“Fixed Mindset” is a mindset an individual might have where they are stuck in, as Professor Dweck calls the, “now,” or the, “not yet” zones (Dweck). They are unwilling to or unable to look to the future for improvement and instead focus on “now.” Unlike the “Fixed Mindset,” individuals, “Growth Mindset” people have the tendency to focus on the, “yet,” or look towards the future (Dweck). They look to see what they can improve upon and learn in order to develop a more knowledgeable self.
According to Professor Dweck one way of stimulating a growth mindset or to building a “bridge to yet” is by, “praising the process kids engage in” (Dweck). This encourages kids to focus more on the effort than the end result and being perfect. The kids will realize the benefits from learning from their mistakes through how they complete their task. Another way to help develop that “Growth Mindset” is similar to the previous one, which is to reward the process and in return kids gave, “more effort, more strategies, more engagement, ” and so on (Dweck). This strategy again helps kids to focus on the process rather than the outcome. These methods seem reasonable and don’t bother me, but I do believe kids need to know if their outcome of a task or activity is good or bad. They won’t know if they really need to improve upon their effort or strategy if they don’t know if they succeeded and failed. If the kids know they failed they can take a step back and look to see what caused them to fail
Professor Dweck’s model is one that is different than the norm in that it focuses on, “praising the process,” instead of praising the outcome and not focusing on the “now” (Dweck). Many people in the world enjoy being praised or rewarded for what they have accomplished. However, her model sheds light on giving more effort and strategy, which is seen in sports such as football. Both models of intelligence are critical in sports because athletes need to know if they did well or not and also how they can improve upon their technique.
Back in high school when I was getting ready for the SATs I never really prepared and went in believing I was capable enough to do well with the knowledge I had attained over the years. I was focused on the score and the outcome, not so much on how I could do better the next time. When the next time was coming around I again didn’t really focus on preparing or working on improving my strategy for the test. Unfortunately I didn’t do as well as I had hoped, but I did raise the score I needed to have the super score good enough to receive a higher scholarship at another college. But in the end it didn’t really matter because I chose UNE instead. As Professor Dweck would say my, “biggest goal is the next test score” (Dweck). That’s right I was more focused on getting a better score than focusing on how I can improve.
Dweck, Carol, director. The Power of Believing That You Can Improve. TED, www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomsh
