improve their abilities through hard work and learning; and having setbacks is a way of getting smarter.
“We found that students with the two mindsets had radically different beliefs about effort. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward (and correct) idea of effort — the idea that the harder you work, the more your ability will grow and that even geniuses have had to work hard for their accomplishments. In contrast, the students with the fixed mindset believed that if you worked hard it meant that you didn't have ability, and that things would just come naturally to you if you did. This means that every time something is hard for them and requires effort, it's both a threat and a bind. If they work hard at it that means that they aren't good at it, but if they don't work hard they won't do well. Clearly, since just about every worthwhile pursuit involves effort over a long period of time, this is a potentially crippling belief, not only in school but also in life.”
So, where do you fall? I automatically placed myself in the fixed mindset while reading this article; because it sounded like me. Having this fixed mindset is probably one of the biggest reasons why I have yet to graduate college and why I had average grades in school. When I'd fail, I'd see myself as dumb and give up. When I found a subject or a topic fascinating, I'd shove it aside because I believed I'd never be smart enough to reach it.
Gary's different. He most definitely has a growth mindset. When Gary fails, he sees it as an opportunity to grow and develop even more; another step to getting smarter. He went into college with a plan, and came out as the outstanding graduating senior of his college (and was valedictorian of his high school). We we'd discuss school, we'd clash. He constantly had to tell me I'm not as dumb as I tell myself I am. He had to tell me over and over again that with the right motivation, you can do and learn anything, whether it's physics or the alphabet. My self-esteem always got in the way. I wasn't bad at math; I just needed to think a little harder. When it got “too hard”, I gave up and assumed I was dumb; and the cycle continued. Sometimes it still does.
Some time ago, Gary introduced me to Lynda.com, an online library of training. For a monthly or yearly fee, you have the opportunity to learn anything computer related whether it be software, programming, or any other form of technology. I glanced over it a few times and put it on hold. Eventually, since I've been jobless and out of school (due to my fixed mindset and lack of motivation), I decided to give it a shot. It's not a college or a school; so you don't get a degree or any certification- but they keep it that way on purpose. The first thing I decided to jump into was computer programming- mainly because it's what Gary does; and, to be a good wife, I thought if I just took a few classes it would make him happy. Was I doing this for him? Yes, to start. However, it caught my interest rather quickly. The classes/lessons are on video from real professors who have been teaching for years- and they're REALLY good. I started with the Fundamentals of Programming course (about 6 hours total) to get started. It not only has videos, but exercise files you can follow along with and use. This specific professor was good- I found myself remembering everything I had been learning along the way and even found myself speaking computer to my husband. Impressed on how quickly I caught on, he told me, “Emilee, you're a lot smarter than you think you are and catch on more quickly than you know.” It made me happy. Now, currently in the C# course (my goal is to learn all the languages they provide), I'm giving myself, as a gift, a growth mindset. All these years of abusing myself with this fixed mindset is coming to an end.
I do recommend reading this article. There's a lot of good information. One thing that really stuck out was how to get your children in the growth mindset. The studies they did had fascinating results:
“We praised the children in one group for their intelligence, telling them, “Wow, that's a really good score. You must be smart at this.” We praised the children in the other group for their effort: “Wow, that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard.” That's all we did, but the results were dramatic. The children praised for their intelligence lost their confidence as soon as the problems got more difficult. Now, as a group, they thought they weren't smart. They also lost their enjoyment, and, as a result, their performance plummeted. On the other hand, those praised for effort maintained their confidence, their motivation, and their performance. Actually, their performance improved over time such that, by the end, they were performing substantially better than the intelligence-praised children on this IQ test. Finally, the children who were praised for their intelligence lied about their scores more often than the children who were praised for their effort. We asked children to write something (anonymously) about their experience to a child in another school and we left a little space for them to report their scores. Almost 40 percent of the intelligence-praised children elevated their scores, whereas only 12 or 13 percent of children in the other group did so. To me this suggests that, after students are praised for their intelligence, it's too humiliating for them to admit mistakes.
I do recommend reading this article. There's a lot of good information. One thing that really stuck out was how to get your children in the growth mindset. The studies they did had fascinating results:
“We praised the children in one group for their intelligence, telling them, “Wow, that's a really good score. You must be smart at this.” We praised the children in the other group for their effort: “Wow, that's a really good score. You must have worked really hard.” That's all we did, but the results were dramatic. The children praised for their intelligence lost their confidence as soon as the problems got more difficult. Now, as a group, they thought they weren't smart. They also lost their enjoyment, and, as a result, their performance plummeted. On the other hand, those praised for effort maintained their confidence, their motivation, and their performance. Actually, their performance improved over time such that, by the end, they were performing substantially better than the intelligence-praised children on this IQ test. Finally, the children who were praised for their intelligence lied about their scores more often than the children who were praised for their effort. We asked children to write something (anonymously) about their experience to a child in another school and we left a little space for them to report their scores. Almost 40 percent of the intelligence-praised children elevated their scores, whereas only 12 or 13 percent of children in the other group did so. To me this suggests that, after students are praised for their intelligence, it's too humiliating for them to admit mistakes.
The results were so striking that we repeated the study five times just to be sure, and each time roughly the same things happened. Instead of giving them confidence, it made them fragile, so much so that a brush with difficulty erased their confidence, their enjoyment, and their good performance, and made them ashamed of their work. This can hardly be the self-esteem that parents and educators have been aiming for.
Often, when children stop working in school, parents deal with this by reassuring their children how smart they are. We can now see that this simply fans the flames. It confirms the fixed mindset and makes kids all the more certain that they don't want to try something difficult — something that could lose them their parents' high regard.”"To conclude this long and very random post- make sure you get your head in the growth mindset. I find it to make life a bit easier.
