Writing reflections on the work accomplished, makes me believe I can become a better writer just by asking myself a few questions. Sometimes, YOU can be your own worst critic. So criticizing yourself to great lengths, you know, you can always do better. Here’s a list at to what I saw could better and what I did, to write my own personal academic mindset.
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There are many examples in life as to why habits are hard to break. Your mind is a powerful structure that allows things to be prevented or accepted. Beliefs and behaviors come into action when it comes to the difference between a fixed mindset compared to a growth mindset. A fixed mindset has the power to praise the outcome, whether it be negative or positive result. A growth mindset is the “praise of the process.” I believe in the benefit of having a growth mindset. If you believe you have one mindset over the other, keep reading, because I may be able to convince you otherwise.
Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford University, backs up my beliefs with the research behind it to show how a growth mindset can really change one’s thinking and be beneficial for us all. “When you enter a mindset, you enter a new world. In one world (the world of fixed traits) success is about proving you’re smart or talented. Validating yourself. In the other (the world of changing qualities) it’s about stretching yourself to learn something new. Developing yourself.” In her article, ‘Carol Dweck Revisits the ‘Growth Mindset’, she makes a point that I have been debating myself about the schooling system most of all, and what type of mindset I have in an educational way. “In order to make them feel good in the moment: “Great effort! You tried your best!” It’s good that the students tried, but it’s not good that they’re not learning. The growth-mindset approach helps children feel good in the short and long terms, by helping them thrive on challenges and setbacks on their way to learning. When they’re stuck, teachers can appreciate their work so far, but add: “Let’s talk about what you’ve tried, and what you can try next.” What she means, is to try and motivate students to learn, instead of caring about grades. To have a grade say, “not yet” instead of “you failed.” It gives students the opportunity to succeed and to see the future of a passing and successful outcome of what they were trying to achieve, rather than having the same outcome if that student passed or failed, and not do anything about it. It is what it is, is what a fixed mindset would possibly say. “The education system is flawed!” says, Alfie Kohn. An American author and lecturer in the areas of education, parenting, and human behavior. Carol Dweck also goes on to say, the quote that I most agree with in her studies, “Cheat vs Study” So many times in my high school years, would most of my teachers, just give us credit for doing the work. Not looking over it, going over it, just having an assignment due. Of course to save ourselves from the work because we knew the teacher wasn’t going to check it anyway, we would copy all of our work off each other. Our test scores would be bad, but that only made the teacher want to put a curve on the test so we all would pass. However, that only lead us to cheating more. I can’t remember a damn thing I learned in that class, and I’m very regretful that I didn’t take the time to learn the subject instead of cheating my way through. I did that for most of my classes throughout high school. Why put out the work when you can get the same, or even better grade, getting to the same goal as you would studying? I had struggles learning with my I.E.P. involved, so why make my life more difficult? Was it my interest level? My drive for school? I just figured my mentality was a fixed mindset student. That's how the system is flawed. You can’t judge someone’s intelligence by the grades that they get. They could be earned by cheating or studying (the Cheat vs. Study method.) The process of a growth should be the key goal for every teacher to make with a student. Finding a way to encourage students to do it themselves, the drive to achieve greatness by themselves and for themselves. I’m gonna ask you a series of 7 questions. If you say yes to any one of these questions, you are more than likely, have a growth mindset: Are you accepting and embracing challenges? Are you seeing mistakes as learning opportunities? Are you seeking and listening to feedback? Are you persevering with difficult tasks? Are you practicing and using strategies to improve? Are you asking questions to drive learning forward? Are you taking risks and trying new things? If you say yes to all or most of those questions, you have a growth mindset mentality. Most fixed mindset people believe in Individuals who adopt a fixed mindset rarely excel at anything. Because they believe their intelligence and abilities are what they are, they invest their energy in looking smart instead of learning and developing. In a fixed mindset, if you try something you’ve never done before, say ice skating, you’ll likely give up after falling a few times. This “failure” will feel humiliating and you’ll probably avoid ice skating for the rest of your life. You’ll make an excuse like, “Ice skating just isn’t my thing.” If you believe someone is just a “natural born dancer” or that you “just can’t dance,” you’re holding a fixed mindset. With a fixed mindset, you avoid new challenges like the plague because you’re afraid of being judged. As such, when obstacles arise, you tend to give up quickly. (Scott Jeffery) If you don’t have a growth mindset, I hope this has opened your eyes as to how much improvement is being made in everyday life, and hopefully, has made you, the reader, see the difference your life view changes as a growth mindset, living in this world and the impact it really has. I belong in this academic community. I believe this is the most important attribute of my schooling education. Why? Research shows in an article about evidence on mindsets, “the experience of belongingness is associated with important psychological processes. Children who experience a sense of relatedness [in school]... perceive themselves to be more competent and autonomous and have higher levels of intrinsic motivation [than students with a low sense of belonging]. They have a stronger sense of identity but are also willing to conform to and adopt estab- lished norms and values. These inner resources in turn predict engagement and performance... [Students who experience belongingness] have more positive attitudes toward school, classwork, teachers, and their peers...They invest more of themselves in the learning process” I completely agree with this concept after experiencing it first hand.
I was in the 7th grade when my mom saw on my school grades, how I seemed to be struggling on tests on when I shouldn’t be. She kept me back a grade, by repeating the 8th grade, even though I passed it. Even though, I didn’t need that to happen. She decided to sign me up for testing, to see where my level as a student was. I remember the document of the results saying I was exceeding in math compares to other students, but I was not at the same level as other students in the class. I was given an I.E.P.The IEP is meant to address each child’s unique learning issues and include specific educational goals. It is a legally binding document. The school must provide everything it promises in the IEP. Going into high school, I was given this document saying how I can take tests at a later time, be given study guides to help me, turn in work late, even sometimes given answers on home works to help me as well. You would think most students would strive off of the fact they basically never have to do work, given this benefit. I absolutely hated the fact that I was getting different tests and different homework packets, just because I had a learning disability. I would get pulled out of homeroom every Tuesday with another kid, who also had an I.E.P., just to check up on us to see how we were doing, monitoring our grades every week. I hated it so much, I would never use it. I would struggle so much with high school, keeping up with everyone else, just so I wouldn’t be seen differently from everyone else, and treated like a normal student. I worked my ass off at school, but on the down low of course, just so I could be seen as a normal student. I graduated high school as an honor roll student. I worried a lot about college in general to see if I could keep up with an even higher level of schooling. I had a teacher in high school, named Mr. Lavery. He really motivated me to find a career path and do what I want to do, even though, what I want to major in, needed a lot of schooling, and one of the toughest majors to major in. Even though, I wasn’t necessarily like everyone else, in terms of intelligence or knowledge retaining ability, I still wanted to be seen like everyone else, and had to create my own way as being seen like a smarter student. I found ways that worked for my studying abilities, while remaining on track as a normal student who attended classes and never missed any time in homeroom. Fixed mindset versus a Growth mindset? The different sides and comparisons faced between both Carol Dweck and Alfie Kohn. Carol Dweck's article and Alfie Kohn's article. Carol Dweck’s main focus about a growth mindset, is to praise strategies and results, not efforts alone. “Kids with what she calls "fixed mindsets" stop trying when when confronted with a challenge because they've convinced themselves that they're not good at math or writing or whatever the subject is. She argues that adults can, instead, help foster a "growth mindset" – the belief that the brain is like a muscle that can grow stronger through hard work.” She states later in her article that praising effort alone, does not work. Regardless as to if the answers were right, “at least you tried hard!” What if they didn’t make progress or didn’t learn? Alfie Kohn states in his article; “things like grades, tests, and, worst of all, competition — to become more focused on achievement than on the learning itself. Training them to think about effort more than ability does nothing to address the fact, confirmed by several educational psychologists, that too much emphasis on performance undermines intellectual engagement. Just as with praise, betting everything on a shift from ability to effort may miss what matters most.”
A growth mindset is explained as that people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment,” by miss Dweck. A fixed mindset is described as people believing their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. After reading both of these articles, I agreed with both statements as they somewhat pursue me as to what type of mindset I would classify myself under. I agree with the fact that the knowledge you are born with is your natural intelligence. However, with practice and different strategies to go about things, can increase your basic knowledge. Some people have more of a natural skill when it comes to others. However, I do believe that believing that you can do something can dramatically affect the outcome when trying to complete the task at hand. |
Melanie
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