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------------------------------------ 1999 - Brainology Mindset
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- Dr. Carol Dweck is a psychologist who has some interesting ideas about raising kids, at least I think so because I agree with her. She graduated from Yale in 1972, spent 15 years at Columbia U., New York then in 2004 Stanford U. She has a book and educational software on line at http://www.brainology.us
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- Dweck maintains that success in life is a mindset. It is not luck. It is not genius. It is believing you can improve with practice and hard work rather than thinking that talent is something fixed. The growth mindset is what makes a difference in a kid’s education.
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- I will us kids, but this is equally applicable to adults. Kids with “fixed mindsets” are concerned that their abilities are fixed and their efforts are to make them “look good“. Even if they have to cheat, or deceive.
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- In contrast a “growth mindset” is different behavior. It stems from the belief that abilities can be cultivated through dedication and education. Growth mindsets want to “stretch” themselves and are not afraid of learning which involves the risk or failure. Mistakes are just something to learn from. However, if you have a fixed mindset you are wary of these challenges.
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- Her academic studies show that kids with a fixed mindset decline in grades after poor grades on an initial test.
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- For them effort is seen as a negative thing.
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- For them failure is seen as an intrinsic lack of ability.
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- Her studies of brain activity, MRI type stuff, show reduced vigilance in the brains of fixed mindsets occurred once they were told their answer to a difficult problem was wrong. In contrast, students with a growth mindset actually increased in brain vigilance wanting to learn what the right answer actually was.
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- This does not mean that all people with a fixed mindset are unsuccessful. John McEnroe, the famous tennis player, was diagnosed as a fixed mindset. He never liked to practice, he did not want to tend to his weaknesses that were uncovered, he had self-defeating behavior when he was losing. He was a great talent but how much better would he have been with a different mindset.
- Much of our mindset is genetic, true. Some kids are overly sensitive to mistakes and set backs. They are overly proud of accomplishments or esteem. Other kids seem relatively impervious to the same adversities. Her studies show that about 1/3 of the kids entering pre-school have a fixed mindset. These kids worry about disapproval.
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- By the time most kids are adults about 50% have a fixed mindset. How can changes in environment and education help?
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- Parents and teachers need to learn to praise effort, and improvement. Never praise intelligence or talent. Building a kid’s ego on pride harms the kid in acquiring a growth mindset.
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- There was a simple test that she performed on college students who were given a very difficult comprehension test. None of them could do that well. But, after each saw his score he was asked if he would like to see the tests of the ones that got a worse score than his or the ones that got a better score than his. Invariably the fixed mindset wanted to see the ones that got worse, it made them feel better about themselves. The growth mindset invariably wanted to see the tests that did better than they did.
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- A trick played on her students was to give them a study aid that convinced them that the neurons in their brains formed new connections every time they stretched themselves to failure. Over time their brains would get smarter automatically. They were taught how to practice this technique on their homework. Their grades rebounded significantly. A control group with the same homework but without the study aid did not improve.
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- (( This reminds me of a case study I had at U. of Santa Clara. It was called the Pygmalion Effect. Some teacher’s were given an ordinary class of kids but were told incorrectly that these kids were a group of excelled learners. The teacher was so determined to make these kids perform to their potential she believed they had that the whole class outperformed the other classes of control groups. The concept became known as the Self-fulfilling Prophecy. Just believing it made it true.))
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- An example of a teacher with a fixed mindset, passing it on to her students, was a 6th grade teacher who so believed in IQ tests that she actually seated the students in her classroom according to their scores. She ended up passing privileges and responsibilities accordingly.
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- Dr. Dweck admits the she and everyone else has to talk themselves into a growth mindset from time to time. The fixed mindset easily sets in and has to be overcome. She emphasizes that this is different than just positive thinking, or motivational training. Her techniques are specific actions to take and things to do to avoid the fixed mindset. Check out her web site for parents and teachers. P.S. everyone is a teacher whether they realize it or not.
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----- 707-536-3272 ---------------- Thursday, January 11, 2018 -----
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