Growth mindset doesn't work

[Anonymous]

I suggest reading Carol Dweck, the researcher and author who coined “growth mindset.” It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, where one believes talent and abilities are innate. Students often think that if they’re not good at something, be it passing a soccer ball or math facts, that they will never be because they weren’t born with that skill. With that attitude, students will never try to learn in the first place. Teaching a growth mindset is simply teaching that skills are obtained through work.

If you think that growth mindset = a C+ is good enough, then you misunderstand what it means.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suggest reading Carol Dweck, the researcher and author who coined “growth mindset.” It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, where one believes talent and abilities are innate. Students often think that if they’re not good at something, be it passing a soccer ball or math facts, that they will never be because they weren’t born with that skill. With that attitude, students will never try to learn in the first place. Teaching a growth mindset is simply teaching that skills are obtained through work.

If you think that growth mindset = a C+ is good enough, then you misunderstand what it means.

+1. Social science researcher here. Many posts here don't seem to understand what growth mindset is, but ^^^PP does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suggest reading Carol Dweck, the researcher and author who coined “growth mindset.” It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, where one believes talent and abilities are innate. Students often think that if they’re not good at something, be it passing a soccer ball or math facts, that they will never be because they weren’t born with that skill. With that attitude, students will never try to learn in the first place. Teaching a growth mindset is simply teaching that skills are obtained through work.

If you think that growth mindset = a C+ is good enough, then you misunderstand what it means.

I guess you didn't read the article. Whether Dweck is right or wrong, schools are not doing it right and probably cannot do it right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suggest reading Carol Dweck, the researcher and author who coined “growth mindset.” It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, where one believes talent and abilities are innate. Students often think that if they’re not good at something, be it passing a soccer ball or math facts, that they will never be because they weren’t born with that skill. With that attitude, students will never try to learn in the first place. Teaching a growth mindset is simply teaching that skills are obtained through work.

If you think that growth mindset = a C+ is good enough, then you misunderstand what it means.

I guess you didn't read the article. Whether Dweck is right or wrong, schools are not doing it right and probably cannot do it right.

I read the article. I wanted to respond to what I’ll charitably call misunderstandings of growth mindset that were occurring upthread.

This was one study. It neither proves nor disproves that teaching a growth mindset improves academic performance. It simply failed to support the hypothesis. We don’t know why. That’s how science works. We can’t rightfully draw any further conclusions. That’s how science and research work.

That said, growth mindset doesn’t really take away from instructional time. It’s just framing for things that are already happening. Teachers like it because we see a lot of children who literally sob while insisting they can’t do something because they’re no good at it and couldn’t possibly ever be good at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suggest reading Carol Dweck, the researcher and author who coined “growth mindset.” It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, where one believes talent and abilities are innate. Students often think that if they’re not good at something, be it passing a soccer ball or math facts, that they will never be because they weren’t born with that skill. With that attitude, students will never try to learn in the first place. Teaching a growth mindset is simply teaching that skills are obtained through work.

If you think that growth mindset = a C+ is good enough, then you misunderstand what it means.

+1. Social science researcher here. Many posts here don't seem to understand what growth mindset is, but ^^^PP does.

What I find strange was that a whole unit st my daughters school in 4th grade was focused on growth mindset. Why do 4th graders have to be indoctrinated in the latest education jargon?

[Anonymous]

Growth mindset is the idea that you can grow in skills no matter where you are starting from. There is nothing wrong with it. It just also needs to be combined with goals of mastery.