1. Dweck offers two key terms, Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. Explain these two concepts. Use a Dweck quote for each as part of your explanation. Be sure to offer your explanation in a way that a friend might understand.

These two terms were used to describe the mindsets of children while in school. Growth Mindset, as Dweck said, is when children “understood that their abilities could be developed”. This means that these children have the knowledge that their skills are not set in stone, they can be molded and advanced. Those with this mindset were able to take solace in the idea that they can and will improve. Fixed Mindset, is quite the opposite of that. Dweck explained that those with a Fixed Mindset believed that “their intelligence had been up for judgment, and they failed” and consequently, they “were gripped in the tyranny of now”. Those with this mindset have difficulty believing that there is hope for their own improvement, the thoughts of failure and disappointment cloud any semblance of an optimistic outlook.

2. Dweck names at least two ways to stimulate a Growth Mindset or to building a “bridge to yet” (3:53). What are they? Use a quote for each and offer a response. Do these seem reasonable? Does something about them bother you? Why?

One way that Dweck suggests can stimulate a Growth Mindset is to praise “the process that kids engage in, their effort, their strategies, their focus, their perseverance, their improvement” instead of simply praising “intelligence or talent”. I think that this is a good idea, however, it is human nature to want competition and so I believe that even with this change there will be those kids who still think they need to get the most praise or need teachers to view them as being the most perseverant or most focused. Humanity, or at least a lot of the generations that are the current teachers, have been brainwashed to believe that the key to success is being the best. It will take a long time for this idea to wash away, and even then, competition may still arise. Dweck also suggests that simply using “not yet” can aid in confidence and a change in mindset. She claimed that, “In one study, we taught them that every time they push out of their comfort zone to learn something new and difficult, the neurons in their brain can form new, stronger connections, and over time, they can get smarter.” I have a couple qualms with this statement. Firstly, she did the very thing she said not to do and praised intelligence. The whole point of her previous advice was to praise the process and no the outcome, so why now is she using the promise of increased smarts to convince children to change their mindsets? Secondly, there is a promise that these children haven’t learned something yet. To me, that seems a bit like you’re leading them on. Sometimes you must simply accept that fact that you cannot do everything. You can strive for greatness and for being smart, but life isn’t all about being the best. Life is about finding happiness in the now and ensuring it for the future. Dweck may have grand ideas about forming the youth into optimistic and self confident little soldiers, however, I find her values to be in the wrong place. Let us not continue the constant drilling of the idea that being smart is the end all be all. Let us instead teach everyone how to find happiness in their passions and interests and let their value to this world bloom from there.

3. Intelligence. Dweck’s ideas may suggest a notion of intelligence or smarts that is different from what many might think about when considering intelligence. How do you see her model of intelligence? Explain with evidence from the text.

I believe on the surface Dweck attempts to portray intelligence as the ability to persevere and push oneself to go above and beyond what seems the limit, however, that is simply just the facade she is fooling everyone with. When one digs deeper you can see the same foundation of the importance of being the best and being smart and the need for praise and approval of others. Dweck completely contradicts herself by starting out with questions such as “Are we raising kids who are obsessed with getting As?” and ” And are they carrying this need for constant validation with them into their future lives?” and then subsequently doing those very things. She focuses on the outcomes of all these studies saying, “In one year, a kindergarten class in Harlem, New York scored in the 95th percentile on the national achievement test. Many of those kids could not hold a pencil when they arrived at school”. To me that seems as though she is praising their intelligence, seeing as though national achievement tests and standardized testing in general does not measure true intelligence, rather it measures the ability to memorize topics and work well under immense amounts of pressure, among other things. So while on the surface Dweck tries to show how her view of intelligence as the ability for growth and determination and self confidence, if one just reads more in depth the harsh and painful undertone of her real view shines through. She is the same as so many others, she still views success as a measure of intelligence and pushes that being seen as smart is of the utmost importance.

4. Write about a fixed mindset moment in your own learning history. If you have one from your reading and writing experience, consider using it as an example. Explain how that moment worked out for you. Be sure to offer enough detail for a reader to grasp the situation, your approach/experience, and the outcome. (We all have them at some point!) Make sure to explicitly link your experience to a specific idea (or ideas) in Dweck’s talk. You’ll be making what we call a “text to self” connection here.

My whole life I have struggled with having a fixed mindset. I have 3 sisters, all top of their classes, honor roll, gold star students. Then theres me, solidly ordinary and average. Unfortunately, in most older generations the idea that the only way to succeed in life is to maintain good grades and be exceptional has been seared into their brains. And now, that is the advice they are constantly pelting at us younger folks. My parents have repeatedly told me that I will not be seen as good enough unless I prove myself worthy by being top in my classes. There was one class I was in with two of my sisters in high school; AP United States Government and Politics. Right off the bat I was doing worse than them. They would be getting full marks on their written responses and I would be getting ones and twos. After a couple classes with the same results I kind of gave up. It’s pretty easy to guess how we each did on the AP exam. My sisters passed with flying colors, one getting a four and the other a 5. Me, on the other hand, managed to miraculously get a 2, purely guessing on most of it because I had accepted my failure months prior and had not even attempted to study. I did as Dweck said many with a Fixed Mindset do, I “[ran] from error”. I figured it made more sense to fail because I refused to try than to fail despite putting in actual effort.