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Opinion

For many years, I secretly worked on my research. I say "secretly" because, once upon a time, researchers simply published their research in professional journals-and there it stayed.

However, my colleagues and I learned things we thought people needed to know. We found that students' mindsets-how they perceive their abilities-played a key role in their motivation and achievement, and we found that if we changed students' mindsets, we could boost their achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset). And when students learned through a structured program that they could "grow their brains" and increase their intellectual abilities, they did better. Finally, we found that having children focus on the process that leads to learning (like hard work or trying new strategies) could foster a growth mindset and its benefits.

So a few years back, I published my book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success to share these discoveries with educators. And many educators have applied the mindset principles in spectacular ways with tremendously gratifying results.

This is wonderful, and the good word continues to spread. But as we've watched the growth mindset become more popular, we've become much wiser about how to implement it. This learning-the common pitfalls, the misunderstandings, and what to do about them-is what I'd like to share with you, so that we can maximize the benefits for our students.

A growth mindset isn't just about effort. Perhaps the most common misconception is simply equating the growth mindset with effort. Certainly, effort is key for students' achievement, but it's not the only thing. Students need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they're stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches-not just sheer effort-to learn and improve.

We also need to remember that effort is a means to an end to the goal of learning and improving. Too often nowadays, praise is given to students who are putting forth effort, but not learning, 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."

Recently, someone asked what keeps me up at night. It's the fear that the mindset concepts, which grew up to counter the failed self-esteem movement, will be used to perpetuate that movement. In other words, if you want to make students feel good, even if they're not learning, just praise their effort! Want to hide learning gaps from them? Just tell them, "Everyone is smart!" The growth mindset was intended to help close achievement gaps, not hide them. It is about telling the truth about a student's current achievement and then, together, doing something about it, helping him or her become smarter.

I also fear that the mindset work is sometimes used to justify why some students aren't learning: "Oh, he has a fixed mindset." We used to blame the child's environment or ability.

Must it always come back to finding a reason why some children just can't learn, as opposed to finding a way to help them learn? Teachers who understand the growth mindset do everything in their power to unlock that learning.

A few years ago, my colleague in Australia, Susan Mackie, detected an outbreak of what she called "false growth mindset." She was seeing educators who claimed to have a growth mindset, but whose words and actions didn't reflect it. At first, I was skeptical. But before long, I saw it, too, and I understood why.

In many quarters, a growth mindset had become the right thing to have, the right way to think. It was as though educators were faced with a choice: Are you an enlightened person who fosters students' well-being? Or are you an unenlightened person, with a fixed mindset, who undermines them? So, of course, many claimed the growth-mindset identity. But the path to a growth mindset is a journey, not a proclamation.

Let's look at what happens when teachers, or parents, claim a growth mindset, but don't follow through. In recent research, Kathy Liu Sun found that there were many math teachers who endorsed a growth mindset and even said the words "growth mindset" in their middle school math classes, but did not follow through in their classroom practices. In these cases, their students tended to endorse more of a fixed mindset about their math ability. My advisee and research collaborator Kyla Haimovitz and I are finding many parents who endorse a growth mindset, but react to their children's mistakes as though they are problematic or harmful, rather than helpful. In these cases, their children develop more of a fixed mindset about their intelligence.

Kathy Liu Sun: Stop Killing Kids' Math Curiosity

How can we help educators adopt a deeper, true growth mindset, one that will show in their classroom practices? You may be surprised by my answer: Let's legitimize the fixed mindset. Let's acknowledge that (1) we're all a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, (2) we will probably always be, and (3) if we want to move closer to a growth mindset in our thoughts and practices, we need to stay in touch with our fixed-mindset thoughts and deeds.

If we "ban" the fixed mindset, we will surely create false growth-mindsets. (By the way, I also fear that if we use mindset measures for accountability, we will create false growth mindsets on an unprecedented scale.) But if we watch carefully for our fixed-mindset triggers, we can begin the true journey to a growth mindset.

What are your triggers?
Watch for a fixed-mindset reaction when you face challenges. Do you feel overly anxious, or does a voice in your head warn you away? Watch for it when you face a setback in your teaching, or when students aren't listening or learning. Do you feel incompetent or defeated? Do you look for an excuse? Watch to see whether criticism brings out your fixed mindset. Do you become defensive, angry, or crushed instead of interested in learning from the feedback? Watch what happens when you see an educator who's better than you at something you value. Do you feel envious and threatened, or do you feel eager to learn? Accept those thoughts and feelings and work with and through them. And keep working with and through them.

My colleagues and I are taking a growth-mindset stance toward our message to educators. Maybe we originally put too much emphasis on sheer effort. Maybe we made the development of a growth mindset sound too easy. Maybe we talked too much about people having one mindset or the other, rather than portraying people as mixtures. We are on a growth-mindset journey, too.

Published in Print: September 23, 2015, as Growth Mindset, Revisited

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Carol Dweck Revisits the 'Growth Mindset'

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Opinion For many years, I secretly worked on my research. I say "secretly" because, once upon a time, researchers simply published their research in professional journals-and there it stayed. However, my colleagues and I learned things we thought people needed to know.

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The incredible research by Carol Dweck and her colleagues on the power of mindset in learning has become pervasive in education. The concept of growth mindset shows that contrary to popular belief, people aren't born smart. Instead, we become smart as a result of hard work, productive effort, and feedback.

The idea is quickly gaining traction. In a recent national survey, 97 percent of teachers agreed that all students can and should have a growth mindset, and that same number said fostering a growth mindset is an important part of a teacher's job. Yet only 50 percent said they have adequate solutions and strategies to shift mindset.

This is why growth mindset is not working in schools-at least, not yet. Shifting mindset requires students to build new skills, specifically to understand and get better at the process of learning.

Currently, we try to foster a growth mindset largely through lessons and supportive language. Students learn that the brain is like a muscle, and it gets stronger the harder we work it. Teachers often use phrases such as: " You haven't gotten it...yet." and " Keep practicing and you'll get better."

Other EdSurge stories about growth mindset

While these strategies are a good starting point, they don't attack the gap in skills. Students need to connect their hard work with growth. We can't just tell them the link is there; they must track it themselves to believe it. They need to learn how to evaluate their own effort, set ambitious, but achievable goals, and come up with alternative learning strategies when they struggle-rather than simply "try harder."

Not all learning strategies are created equal

A 5th grader named Jonathan illustrates this point perfectly. Every week, his class learned 15 new words and took a vocabulary quiz on Friday. And every week, he failed the quiz. I asked him how he was learning the words. He said that he copied the definitions from the dictionary, just like everyone else. But since English was his second language, he often didn't understand the definitions themselves.

"Ah, ok. This learning strategy isn't working for you," I told him. "Let's come up with another one." He was incredulous. He figured the problem was with him, not with his learning strategy. His experience validated fixed mindset even further: " I'm working really hard and I'm still not getting it. I guess I'm just not smart enough." He didn't have the skills to identify the flaw in the copying-the-dictionary strategy, and he didn't know how to come up with another way to learn the words.

Today, we often rely on teachers to develop and adjust learning strategies in the classroom. Instead, we should help students do this for themselves. We must teach them evaluation, reflection and self-advocacy skills and give them opportunities to practice and get better. That is what will make them growth-oriented, lifelong learners.

Jonathan and I brainstormed together, and he came up with two new ways to learn his vocabulary: one, by asking peers to explain the definitions in their own words; and two, by finding the words in a sentence to get contextual clues. Once he tries these strategies, he'll need to reflect on each to see how they are working. Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Practice, practice, practice.

I recently left my district role to figure out a way for students to build and practice these critical mindset skills. I observe students as they set goals, track their own performance, and reflect on their learning strategies. As expected, they aren't very good at it at first. But with feedback and guidance, they get better. Over time, armed with the necessary skills, I hope they will be able to truly exercise a growth mindset as they pursue their dreams.

Rupa Gupta (@rupa_c_g) is a founder of Sown to Grow. She was previously Redesign Administrator at Burnett Middle School in San Jose, Calif.

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Why Growth Mindset Isn't Working in Schools...Yet (EdSurge News)

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The incredible research by Carol Dweck and her colleagues on the power of mindset in learning has become pervasive in education. The concept of growth mindset shows that contrary to popular belief, people aren't born smart. Instead, we become smart as a result of hard work, productive effort,

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Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset

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Examples of a false growth mindset include praising effort over progress, affirming students’ potential without enabling them, and blaming their mindset instead of refocusing it.

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Helping children confront challenges requires a more nuanced understanding of the "growth mindset."

As a young researcher, Carol Dweck was fascinated by how some children faced challenges and failures with aplomb while others shrunk back. Dweck, now a psychologist at Stanford University, eventually identified two core mindsets, or beliefs, about one's own traits that shape how people approach challenges: "fixed mindset," the belief that one's abilities were carved in stone and predetermined at birth, and "growth mindset," the belief that one's skills and qualities could be cultivated through effort and perseverance. Her findings brought the concepts of fixed and growth mindsets to the fore for educators and parents, inspiring the implementation of her ideas among teachers-and even companies -across the country.

But Dweck recently noticed a trend: a widespread embrace of what she refers to as "false growth mindset"-a misunderstanding of the idea's core message. Growth mindset's popularity was leading some educators to believe that it was simpler than it was, that it was only about putting forth effort or that a teacher could foster growth mindset merely by telling kids to try hard. A teacher might applaud a child for making an effort on a science test even if he'd failed it, for instance, believing that doing so would promote growth mindset in that student regardless of the outcome. But such empty praise can exacerbate some of the very problems that growth mindset is intended to counter. A new edition of Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, updated to address false growth mindset, comes out at the end of this month. I recently spoke with Dweck about how she wants her ideas to be applied. The interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Christine Gross-Loh: Could you tell me about the development of the idea of growth mindset? What was it intended to correct? What were you seeing that you felt growth mindset would help improve?

Carol Dweck: I've always been interested, since graduate school, in why some children wilt and shrink back from challenges and give up in the face of obstacles, while others avidly seek challenges and become even more invested in the face of obstacles. So this has been my primary question for over 40 years. At some point, my graduate students and I realized that a student's mindset was at the foundation of whether [he or she] loved challenges and persisted in the face of failure.

When students had more of a fixed mindset-the idea that abilities are carved in stone, that you have a certain amount and that's that-they saw challenges as risky. They could fail, and their basic abilities would be called into question. When they hit obstacles, setbacks, or criticism, this was just more proof that they didn't have the abilities that they cherished.

In contrast, when students had more of a growth mindset, they held the view that talents and abilities could be developed and that challenges were the way to do it. Learning something new, something hard, sticking to things-that's how you get smarter. Setbacks and feedback weren't about your abilities, they were information you could use to help yourself learn. With a growth mindset, kids don't necessarily think that there's no such thing as talent or that everyone is the same, but they believe everyone can develop their abilities through hard work, strategies, and lots of help and mentoring from others.

Gross-Loh: When I first interviewed you about growth mindset a few years ago, I remember that it was a relatively unknown idea. But growth mindset is now so popular that I'll hear people who aren't steeped in educational theory say, "Praise the effort, not the child (or the outcome)." Why do you think this idea struck such a chord, and how did you find out there were people misunderstanding it?
"Nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time."
Dweck: Many educators were dissatisfied with drilling for high-stakes tests. They understood that student motivation had been a neglected area, especially of late. So many educators, as well as many parents, were excited to implement something that might reenergize kids to focus on learning again, not just memorization and test taking, but on deeper, more joyful learning.

But a colleague of mine, Susan Mackie, was doing workshops with educators in Australia and observed that many of them were saying they got growth mindset and were running with it, but did not understand it deeply. She told me, "I'm seeing a lot of false growth mindset." I just did not get it initially-growth mindset is a very straightforward concept, and besides, why would people settle for a false growth mindset if they could have a real one? But I started keeping a list of all the ways people were misunderstanding growth mindset. When the list got long enough, I started speaking and writing about it.

Gross-Loh: Could you elaborate on false growth mindset?

Dweck: False growth mindset is saying you have growth mindset when you don't really have it or you don't really understand [what it is]. It's also false in the sense that nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time. Everyone is a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets. You could have a predominant growth mindset in an area but there can still be things that trigger you into a fixed mindset trait. Something really challenging and outside your comfort zone can trigger it, or, if you encounter someone who is much better than you at something you pride yourself on, you can think "Oh, that person has ability, not me." So I think we all, students and adults, have to look for our fixed-mindset triggers and understand when we are falling into that mindset.

I think a lot of what happened [with false growth mindset among educators] is that instead of taking this long and difficult journey, where you work on understanding your triggers, working with them, and over time being able to stay in a growth mindset more and more, many educators just said, "Oh yeah, I have a growth mindset" because either they know it's the right mindset to have or they understood it in a way that made it seem easy.

Gross-Loh: Why do you think these misunderstandings occurred?

Dweck: Many people understood growth mindset deeply and implemented it in a very sophisticated and effective way. However, there were many others who understood it in a way that wasn't quite accurate, or distilled it down to something that wasn't quite effective, or assimilated it into something they already knew.

Often when we see kids who aren't learning well, we might feel frustrated or defensive, thinking it reflects on us as educators. It's often tempting to not feel it is our fault. So we might say the child has a fixed mindset, without understanding instead that, as educators, it is our responsibility to create a context in which a growth mindset can flourish.

Gross-Loh: So it seems that the danger is that some teachers think they have growth mindset and believe it will transfer to their students, even though they themselves don't really understand it. How about this: Are there educators who do understand the idea that abilities can be developed but don't understand how to pass it on to students? Are there certain children who are more vulnerable to this sort of misunderstanding of growth mindset?

Dweck: Yes, another misunderstanding [of growth mindset] that might apply to lower-achieving children is the oversimplification of growth mindset into just [being about] effort. Teachers were just praising effort that was not effective, saying "Wow, you tried really hard!" But students know that if they didn't make progress and you're praising them, it's a consolation prize. They also know you think they can't do any better. So this kind of growth-mindset idea was misappropriated to try to make kids feel good when they were not achieving.

The mindset ideas were developed as a counter to the self-esteem movement of blanketing everyone with praise, whether deserved or not. To find out that teachers were using it in the same way was of great concern to me. The whole idea of growth-mindset praise is to focus on the learning process. When you focus on effort, [you have to] show how effort created learning progress or success.

Gross-Loh: What should people do to avoid falling into this trap?

Dweck: A lot of parents or teachers say praise the effort, not the outcome. I say [that's] wrong: Praise the effort that led to the outcome or learning progress; tie the praise to it. It's not just effort, but strategy ... so support the student in finding another strategy. Effective teachers who actually have classrooms full of children with a growth mindset are always supporting children's learning strategies and showing how strategies created that success.

Students need to know that if they're stuck, they don't need just effort. You don't want them redoubling their efforts with the same ineffective strategies. You want them to know when to ask for help and when to use resources that are available.

All of this is part of the process that needs to be taught and tied to learning.
"Focus on the learning process and show how hard work, good strategies, and good use of resources lead to better learning."
Gross-Loh: Is there a right way to praise kids and encourage them to do well?

Dweck: Many parents and teachers who themselves have growth mindset aren't passing it on because they are trying to protect the child's confidence, focus on the child's ability, and kind of boost the child's view or protect the child from a failure. They're conveying anxiety about ability.

But we have a new line of research (with my former graduate student, Kyla Haimovitz) showing that the way a parent reacts to a child's failure conveys a mindset to a child regardless of the parent's mindset. If parents react to their child's failures as though there is something negative, if they rush in, are anxious, reassure the child, "Oh not everyone can be good at math, don't worry, you're good at other things," the child gets it that no, this is important, and it's fixed. That child is developing a fixed mindset, even if the parent has a growth mindset.

But if the parent reacts to a child's failure as though it's something that enhances learning, asking, "Okay, what is this teaching us? Where should we go next? Should we talk to the teacher about how we can learn this better?" that child comes to understand that abilities can be developed.

So, with praise, focus on "process praise"-focus on the learning process and show how hard work, good strategies, and good use of resources lead to better learning. Be matter-of-fact, with not too strong or too passive a reaction.

You can see evidence of fixed mindset as young as 3.5 or 4 years old; that's when mindsets can start becoming evident, where some kids are very upset when they make a mistake or get criticized and fall into a helpless place. That's when children become able to evaluate themselves. We collaborated ... with researchers from the University of Chicago who had a longitudinal project with videotape of mother-child interactions. What we found was the more praise was process-oriented-not a ton, just where the greater proportion of the praise was process praise [versus outcome praise]-the more those children had a growth mindset and a high desire for challenge five years later, when they were in second grade.

Gross-Loh: That's very helpful to know for parents of young children. But what about older kids who might feel discouraged and worn-down after years of feeling that they weren't smart enough or a fear that they would never be able to be successful? Is it ever too late to foster a growth mindset in students?

Dweck: No-we've developed a number of online workshops addressed at adolescents and shown that when we teach [those] students a growth mindset, many of them regain their motivation to learn and achieve higher grades, especially students who have been struggling or students who have been laboring under a negative stereotype about [their own] abilities.

Research conducted last year by my former graduate student, David Yeager [now a professor at the University of Texas], on 18,000 students entering ninth grade, shows us that students who took growth-mindset workshops are seeking more challenges.

You can't tell adolescents, "We're adults, we have the answer, and we're going to tell you what it is." So we said, "We're scientists from Stanford University and the University of Texas, and we need your help. We're experts on the brain and how students learn, but you're the experts on being a freshman in high school and we'd like your input for a program we're developing for future freshmen."

We then taught them about how the teenage brain is especially open to learning. We talked about how it's a time of great plasticity, a time they need to take advantage of, and that they can grow their brains through taking on hard tasks in school and sticking to them. We had the students write a letter to a struggling freshman, counseling that person in terms of the growth-mindset principle, which is often very persuasive. We had testimonials from some public figures, talking about how a growth mindset got them to where they were.

Finally we talked about why someone would want a growth mindset. We realized that some kids would be overjoyed to hear you can develop your intellectual abilities, but others might not think it was the most exciting thing. So we then had a whole section on why you might want to develop your mind. Teenagers are really excited about the idea that they can do something to make the world a better place. So we asked them what they want to make their contribution to in the future-family, community, or societal problems-and then talked about how having a strong mind could help them make their future contribution.

We're excited about this because we know the world of the future is going to be about taking on ill-defined, hard jobs that keep changing. It's going to favor people who relish those challenges and know how to fix them. We are committed to creating a nation of learners.

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development of the idea of growth mindset

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Don't Let Praise Become a Consolation Prize

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Helping children confront challenges requires a more nuanced understanding of the "growth mindset," says the psychologist Carol Dweck.

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To help students face life’s challenges, teachers should seek to help them develop a broad set of skills.

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10 questions pour cultiver la persévérance chez les enfants (et instaurer un état d'esprit de développement)

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10 questions pour instaurer un état d'esprit de développement chez les enfants (pour une nouvelle psychologie de la réussite). Téléchargement gratuit sous forme de cartes.

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Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve

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Carol Dweck researches "growth mindset" - the idea that we can grow our brain's capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that's slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it ...

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SALON

August 16, 2015

What We Miss By Focusing on Kids' Attitudes

The emphasis on effort in Dweck's "growth mindset" is most notable for the larger questions it discourages us from asking.

By Alfie Kohn

One of the most popular ideas in education these days can be summarized in a single sentence - a fact that may help to account for its popularity. Here's the sentence: Kids tend to fare better when they regard intelligence and other abilities not as fixed traits that they either have or lack, but as attributes that can be improved through effort.

In a series of monographs over many years and in a book published in 2000, psychologist Carol Dweck used the label "incremental theory" to describe the self-fulfilling belief that one can become smarter. Rebranding it more catchily as "growth mindset" allowed her to recycle the idea a few years later in a best-selling book for general readers and an on-line "step by step" instructional program called Brainology® that is said to "raise student achievement by helping them develop a growth mindset" ($6,000 for the all-inclusive kit).

By now, in fact, the phrase "growth mindset" has approached the status of a cultural meme and is repeated with uncritical enthusiasm by educators and a growing number of parents, managers, and journalists - to the point that one half expects supporters to start referring to their smartphones as "effortphones." But, like the buzz over the related concept known as "grit" (a form of self-discipline involving long-term persistence), there's something disconcerting about how the idea has been used - and about the broader assumption that what students most need is a "mindset" adjustment.

Unlike grit, which, as I've argued elsewhere, is driven more by conservative ideology than by solid research, Dweck's basic thesis is supported by decades' worth of good data. It's not just the habit of attributing your failure to being stupid that holds you back but also the habit of attributing your success to being smart. Regardless of their track record, kids tend to do better in the future if they believe that how well they did in the past was primarily a result of effort.

But "how well they did" at what?

The problem with sweeping, generic claims about the power of attitudes or beliefs isn't just a risk of overstating the benefits but a tendency to divert attention from the nature of the tasks themselves: How valuable are they, and who gets to decide whether they must be done? Dweck is a research psychologist, not an educator, so her inattention to the particulars of classroom assignments is understandable. Unfortunately, even some people who are educators would rather convince students they need to adopt a more positive attitude than address the quality of the curriculum (what the students are being taught) or the pedagogy (how they're being taught).

An awful lot of schooling still consists of making kids cram forgettable facts into short-term memory. And the kids themselves are seldom consulted about what they're doing, even though genuine excitement about (and proficiency at) learning rises when they're brought into the process, invited to search for answers to their own questions and engage in extended projects. Outstanding classrooms and schools - with a rich documentary record of their successes - show that the quality of education itself can be improved. But books, articles, TED talks, and teacher-training sessions devoted to the wonders of adopting a growth mindset rarely bother to ask whether the curriculum is meaningful, whether the pedagogy is thoughtful, or whether the assessment of students' learning is authentic (as opposed to defining success merely as higher scores on dreadful standardized tests).

Small wonder that this idea goes down so easily. All we have to do is get kids to adopt the right attitude, to think optimistically about their ability to handle whatever they've been given to do. Even if, quite frankly, it's not worth doing.

The most common bit of concrete advice offered by Dweck and others enamored of the growth mindset is to praise kids for their effort ("You tried really hard") rather than for their ability ("You're really smart") in order to get them to persevere. (Google the words "praise" and "effort" together: more than 70 million hits.) But the first problem with this seductively simple script change is that praising children for their effort carries problems of its own, as several studies have confirmed: It can communicate that they're really not very capable and therefore unlikely to succeed at future tasks. ("If you're complimenting me just for trying hard, I must really be a loser.")

The more serious concern, however, is that what's really problematic is praise, per se. It's a verbal reward, an extrinsic inducement, and, like other rewards, is often construed by the recipient as manipulation. A substantial research literature has shown that the kids typically end up less interested in whatever they were rewarded or praised for doing, because now their goal is just to get the reward or praise. As I've explained in books and articles, the most salient feature of a positive judgment is not that it's positive but that it's a judgment; it's more about controlling than encouraging. Moreover, praise communicates that our acceptance of a child comes with strings attached: Our approval is conditional on the child's continuing to impress us or do what we say. What kids actually need from us, along with nonjudgmental feedback and guidance, is un conditional support - the antithesis of a patronizing pat on the head for having jumped through our hoops.

The solution, therefore, goes well beyond a focus on what's being praised - that is, merely switching from commending ability to commending effort. Praise for the latter is likely to be experienced as every bit as controlling and conditional as praise for the former. Tellingly, the series of Dweck's studies on which she still relies to support the idea of praising effort, which she conducted with Claudia Mueller in the 1990s, included no condition in which students received nonevaluative feedback. Other researchers have found that just such a response - information about how they've done without a judgment attached - is preferable to any sort of praise.

Thus, the challenge for a teacher, parent, or manager is to consider a moratorium on verbal doggie biscuits, period. We need to attend to deeper differences: between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and between "doing to" and "working with" strategies. Unfortunately, we're discouraged from thinking about these more meaningful distinctions - and from questioning the whole carrot-and-stick model (of which praise is an example) - when we're assured that it's sufficient just to offer a different kind of carrot.

Here's another part of the bigger picture that's eclipsed when we get too caught up in the "growth vs. fixed" (or "incremental vs. entity") dichotomy: If students are preoccupied with how well they're doing in school, then their interest in what they're doing may suffer. A 2010 study found that when students whose self-worth hinges on their performance face the prospect of failure, it doesn't help for them to adopt a growth mindset. In fact, those who did so were even more likely to give themselves an excuse for screwing up, a strategy known as "self-handicapping," as compared to those with the dreaded fixed mindset.

Even when a growth mindset doesn't make things worse, it can help only so much if students have been led - by 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.

And this brings us to the biggest blind spot of all - the whole idea of focusing on the mindsets of individuals. Dweck's work nestles comfortably in a long self-help tradition, the American can-do, just-adopt-a-positive-attitude spirit ("I think I can, I think I can..."). The message of that tradition has always been to adjust yourself to conditions as you find them because those conditions are immutable; all you can do is decide on the spirit in which to approach them. Ironically, the more we occupy ourselves with getting kids to attribute outcomes to their own effort, the more we communicate that the conditions they face are, well, fixed.

Social psychologists use the term "fundamental attribution error" to mean paying so much attention to personality and attitudes that we overlook how profoundly the social environment affects what we do and who we are. Their point is that it's simply inaccurate to make too much of a fuss about things like mindsets, but there are also political implications to doing so.

Why, for example, do relatively few young women choose to study or work in the fields of math and science? Is it because of entrenched sexism and "the way the science career structure works"? Well, to someone sold on Dweck's formula, the answer is no: it's "all a matter of mindset." We need only "shift widespread perceptions over to the 'growth mindset'" - that is, to the perceptions of girls and women who are just trapped by their own faulty thinking. This is similar to the perspective that encourages us to blame a "culture of poverty" in the inner city rather than examine economic and political barriers - a very appealing explanation to those who benefit from those barriers and would rather fault their victims for failing to pull themselves up by their mindset.

Having spent a few decades watching one idea after another light up the night sky and then flame out - in the field of education and in the culture at large - I realize this pattern often has less to do with the original (promising) idea than with the way it has been oversimplified and poorly implemented. Thus, I initially thought it was unfair to blame Dweck for wince-worthy attempts to sell her growth mindset as a panacea and to give it a conservative spin. Perhaps her message had been distorted by the sort of people who love to complain about grade inflation, trophies for showing up, and the inflated self-esteem of "these kids today." In the late 1990s, for example, right-wing media personality John Stossel snapped up a paper of Dweck's about praise, portraying it as an overdue endorsement of the value of old-fashioned toil - just what was needed in an era of "protecting kids from failure." Their scores stink but they feel good about themselves anyway - and here's a study that proves "excellence comes from effort"!

This sort of attack on spoiled kids and permissive (or excessive) parenting is nothing new - and most of its claims dissolve on close inspection. Alas, Dweck not only has failed to speak out against, or distance herself from, this tendentious use of her ideas but has put a similar spin on them herself. She has allied herself with gritmeister Angela Duckworth and made Stossel-like pronouncements about the underappreciated value of hard work and the perils of making things too easy for kids, pronouncements that wouldn't be out of place at the Republican national convention or in a small-town Sunday sermon. Indeed, Dweck has endorsed a larger conservative narrative, claiming that "the self-esteem movement led parents to think they could hand their children self-esteem on a silver platter by telling them how smart and talented they are." (Of course, most purveyors of that narrative would be just as contemptuous of praising kids for how hard they'd tried, which is what Dweck recommends.)

Moreover, as far as I can tell, she has never criticized a fix-the-kid, ignore-the-structure mentality or raised concerns about the "bunch o' facts" traditionalism in schools. Along with many other education critics, I'd argue that the appropriate student response to much of what's assigned isn't "By golly, with enough effort, I can do this!" but "Why the hell should anyone have to do this?" Dweck, like Duckworth, is conspicuously absent from the ranks of those critics.

It isn't entirely coincidental that someone who is basically telling us that attitudes matter more than structures, or that persistence is a good in itself, has also bought into a conservative social critique. But why have so many educators who don't share that sensibility endorsed a focus on mindset (or grit) whose premises and implications they'd likely find troubling on reflection?

I'm not suggesting we go back to promoting an innate, fixed, "entity" theory of intelligence and talent, which, as Dweck points out, can leave people feeling helpless and inclined to give up. But the real alternative to that isn't a different attitude about oneself; it's a willingness to go beyond individual attitudes, to realize that no mindset is a magic elixir that can dissolve the toxicity of structural arrangements. Until those arrangements have been changed, mindset will get you only so far. And too much focus on mindset discourages us from making such changes.
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SALON August 16, 2015 The emphasis on effort in Dweck's "growth mindset" is most notable for the larger questions it discourages us from asking. By Alfie Kohn One of the most popular ideas in education these days can be summarized in a single sentence - a fact that may help to account for its popularity.

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Carol Dweck: The Effect of Praise on Mindsets

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Je décide de ce qui concerne ma vie privée

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Heb je een vraag over privacy? Zit je in de problemen? Of wil je jouw privacy beter beschermen? Ontdek hier alle tips & tricks.

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Construire son identité numérique, c'est l'intitulé d'un cours en ligne complet mis à disposition gracieusement en ligne par l'Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 pour le grand public afin d'aider les internautes et mobinautes à maîtriser aujourd'hui cet aspect très important dans nos vies connectées.

Ce cours d'une durée d'1 heure propose de :

d'expliciter ce que recouvre l'expression identité numérique,

de faire le point sur votre situation individuelle et personnelle,

d'apprendre à créer, paramétrer ou supprimer des comptes sur les réseaux sociaux.

Un cours à base de tutoriels et mini-quiz

A travers des vidéos courtes (de type tutoriels) et des mini-quiz, il est proposé sur un mode pédagogique de créer et gérer ses comptes profils sur plusieurs réseaux sociaux numériques, de s'attacher aux traces laissées sur Internet et de protéger sa vie privée et ses données personnelles en ligne.

Ce module de cours appréhende donc l'identité numérique sous un angle essentiellement pratique en fournissant des clés de compréhension et des modes d'actions.

Sommaire du cours : Construire son identité numérique

Votre situation

Etre visible sur Internet
- Tuto : Créer son compte LinkedIn
- Tuto : Créer son CV DoYouBuzz
- Tuto : Créer un compte de Facebook
- Tuto : Gérer son profil Copains d'Avant

Protéger votre identité
- Tuto : Rendre son profil Facebook invisible
- Tuto : Choisir ce qui est affiché par Facebook
- Tuto : Débloquer son compte Facebook

Rétablir sa vérité
- Maîtriser votre identification dans une photo
- Utiliser le droit à l'oubli sur Google

Evaluez-vous

Pour conclure

Licence : Contrat spécifique : merci de prendre contact
Géographie : France

Tags: autoformation, cours, donnee personnelle, education au numerique, formation, identite numerique, vie privée

Posté par Jean-Luc Raymond le mardi 11 avril 2017
Crédit média : Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Catégories : Autoformation, guides, Blog NetPublic, Formation numérique, Ressources NetPublic

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Construire son identité numérique : Cours complet en ligne

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Construire son identité numérique , c'est l'intitulé d'un cours en ligne complet mis à disposition gracieusement en ligne par l'Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 pour le grand public afin d'aider les internautes et mobinautes à maîtriser aujourd'hui cet aspect très important dans nos vies connectées.

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SAINT-QUENTIN - L'idée de partager des photos de vous nu par l'entremise de votre téléphone intelligent vous a déjà traversé l'esprit? Non? C'est pourtant ce que font de plus en plus d'adolescents.

Le sexting, c'est la nouvelle mode dans les écoles secondaires. Il consiste à partager à l'aide du web - principalement les téléphones portables - des photos ou des vidéos sexuellement explicites.

"C'est le nouveau moyen pour les jeunes d'explorer leur sexualité. Toutefois, c'est une pratique qui est très loin d'être saine et sécuritaire", avertit Édith Caron, infirmière en santé publique dans la zone 4.

"Un jeune m'a déjà confié avoir vu sept photos de filles dénudées de son école. Elles les avaient envoyées à leurs petits amis qui, eux, ne se sont pas gênés pour les montrer à leurs copains", explique-t-elle.

C'est avec ce genre d'exemples qu'elle espère faire cesser cette pratique dans les écoles du District scolaire francophone du Nord-Ouest. En fait, une campagne visant à contrer ce phénomène a été lancée à la polyvalente A.-J.-Savoie de Saint-Quentin, campagne dont le slogan est "Avant d'envoyer ou partager, réfléchissez!"

"Le sexting, c'est un phénomène beaucoup plus répandu qu'on le croit. On ne le retrouve pas uniquement dans le Nord-Ouest, mais bien partout en province. Tout le monde est concerné", souligne l'infirmière.

Dans la majorité des cas, le sexting se fait à l'intérieur d'une relation amoureuse. Les jeunes s'offrent alors des photos explicites en cadeau.

"Le problème, c'est qu'il ou elle pense que cette relation sera éternelle, ce qui est loin d'être le cas dans la grande majorité des couples de cet âge. Et lorsque la relation prend fin, souvent, ces photos deviennent une arme de chantage. On menace l'autre partenaire de diffuser les photos publiquement", note Mme Caron.

Parmi les autres raisons qui motivent le sexting, on note également le désir d'être accepté, de devenir populaire, pour séduire. Il y a de plus le leurre, soit des adultes qui tentent de harponner des personnes d'âge mineur en vue de contacts sexuels.

Avec cette campagne de sensibilisation, Mme Caron désire livrer une mise en garde aux jeunes qui seraient tentés de se croire intouchables.

"Une fois que vous cliquez sur envoyer, vous n'êtes plus maître de votre photo, vous venez d'en perdre le contrôle. Elle se retrouve entre les mains de quelqu'un qui, lui, a tout le loisir de faire ce qu'il veut avec. Et si ça se retrouve sur le web, c'est comme un tatou: ça part très difficilement. Les conséquences peuvent être très graves, ça peut suivre une personne très longtemps dans sa vie", dit-elle.

L'envoi d'images sexuelles explicites n'est pas la seule problématique du sexting, il y a aussi le partage de ce matériel par la suite, souligne Mme Caron. Même les utilisateurs des fameux snapchats, application qui supprime la photo après quelques secondes pour effacer les preuves, ne sont pas à l'abri.

"Oui, les photos s'effacent, mais c'est tellement facile pour le destinataire de faire une capture d'écran avec son téléphone intelligent. Ce genre d'application cause une fausse sensation de sécurité auprès des jeunes", note-t-elle.
LA PRUDENCE EST DE MISE
CAMPBELLTON - Autrefois, c'était les petits mots passés d'une main à l'autre dans la classe. Aujourd'hui, c'est carrément des photos explicites de soi qui sont partagées.

"Les jeunes sont tellement téméraires. Ils ne voient pas le danger."

Sexologue et chroniqueuse sur la sexualité dans les pages de l'Acadie Nouvelle, Anne Richard met en garde les jeunes quant à la pratique du sexting, sorte de dérivé selon elle de la pornographie et de l'hypersexualisation.

Une étude américaine a récemment dévoilé que 20 % des adolescents (américains) ont déjà envoyé des images de leurs parties intimes par téléphone portable. Le tiers des filles et la moitié des garçons auraient déjà reçu ce genre d'images.

"Se prendre en photo en soutien-gorge, nue ou partiellement nue, et envoyer cela à son copain est devenu pour certains jeunes un geste banal. Mais au contraire, c'est quelque chose à prendre très sérieusement. Ils se dirent: "Y'a rien là... C'est pas grave... Tout le monde le fait..." Mais en fait, il faut qu'ils réfléchissent sur l'endroit où va se retrouver cette photo. Qui va la voir? Que va-t-on faire avec ce message? Il faut penser aux conséquences", dit-elle.

Selon Mme Richard, les jeunes se sentiraient valorisés en s'exposant de la sorte par l'entremise du sexting. "Si ce ne l'était pas, ils ne le feraient pas", note-t-elle. "Malheureusement, avec ce genre pratique - tout comme avec la pornographie - les jeunes commencent leur vie sexuelle à l'envers. Au lieu de commencer une relation à partir de sentiments émotifs et ensuite évoluer vers le niveau physique, ils font l'inverse. C'est immédiatement des actes physiques et par la suite on fait place aux sentiments. Les jeunes aujourd'hui ont plus de pudeur à montrer leurs sentiments qu'à se déshabiller. C'est dommage, car alors que la sexualité devrait être quelque chose de grandiose, les jeunes la banalisent."

Pour Mme Richard, les parents ont un rôle énorme à jouer pour contrer le phénomène du sexting.

"En premier lieu, au niveau de la sensibilisation. On doit dire à nos enfants que ce ne sont pas des comportements sains. Et en second lieu, en appliquant une surveillance plus accrue du matériel, comme les téléphones intelligents. Ce n'est pas bien qu'un jeune ait tout le temps son téléphone avec lui. Il faut des règles", soutient la sexologue, remettant en question au passage la présence des cellulaires dans les écoles.

Outre le sexting, Mme Richard met également en garde les utilisateurs des nouvelles technologies sur le contenu en général qu'ils mettent en ligne.

"Si seulement les jeunes - et les adultes - savaient combien de gens peuvent voir leurs photos sur le Net, sur Facebook par exemple. On le fait bien avec insouciance, comme des photos en bikini prises lors d'un voyage. Mais c'est fou comment ces clichés peuvent faire du chemin et se retrouver devant des yeux qu'on ne voudrait pas", dit-elle, appelant à plus de vigilance.
Le sexting pour les "vieux"?
Phénomène exclusivement répandu chez les jeunes, le sexting? Pas nécessairement. Selon Mme Richard, les nouvelles technologies font en sorte que cette pratique trouve également ses adeptes chez les adultes qui veulent pimenter leur vie sexuelle. Toutefois, elle précise que les mêmes règles s'appliquent, peu importe l'âge.

"Les couples, ça se brise. Le divorce, ça existe! Si votre conjoint ou conjointe a des photos et vidéos explicites de vous, il peut en faire ce que bon lui semble. La vigilance est donc toute aussi de mise que chez les jeunes", rappelle la sexologue.

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Le "sexting", nouveau fléau dans les écoles - Acadie Nouvelle

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SAINT-QUENTIN - L'idée de partager des photos de vous nu par l'entremise de votre téléphone intelligent vous a déjà traversé l'esprit? Non? C'est pourtant ce que font de plus en plus d'adolescents. Le sexting, c'est la nouvelle mode dans les écoles secondaires.

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SAINT-QUENTIN - Le "sexting" est un phénomène social qui cause de plus en plus de ravages.

En ce début d'année scolaire, les infirmières du réseau de santé publique du Nouveau-Brunswick relancent leur campagne de sensibilisation aux effets néfastes du "sexting": l'action de créer et transmettre du matériel pornographique personnel par l'entremise d'applications du téléphone intelligent.

Contrairement à ce que certains pourraient croire, aucune application du téléphone intelligent n'est sécuritaire pour garder le contenu privé entre deux personnes. Pas même Snapchat, qui permet d'envoyer des photos et des vidéos qui s'autodétruisent, puisqu'il est possible de faire des captures d'écran.

Des cas de jeunes qui ont été victimes de publication de pornographie par l'entremise d'un téléphone cellulaire sont régulièrement étalés dans les médias. Un dossier dans le Restigouche-Ouest s'est même retrouvé devant les tribunaux.

Selon l'infirmière en santé sexuelle du département de la Santé publique, Édith Caron, les jeunes ne sont pas conscients des conséquences d'un tel geste.

"Tous les maillons de la chaîne sont à risque si leur téléphone cellulaire est saisi, que ce soit celui ou celle qui prend la photo (production), celui ou celle qui la reçoit (possession) ou fait parvenir à d'autres (distribution) le matériel en question", a-t-elle mentionné.

Des statistiques au Canada révèlent qu'un jeune sur trois a déjà reçu ou envoyé un "sexto" et au moins une fois sur cinq celui-ci a été partagé à d'autres personnes. Récemment, le Washington Post estimait dans un éditorial que 30 % des adolescents américains avaient pour habitude de "sexter" régulièrement.

"Les adolescents sont les plus prédisposés à être des victimes du "sexting". Ils manquent de maturité et prennent des risques. Ils ont les hormones dans le plafond, ils veulent explorer leur sexualité. Ils ne pensent pas aux conséquences. Ils ont en main un outil technologique qui est performant, mais qui peut être dévastateur en même temps", a jouté Édith Caron.

Les polyvalentes de Saint-Quentin, de Grand-Sault et d'Edmundston ont été visitées dans le cadre de la campagne lancée au printemps et appuyée par des capsules radiophoniques.

"Les élèves de 7e et de 8e année sont plus à risque. Des adolescents entrent dans des relations amoureuses et on sait qu'à cet âge, elles sont loin de durer; et ils s'échangent des fichiers à caractère sexuel. Il peut en découler des conséquences graves", a poursuivi Mme Caron.

Selon elle, la grande accessibilité à de la pornographie sur Internet influence le comportement des jeunes.

"La banalisation du sexe fait en sorte que certains adolescents vont tenter de réaliser des fantasmes via leur cellulaire", a-t-elle fait remarquer.

Plusieurs applications sont disponibles pour faire l'échange de tels fichiers. Selon Mme Caron, aucune d'entre elles n'est sécuritaire.

"Comme les parents sont présents dans certains réseaux sociaux, les adolescents utilisent une panoplie d'autres applications, dont celles où le document s'efface quelques secondes après la réception. Par contre, ça donne le temps à certains de pouvoir saisir le fichier", a-t-elle souligné.

Il va sans dire que les conséquences sont nombreuses lorsqu'un tel fichier est partagé, qu'elles soient émotionnelles (humiliation, honte) ou sociales (atteinte à la réputation, harcèlement, perte d'amis).

Il a été impossible de savoir auprès du bureau du procureur général du Nouveau-Brunswick, mardi, si plusieurs cas découlant du "sexting" se sont retrouvés devant les tribunaux dans la province.
Un contrat d'utilisation entre l'ado et ses parents
EDMUNDSTON - Un contrat d'utilisation approprié du téléphone intelligent à être conclu entre l'adolescent et ses parents a été créé par les infirmières en santé publique du Nord-Ouest pour assurer un certain encadrement face aux nouvelles technologies.

Ce contrat est d'ailleurs offert chez la majorité des détaillants régionaux. Il se veut un outil de réflexion sur une manière appropriée d'utiliser le téléphone intelligent.

"Les parents sont en quelque sorte complices de leurs enfants, car ils sont souvent ceux qui leur achètent le téléphone intelligent. Ils ont une part de responsabilités et doivent être vigilants. Ce contrat est une façon d'établir des conditions entre les deux parties", a expliqué l'infirmière en santé sexuelle du département de la Santé publique, Édith Caron.

Selon elle, la meilleure mesure préventive face au "sexting" demeure l'éducation des jeunes face au problème.

"Il est primordial que les parents aient une discussion avec leur enfant face aux conséquences du "sexting" lorsque l'opportunité se présente. Il faut faire comprendre aux jeunes qu'il est important de réfléchir plusieurs fois avant d'envoyer un fichier à caractère sexuel en photo ou texto", a-t-elle mentionné.

Les victimes d'abus ne doivent pas hésiter à dénoncer la situation aux autorités. De l'aide en ligne est aussi disponible pour les victimes du "sexting" ou encore du web (www.cyberaide.ca) (www.aidezmoisvp.ca).

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Campagne de sensibilisation contre les dangers du "sexting" - Acadie Nouvelle

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SAINT-QUENTIN - Le "sexting" est un phénomène social qui cause de plus en plus de ravages. En ce début d'année scolaire, les infirmières du réseau de santé publique du Nouveau-Brunswick relancent leur campagne de sensibilisation aux effets néfastes du "sexting": l'action de créer et transmettre du matériel pornographique personnel par l'entremise d'applications du téléphone intelligent.

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Affiches couleur pour la classe - Martine Mottet

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Éduquer nos élèves à l'utilisation des réseaux sociaux (3 infographies)

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Vinz et Lou - Abordez les enjeux de société avec les 7-12 ans

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Vinz et Lou permet d'aborder les grands enjeux de société avec les 7-12 ans : parcours guidés, vidéos et activités interactives sur 8 thématiques

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Conférence Ollivier Dyens : Des nains sur les épaules des géants

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Une invitiative de la Commission scolaire de Laval

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Pirates de la vie privée : une unité interactive sur la protection des renseignements personnels (pour les 7 à 9 ans)

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Ce tutoriel initie les enfants âgés de 7 à 9 ans au concept de la vie privée en ligne et leur enseigne à faire la distinction entre les renseignements qu’ils peuvent divulguer et ceux qu’il est préférable de garder pour soi. Le tutoriel les aide également à comprendre que leur décision peut varier,…

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Bonifier le modèle éducationnel : ROBINSON + ROYER

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Abandonnons la techno WAN - GAUVIN - THE GUARDIAN

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Abandonnons la techno WAN - GAUVIN - THE GUARDIAN

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Abandonnons la techno WAN - GAUVIN - THE GUARDIAN

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Le quoi : Continuum des habiletés technologiques

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Abandonnons la techno WAN - GAUVIN - THE GUARDIAN

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Abandonnons la techno WAN - GAUVIN - THE GUARDIAN