What is your mindset?

A•I prefer writing tasks that challenge me, even if I don’t succeed at first.

B•I prefer kinds of writing that I am already good at, and I avoid writing if I might make a mistake.

What is your mindset?

C •I think that people can become better writers with practice and instruction.

D•I think some people are naturally talented writers who do not have to learn to write.

What is your mindset?

E•If I get critical feedback or make a mistake, I need to work harder and get more feedback.

F•If I get critical feedback or make a mistake, I must not be good at what I am doing.

Growth and Fixed Mindsets

Answers B, D, and F

Do you notice these attitudes in students?

What effect does it have on them?

I prefer kinds of writing that I am

already good at, and I avoid writing if I

might make a mistake.

I think some people are naturally

talented writers who do not have to learn

to write.

I think some people are naturally

talented writers who do not have to

learn to write.

Fixed Mindset

• Skills are uncontrollable and pre-determined

• Can lead to:– Giving up– Avoidance– Performance focus– Devaluing effort– Blame and helplessness Also called “Entity View” or “Goal

Oriented”

Terrell Owens• GB: I've always wanted to hear

this from TO. Your theory of "If you got it, flaunt it."

• TO: It's basically just being confident in who you are. It's like if you and I were in a contest or we were going out to the beach, you would probably be reluctant to take your shirt off. Right, but in my case, I work out, I feel like I have a nice body, then I wouldn't have a problem taking my shirt off. I have a number of friends who tell me if they had my body they would probably walk around naked. So that's basically where that comes from. You just got to be confident in who you are, and don't let anybody say or tell you anything different.

Juan Manuel MarquezOn losing to Manny

Pacquiao:

"This is the second robbery of the two that we had, and I think this was even more clear than the first… We won with the clearer punches. The audience protested because they saw us win again. I thought I got robbed. It happens again and again. I don't know what else I can do to win."

When have you found yourself in a fixed mindset?

What were the benefits and drawbacks?

Other Favorite Fixed Mindsetters

Answers A, C, and E

I prefer writing tasks that challenge me,

even if I don’t succeed at first.

I think that people can become better writers

with practice and instruction.

If I get critical feedback or make a mistake, I need to work harder

and get more feedback.

Do you notice these attitudes in students?

What effect does it have on them?

Growth Mindset

• Skills are malleable and accumulative

• Can lead to:– Perseverance– Seeking challenge– Learning focus– Valuing effort– Responsibility

Also called “Incremental View”Or “Mastery Oriented”

Drew BreesWhat do you like best about

golf?I love just how hard a game it is. It's something you can never master. You can get close, but it's one of those games that keep you coming back for more. As frustrating as it can be at times, that one great shot or one great hole keeps you coming back.… You're still working toward something: you're trying to birdie every hole, you're trying to play better than your handicap. And you play golf with people you like. There are so many great elements to it.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee“Some might attribute my transformation to the laws of heredity…. But I think it was my reward for all those hours of hard work on the bridle path, the neighborhood sidewalks and the schoolhouse corridors…. There is something about seeing myself improve that motivates and excites me. It’s that way now, after six Olympic medals and five world records. And it was that way when I was in junior high, just starting to enter track meets.”

When have you found

yourself in a growth

mindset? What were the benefits

and drawbacks?

Other Favorite Growth Mindsetters

Mindset Warning Signs

Discussion

• Where do you think your mindset comes from? Where do you think your students’ mindsets come from?

• Do you want to change your mindset? Why or why not?

Changing your mindsetStep 1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”• approaching a challenge• hitting a setback • facing criticism

Step 2. Recognize that you have a choice.

Step 3. Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.

Step 4. Take the growth mindset action.

Example: “How to Be Creative”Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal

Creativity can seem like magic. We look at people like Steve Jobs and Bob Dylan, and we conclude that they must possess supernatural powers denied to mere mortals like us, gifts that allow them to imagine what has never existed before. They're "creative types." We're not….

But creativity is not magic, and there's no such thing as a creative type. Creativity is not a trait that we inherit in our genes or a blessing bestowed by the angels. It's a skill. Anyone can learn to be creative and to get better at it. New research is shedding light on what allows people to develop world-changing products and to solve the toughest problems. A surprisingly concrete set of lessons has emerged about what creativity is and how to spark it in ourselves and our work.

Example: “How to Be Creative”Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal

• James Dolan Replied: This is part of the myth that's perpetuated by this class which says "you can be anything you want to be" rather than "find what you do best and work hard to refine it." It results in a lot of disappointed and frustrated people doing mediocre work.

• Gary Wilmot Replied: "I have always been able to do it" . . .well, fine for you, but what about those that want to learn to do something other than just what comes naturally to them? Just tell them not to "perpetuate the myth" . . . ? Being satisfied with what only comes easy to you sounds a lot like the exact opposite of innovation.

Example: “How to Be Creative”Jonah Lehrer, Wall Street Journal

Avner Mandelman Wrote: The idea that all people have the same potential… is nonsense. People are different, and even different groups of people are different. Pigmies are shorter, Masai are taller. Sure, you can train the first at great expense to play basketball and do long jumps, but why not train the Masai instead? Similarly, some humans are much more creative, others much less. Forcing a non-creative person to be creative is like forcing an introvert to become a salesman-- or a pigmy to play basketball. You can do it, sure. But it's a waste of resources, bad management, and bad social politics….A non creative person can be made into Artistic Director, just as a pigmy may indeed be taught to play basketball, but the chances of either being good at what they are inherently bad at would be so low that encouraging them borders on the irresponsible. Instead of such false egalitarian theories, why not invest time and effort in trying to find people's inherent different abilities (and inabilities), and make sure they can contribute to society-- and to themselves-- in the best way they are capable of?

Further Reading

“How Not to Talk to Your Kids”New York Magazine

Further, Further ReadingFour mistaken beliefs:

1. Students with high ability are more likely to display “mastery oriented” qualities

2. Success in school directly fosters mastery-oriented qualities

3. Praise, particularly praising a student’s intelligence, encourages mastery-oriented qualities

4. Students’ confidence in their intelligence is the key to mastery-oriented qualities