Katana Smith
ENG 100 Assignment #2: Academic Mindsets Argument The Effects of Mindsets in Education A growth mindset is the belief that there is always room to improve your intelligence and to learn and grow. A fixed mindset is the belief that you are born with your intelligence and you cannot change it. There has been a lot of controversy regarding these topics. In Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says by The Hechinger Report, Carol Dweck expresses her views on how beneficial the growth mindset is. In The Perils of "Growth Mindset Education" [...] by Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn argues against Carol Dweck's findings and instead states that the educational system needs to be changed. I can relate to having a growth mindset because I believe my ability and competence grow with my effort. Having a growth mindset has helped me in many ways. Personally, I think having a growth mindset is a positive thing and that it can change one's experience in school and in life. Right now, school plays a big part in my life. I feel as though the growth mindset helps me a lot with my classes. I've learned that if I put the time and effort into my classes, I can be more successful. I can learn more and get better grades at the same time. It motivates me knowing that effort goes a long way. For example, with this class, I sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of work we are given. However, I tell myself to set aside the time to do the work, and it always gets done. It may not be perfect, but it's done by the deadline and follows the requirements given. I always feel accomplished after I finish the assignments. Afterwards, I am always grateful for the experience and satisfied with my work. Also, I learn new ways to be productive like setting aside more time than the week before to complete my assignments. My growth mindset also comes into play with my other classes. For my math class, I try to do all of the work ahead of time. I can teach myself to do problems we haven't even learned yet. I do the same with my network communications class. Doing the labs ahead of time helps because I understand more when we go over them together in class. I've found this very effective so far. In my elementary, middle, and high school years I believe I had a fixed mindset. It prevented me from fully learning what I was taught. I always just did what was required. I would never branch out or be creative. Unless it was an art class. I was able to adapt to a growth mindset in my art classes. There's always something new to learn with art. You have to be creative and allow yourself to grow. My pieces always turned out better than I expected. America's educational system is like a fixed mindset in some ways. The tests are mostly standardized. Students are expected to learn a particular curriculum and as long as they get the answers right on a test they are considered to be smart. But if students only focus on getting the answers right, are they actually learning anything? Dweck says "Praising effort alone...is useless when the child is getting everything wrong and not making progress. Either students will feel misled when they are eventually confronted with the reality of their low achievement, or the hollow praise will convey adults low expectations for them". In America, all students are taught in English, even if their primary language is something else. I feel like that might make it harder for them to learn. It's also harder for minorities or people who live in poverty to be successful in school. For example, someone who lives in poverty might not be able to afford the books and supplies that they need. Minorities might have a harder time making friends or feeling accepted and comfortable. I agree that there are a lot of things that need to be changed in our educational system. Kohn says "I’m not suggesting we go back to promoting an innate, fixed, “entity” theory of intelligence and talent, which, as Dweck points out, can leave people feeling helpless and inclined to give up. But the real alternative to that isn’t a different attitude about oneself; it’s a willingness to go beyond individual attitudes, to realize that no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements. Until those arrangements have been changed, mindset will get you only so far. And too much focus on mindset discourages us from making such changes". Sometime during my years of schooling, I adopted a growth mindset. As I got older I started to see things differently and in a more positive light. I am constantly learning new things everyday. I learn from life experiences, classes at school and even during my shifts at work. There is always a way to improve yourself and your intelligence. There are many reasons why having a growth mindset is more beneficial when it comes to learning. People with a growth mindset are more likely to succeed in school because they believe that they can. I believe anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Having a growth mindset has helped me with things like getting a job, buying a car, going back to school, and much more. I am grateful every day of my life. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future has in store for me.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorKatana Archives
April 2017
Categories
All
|