Growth Mindset & Rewarding Ourselves for 'Yet'

This is my first introduction to Carol Dweck and I suppose its the first time I'm really delving into this theory of 'growth mindset'. First of all Carol Dweck seems like a fascinating woman and even just watching them short videos, it is clear she has intriguing with interesting views on our society. I think initially when listening to Dweck talk about the growth mindset it seemed like an overwhelmingly positive way to go forward and teach our children but then on further thoughts is it also punishing the people who already put in the work and the effort. This is coming from myself, a millennial who clearly needs constant validation as a result of the way i was schooled and brought up.

 

Right now I feel I'm too new to this term and definitely want to delve deeper to really understand but making any final conclusions on it. The good thing about this blog is as the semester is wrapping up I can come back to this post and see if my views have changed or remain the same. When first hearing the term 'not yet' it made perfect sense. We have all felt that failure and 'not good enough' feeling when something we have worked hard on hasn't gone to plan. Rewarding people for the doing rather than the act seems like a great way to keep us motivated and want to do better. The term 'nearly never won the race' keeps coming to my mind which I feel is the complete opposite of this 'not yet' proposal. It's really opening my eyes to how toxic the saying is. How someone can really try their best and train for months but on the day it doesn't work in their favour and thats it. You didn't win and we don't care. I can see how this rewarding for the process can help to keep all of us motivated rather then the sinking feeling of failure and wanting to throw in the towel after the first hurdle.

It's obvious that not all people are the same. Some people are better readers than others, some find it useful to listen to music when studying and some retain information better than others. This new way of 'not yet' helps to celebrate the people who were not born with the natural gift or those that don't need effort to succeed. What I find really interesting from watching these clips from Dweck is I think I have a growth mindset. I also think I am attracted to other growth mindset people. I wonder as time goes on will I still feel this way as I learn more about the subject because even with me thinking I have a growth mindset I'm wondering how do I handle mistakes and how does it make me feel when things don't go to plan.

I think my mixed feelings and emotions on all this comes from being brought up with a fixed mindset but slowly over the years turning into more of a growth mindset. I realise this post probably contradicts itself in every second line but thats how this whole new idea is making me feel. I think going forward children should be praised more for the process than the end result and this will be beneficial to them in the long run but also schools need to back this idea. I think they are definitely coming around to the idea with not everything being based on one final exam to determine your whole life but the idea of continuous grading etc. Being a mature student and coming back to learning after 12 years gave me a whole different perspective on learning and assignments. Ive never been one to shy away from work and I am someone who always wants to learn more and do more but I can see the fixed mindset ideas I have coming through. I think as time goes on I will almost retrain my brain into a more growth mindset way of life (which I would be happy with).

Looking forward at this semester I can genuinely say I'm excited but I'm nervous. This module in particular is pushing me out of my comfort zone and its only Week 2 but hopefully for the better. I am someone who is not afraid to talk or exchange ideas and Im comfortable face to face with people I don't know but my online persona is something that I definitely need to work on. Hopefully this module will help me push past the fear and embrace the new me, a confident mature student both in person and digitally with a growth mindset and an A in multimedia Development.

Image Bibliography:

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset - Mindset Chart