o   Opportunities 

     - Allows students to recognize that they are capable and should not just give up. 

     - States that we can develop abilities through hard work and dedication, and that intelligence is not completely based on genetics. 

o   Limitations 

      - Praising kids by saying “you tried really hard” may lead to communicating that they’re really not very capable. 

      - Praise is construed as manipulation 

      - Student becomes less interested in whatever they were rewarded or praised for doing, because now their goal is just to get the reward or praise 

      - Saying that we need to just focus on mindset is saying that girls and women don’t go into science’s because they are trapped by their own faulty thinking. 

      - Too much focus discourages individuals from making changes. 

      - If students are preoccupied with how well they're doing in school, then their interest in what they're doing may suffer. 

 

 

Opportunities:

·      Provides empowerment over prejudices and stereotypes

 

Limitation:

·      Just because one ignores the prejudices does not mean they are affected by them.

·      There are systematics barriers in place that are a result of prejudices, which individuals must overcome.

·      Convincing others of the same growth mindset.

 

What tensions need to be continuously negotiated?

·      The tension between societal norm vs personal growth

·      The individual must consider the growth mindset despite any potential of the norm being demolished.

What questions need to be asked?

·      Where do students excel and how do we identify these points?

·      Instead of saying “why does this demographic are not accepted into this field” instead ask “why don’t they pursue this field of study?”

·      How do we get students and parents to focus on the growth mindset?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rayhan, Kyle, David Bae, David Fisher

 

 

The opportunities of a growth mindset gives students motivation, and ability to strengthen areas that they need improvement. It allows students to be reflective of their own capabilities. The limitations of the growth mindset are that students may be less interested in achieving the skills gained from the task but rather to simply be praised. Students are not learning anything substantial.

 

A growth mindset is probing for understanding. Focus on trying to understand where the students are coming from, their areas of strength, areas of improvement, and trying to find instructional strategies that work rather than saying “keep trying”.

 

The questions that need to be asked are what is the student’s area of strength? What are their areas of improvement? What instructional strategies are more effective for the students?

 

The growth mindset is the view that it’s better to see intelligence or abilities as attributes that can be improved rather than as fixed traits. Growth mindset can foster an inclusive environment as it promotes the positive attitude that everyone is capable of success. Instilling this attitude in students can encourage a sense of persistence or resilience in the face of failure rather than having become demotivated when faced with challenges or setbacks. However, as Kohn explains the simplification of this idea, growth mindset is problematic because educators place blame on students for their negative attitude towards learning, rather than focusing on the value of what they are learning. 

The growth mindset essentially encourages hard work and places a lot of owness on the individual. It opposes the fixed mindset in which talent determines success. 

It provides the opportunity to allow individuals ability to grow their own skills and strengths

It is limited in that not everyone is working with the same strengths and at the same level, so teachers need to be careful to explain this to students. For example, some students may find this unfair when they have to work much harder than other students for the same results. 

 2.       What tensions need to be continually negotiated?

Although we put the responsibility on the individual in the “growth mindset”, we must also recognize that the system is not perfect and must constantly be changed and adapted to best serve and support students. Another tension that must be negotiated is being careful to offer praise while not offering excessive praise or false praise. 

 

3.       What questions need to be asked

How do we encourage a growth mindset without offering false praise? How do we encourage students to adopt a growth mindset if they have already adopted a fixed mindset?

By: Alessia Di Lorenzo, Pierre, Christina J., Alison B., Erin Sunderland