Teaching You How to Think Right

Fixed vs. Growth (Malleable) mindset. 

What is that? 

Well...

It's a way of thinking about education (intelligence/knowledge). It's how one perceives one's own intelligence. A person with a fixed mindset believes that they are cable of a set amount of knowledge and cannot go beyond that limit. Someone with a growth or malleable mindset believes that knowledge is endless and you are not born with a set amount of knowledge  (which is GOOD!).

Now, it's true that some people are faster learners or have natural talents. However, that doesn't mean that if you don't have a natural talent, you can't learn that knowledge. 

It's very important for children to be taught about these mindsets because it can be detrimental to your child's learning. Children with growth mindsets will seek challenges and not be discouraged when they fail. Whereas, fixed mindset children will often give up when they don't reach the desired results.  

There are certain ways to praise children on accomplishments in order for them to think with a growth mindset. This is effort vs. ability. It's important to praise children on effort by saying things like, "I like how you tried different methods to come to the end results." Whereas, praising for ability would be something like, "You're really smart." 

By praising kids on ability, you are reinforcing the idea that there is a certain knowledge limit which they have reached, therefore they will not seek challenges. However, by encouraging effort you are reinforcing the idea that knowledge can be discovered by trial and error. It is OKAY to mess up. In fact, it's good. It's natural and it's a major part of learning. 

It's so important that you address the fixed and growth mindset and assure that you are not causing your child or students to have a fixed mindset. Learning is endless!   

If you are interested, there are A LOT of articles, books, academic journals, etc, on this topic. This was just a brief summary. I've read multiple chapters and articles on the topic. A great schooling book in general is "Why School" by Mike Rose. You can also check out more about learning theory in "Organizational Application of Social Cognitive Theory" by Albert Bandura.

Here's a website with a little more detail about it. 

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

Thanks for reading! This is just something I think is important to asses in children (and even yourself!). Please comment on your opinions (if you have any). Thanks :)