Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

What a Growth Mindset Is and Is Not
A growth mindset is about believing people can develop their abilities. It’s that
simple.  It  can  have  many  repercussions,  but  that’s  what  it  is  at  its  core.
Nonetheless, many people project a different meaning onto it.
Misunderstanding #1. Many people take what they like about themselves and
call it a “growth mindset.” If they’re open-minded or flexible, they say they have
a growth mindset. I often hear people calling it an “open mindset.” But there’s a
difference  between  being  flexible  or  open-minded  and  being  dedicated  to
growing  talent.  And  if  people  drift  away  from  the  actual  meaning  of  a  growth
mindset, they drift away from its benefits. They can bask in their own wonderful
qualities but they may never do the hard work of cultivating their own abilities
or the abilities of their children or students.
Misunderstanding  #2.  Many  people  believe  that  a  growth  mindset  is  only
about  effort,  especially  praising  effort.  I  talked  earlier  about  how  praising  the
process  children  engage  in—their  hard  work,  strategies,  focus,  perseverance—
can  foster  a  growth  mindset.  In  this  way,  children  learn  that  the  process  they
engage  in  brings  about  progress  and  learning,  and  that  their  learning  does  not
just magically flow from some innate ability.
The first important thing to remember here is that the process includes more
than just effort. Certainly, we want children to appreciate the fruits of hard work.
But  we  also  want  them  to  understand  the  importance  of  trying  new  strategies
when the one they’re using isn’t working. (We don’t want them to just try harder
with the same ineffective strategy.) And we want them to ask for help or input
from  others  when  it’s  needed.  This  is  the  process  we  want  them  to  appreciate:
hard work, trying new strategies, and seeking input from others.
Another  pitfall  is  praising  effort  (or  any  part  of  the  process)  that’s  not  there.
More than once, parents have said to me, “I praise my child’s effort but it’s not
working.” I immediately ask, “Was your child actually trying hard?” “Well, not
really,” comes the sheepish reply. We should never think that praising a process
that is not there will bring good results.
But  a  problem  that’s  of  even  greater  concern  to  me  is  the  fact  that  some
teachers and coaches are using effort praise as a consolation prize when kids are
not learning. If a student has tried hard and made little or no progress, we can of
course appreciate their effort, but we should never be content with effort that is
not  yielding  further  benefits.  We  need  to  figure  out  why  that  effort  is  not
effective and guide kids toward other strategies and resources that can help them

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resume learning.
Recently, someone asked me, “What keeps you up at night?” And I said, “It’s
the  fear  that  the  mindset  concept  will  be  used  to  make  kids  feel  good  when
they’re  not  learning—just  like  the  failed  self-esteem  movement.”  The  growth
mindset is meant to help kids learn, not to paper over the fact that they are not
learning.
Finally, when people realize I’m the mindset person, they often say, “Oh, yea!
Praise  the  process  not  the  outcome,  right?”  Well,  not  quite.  This  is  such  a
common  misconception.  In  all  of  our  research  on  praise,  we  indeed  praise  the
process, but we tie it to the outcome, that is, to children’s learning, progress, or
achievements. Children need to understand that engaging in that process helped
them learn.
Not long ago, a mother told me how very frustrating it was that she was not
allowed  to  praise  her  daughter  when  the  child  did  something  wonderful—that
she could only praise her when she was struggling. No! No! No! Of course you
can  appreciate  your  children’s  wonderful  accomplishments,  but  then  tie  those
accomplishments to the process they engaged in.
And  remember,  we  don’t  have  to  always  be  praising.  Inquiring  about  the
child’s process and just showing interest in it goes a very long way.
Misunderstanding  #3.  A  growth  mindset  equals  telling  kids  they  can  do
anything. Many’s the time I’ve heard educators say, “I’ve always had a growth
mindset. I always tell my students, ‘You can do anything!’
 ” Few people believe
in  children’s  potential  as  much  as  I  do,  or  yearn  to  see  all  children  fulfill  their
enormous  promise.  But  it  doesn’t  happen  by  simply  telling  them,  “You  can  do
anything.”  It  happens  by  helping  them  gain  the  skills  and  find  the  resources  to
make progress toward their goals. Otherwise, it’s an empty reassurance. It puts
the  onus  entirely  on  the  student  and  may  make  them  feel  like  a  failure  if  they
don’t reach their goals.
One  final  word  about  putting  the  onus  on  the  student.  It  broke  my  heart  to
learn  that  some  educators  and  coaches  were  blaming  kids  for  having  a  fixed
mindset—scolding  or  criticizing  them  for  not  displaying  growth-mindset
qualities.  Notice  that  these  adults  were  absolving  themselves  of  the
responsibility,  not  only  for  teaching  a  growth  mindset  but  also  for  the  child’s
learning: “I can’t teach this child. He has a fixed mindset.” Let’s be totally clear
here.  We  as  educators  must  take  seriously  our  responsibility  to  create  growth-
mindset-friendly environments—where kids feel safe from judgment, where they

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understand that we believe in their potential to grow, and where they know that
we are totally dedicated to collaborating with them on their learning. We are in
the business of helping kids thrive, not finding reasons why they can’t.