My thoughts on growth mindset
I've never heard of Carol Dweck before, but I really liked her TED Talk video about the concept of answering failure with "not yet" instead of just "no." I think this mindset could be very beneficial when it comes to academic performance and improvement, particularly for kids of elementary school age and maybe even middle school, too.
When it comes to my academic work throughout the years, I think I've usually been pretty good at challenging myself and implementing a growth mindset, but in other aspects of my life, such as wanting to cook more healthy meals for myself and just become better at adulting in general, the growth mindset could be a helpful new way for me to view my goals.
The concept of "not yet" also reminds me of when I used to be a competitive swimmer because I often felt a lot of pressure (whether self-exerted or from coaches/parents) to improve my times, and it was always frustrating when I couldn't drop my times when I wanted to the most—for example, at the state meets that took place at the end of every club season. After a while, it gets pretty disheartening to keep putting so much effort into something without reaping good results. I'm not certain that implementing the "not yet" growth mindset or hearing a similar perspective from my coaches could've helped me overcome the plateau I reached toward the end of my competitive swimming career, but it would have been an interesting approach to try at the very least.
When it comes to my academic work throughout the years, I think I've usually been pretty good at challenging myself and implementing a growth mindset, but in other aspects of my life, such as wanting to cook more healthy meals for myself and just become better at adulting in general, the growth mindset could be a helpful new way for me to view my goals.
A swimmer streamlines underwater. In a way, the concept of streamlining—condensing your body into a straight, compact line to become more hydrodynamic—is a lot like the process of reaching a goal faster by identifying the steps you need to take and staying focused on them. (Image by Richard R. Schunemann via unsplash)
The concept of "not yet" also reminds me of when I used to be a competitive swimmer because I often felt a lot of pressure (whether self-exerted or from coaches/parents) to improve my times, and it was always frustrating when I couldn't drop my times when I wanted to the most—for example, at the state meets that took place at the end of every club season. After a while, it gets pretty disheartening to keep putting so much effort into something without reaping good results. I'm not certain that implementing the "not yet" growth mindset or hearing a similar perspective from my coaches could've helped me overcome the plateau I reached toward the end of my competitive swimming career, but it would have been an interesting approach to try at the very least.
I also liked Dweck's approach to motivate students to think positively of what achievements are possible if they simply tried instead of giving up. Initially, I only thought of this growth mindset ideology being applied to academic studies. However, after reading your perspective on the topic, I now realize how useful it is to apply to other aspects of our lives, such as learning new hobbies or skills. By implementing a growth mindset, we can power through obstacles along our path to success!
ReplyDelete