Thoughts on Growth Mindset
Before listening to Carol Dweck's ted talk, I had not heard much about her or growth mindset. The concept of one student having to put in more effort than one who is naturally gifted is familiar to me, but not under this name. Personally, I see myself somewhere in the mid-range on the growth mindset spectrum. I would say my educational experience is a lot like an inverted bell curve when considering this, where I experienced more of a growth mindset in elementary and early middle school, a fixed mindset in late middle school and high school, and a growth mindset in college.
When I was younger, I had problems reading and had to be put in a special class to help improve this skill, while many of my friends went to Ace, where the advanced or gifted kids went who were praised for their intelligence. My teacher praised me for my improvement and the effort I was putting into getting better at reading, not where I naturally started. I personally believe this led me to enjoy school through effort and learning, rather than being naturally gifted at things. However, at some point in my educational career, it began becoming too easy. My aptitude for math and science led me to a fixed mindset, where I enjoyed the praise of being told that I was naturally gifted at those subjects and rejected the path of failure. However, once I came to OU and the material began becoming harder, due to my choice of Computer Engineering as a major, I realized my mindset had to change and that just natural intelligence wouldn't carry me through college. It led me to realize that success is a combination of effort and intelligence, as well as the humble ability to get back up once you've been knocked down.
However, I am still burdened by the goals of receiving A's. While outwardly I know that letter grades are not a true measure of intelligence, subconsciously I've trained my brain to think that way. I think a lot of that has to do with the schooling system I was brought up in. However, now that the topic has been brought to my attention with a name, I intend to work on this through the development of a growth mindset.
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