- The “false growth mindset”, as Carol Dweck describes it, is “a misunderstanding of the idea’s core message.” This applies to people who have a misconstrued idea of what it means to fully embrace the “growth mindset” as Dweck describes in her TED talk. Dweck explains that encouraging a genuine growth mindset in children is more complex than an educator just expressing “empty praise.” Often people, especially educators, assume they have a growth mindset because they believe they understand what it means. As it turns out, many don’t actually have the right mindset needed to teach and implement this tool.
- I can tell I’m falling into a fixed mindset when I become frustrated. Sometimes when I am being overly challenged beyond what I can “handle” I tend to shut down. This is pretty much what happened to me in my 8th grade algebra class. I was being overworked and thrown into a new subject out of my comfort zone, and my response to the challenge was to start giving up. It became especially worse when others were succeeding while I was failing. Music class/band was the one subject I could be challenged harshly and still accomplish it.
- Dweck states, “students know that if they didn’t make progress and you’re praising them, it’s a consolation prize.” Dweck claims that kids understand praise more than we give them credit for. They know that you think they won’t accomplish, or pass a test and that’s why you’re consoling them by saying “well at least you tried.” I believe that Dweck is right about this. It’s like in middle school when the losing team still got a trophy for trying, even if they literally sucked. It was meant to console them, make them feel better about losing, but often, it made them realize that their team would never win the first place trophy, and so they settled with the participation trophy.
- In my life, I hope I can make my parents proud. I want them to see that even though my siblings might have fallen through the cracks, they were good parents who raised a good kid. Beyond my family, I want to offer protection and a home to rescue animals. They might only be a part of my world, but their home is their whole world, and I would love to be that home. I also hope I can be a voice for trauma survivors, a guide and someone who can share wisdom or kind words to those in need.
