Mindsets and Belief (Packback Question)

Task

This week your task is to consider what you have learned about the influence of growth mindsets on both students and educators and think about how you will show your students that you believe in them as you create the culture and climate in your own classroom.

Prior to participating in this discussion form, take a moment to reflect on the resources you reviewed in this week’s instructor guidance from the vantage point of the career in education that you wish to pursue then craft a stimulating question around the influence of mindset on students and educators or the impact of an educator’s belief in self or others.

Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum,

· Read Chapter 2: Today’s Students and Chapter 3: Addressing Learners’ Individual Needs in your Introduction to Teaching: Making a Difference in Student Learning Review the background information for this week’s discussion topic in the Packback Discussion Forum Guidance section below.

· Follow the directions in the task section of the Packback Discussion Forum Guidance section below

This week, you will be introduced to Carol Dweck’s concept of a “Growth Mindset”. You will also explore how you plan on showing your future students that you believe in them. The purpose of this week is to get you to start talking about how you plan on situating your thoughts so that you are able to serve your students and help them grow by remaining in a mindset that invites growth yourself. The most important thing to keep in mind is that there is no right or wrong to your responses.

Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

If you are unfamiliar with the concept, take a moment to watch the  Fixed Mindset Vs. Growth Mindset (Links to an external site.)  video

Now that we have your attention and you are curious about the growth mindset. Read Annely Clarke’s short article Growth Mindset (Links to an external site.) that compares fixed and growth mindsets. It is particularly interesting because it provides strategies to help develop a growth mindset. Every so often a truly groundbreaking idea comes along. Growth mindset is one of them. Growth mindset explains

· Why brains and talent do not bring success.

· How they can stand in the way of it.

· Why praising brains and talent does not foster self-esteem and accomplishment but jeopardizes them.

· How teaching a simple idea about the brain raises grades and productivity.

· What all great CEOs, parents, teachers, athletes know.

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success it is a simple idea that makes all the difference.

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success… without effort. They are wrong!

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for any great accomplishment. Virtually all of the individuals throughout history who have impacted the world on any level (e.g., Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, etc.) have operated in a growth mindset.

In Carol Dweck’s article, Growth Mindset, Revisited (Links to an external site.), she explores not just students, but the mindset of the educator. Her premise is that it is just as important for educators to have a growth mindset as it is for their students to have one. In essence, we cannot promote a growth mindset in the students we serve if we operate from a fixed position.

Take some time to explore Mindset Works’  Teacher Practices: How Praise and Feedback Impact Student Outcomes (Links to an external site.)  to learn more about things you can do to promote a growth mindset.

 

Do You Believe?

Do you want to feel inspired? Watch this video of Dalton Sherman's famous keynote speech:

(137) 10 year old intellect, Dalton Sherman's keynote speech - YouTube

At the time of this speech in 2008, Dalton was a young boy entering into the fifth (5th) grade. This 10-year-old stood up in front of 17,000 educators from the Dallas Texas area and challenged them to believe in him and his classmates. Seven years later and now a young man, Dalton again addressed educators at the Extra Yard for Teacher summit in 2015 with his “Don’t Lose Your Joy” speech in the following video:

(137) Dalton Sherman | Extra Yard For Teachers Summit 2015 - YouTube

Consider what you know about the influence of mindset on both student and educator and think about how you will show your students that you believe in them as you create the culture and climate in your own classroom.