Week 11 Stanford Podcast

In this video podcast Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, compares a "Growth" mindset and a "Fixed" mindset. She believes that there are two categories of students. The students that have a growth mindset are hard workers, and are finding ways to increase their intelligence. The other group of students have a fixed mindset and only choose activities that will show that they are intelligent. The students in this group do not try to branch out or try things to stretch their minds or to make their neurons work harder. Professor Dweck offered 8 sessions to students and split them into two groups. One group was offered study skills plus growth mindset lessons and the other group was offered just study skill lessons. The group that was offered the growth mind set lessons were exposed to articles about growing the mind and took part in discussions about a growth mindset. These students used the study skills lessons that were offered to them and used them in their classes. After the 8 week sessions the group had a rebound in grades and teachers could pick out the students who had taken the growth mindset lessons. The students who did not receive the growth mindset lessons did not do well, grades went down, and were not motivated to put the study skills into practice.

Professor Dweck also is working in conjunction with a race car driver on her topic of mind growth. The race car driver read her book and wants her to help him grow his mind with his racing. She believes that she can help the race car driver to have a growth mind set in order to learn from his mistakes and become a better race car driver.

I know this professor has written a book and done major research, but what she is saying is not anything new or profound. Teachers have been dealing with these types of students for a very long time. In a class room a teacher is going to have the students who try to appear smart, who are smart, and who try really hard to be smart. I know that as a professional I am not suppose to have favorites, but my favorite student is the one who gives 110% every day. They do not have to be the most intelligent, or make the best grades. They just have to be a hard worker. Watching this podcast has solidified the fact that we should not only expect our students to learn from their mistakes, but we, as teachers, should learn from ours. We should be able to admit to our students when we mess up. This would be leading them by example. They would be able to see that it is ok to mess up and that teachers are still in the learning process too. Teachers also need to be very mindful of the students who are trying to grow their minds, and try to encourage these children to take get out of the comfort zone of learning. Learn things that are not fun or interesting. STRETCH those Neurons!!!! I have taken many classes (most all of my graduate school classes) that made my head hurt and that I hated, but I didn't give up. And I came out on the other side with a great degree and even better than that a confidence in myself that I would have missed out on. This is what we should want for our students.