Thoughts on Growth Mindset

The idea of growth mindset is an interesting one. As I felt last time, I think that while the theory is good in person, execution is a bit of a different matter. Yes, it is better to focus on more than just someone's grades. Their effort should also be taken into consideration. But I think there's a danger in focusing solely on participation. I'm sure everyone remembers the "participation" trophies that were passed out in the days of elementary school, or for being in a pee-wee soccer league. My generation never asked for these; it was the adults who gave them out freely, and now complain about how the current generation feels "entitled" to things (I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was unreasonable to ask for a living wage or the ability to find decent living conditions). 

As A. Kohn pointed out in his articles, kids do know the difference between praise for effort and praise for intelligence. Overdoing it on the former can be just as bad for kids' self-esteem. Additionally, kids may feel that they put in a lot of effort, but for whatever reason it doesn't come out as good as another kid who had more resources. Rick Wormeli did a good job of laying this out clearly. Kids in low-income areas are going to greatly suffer from a lack of resources, which causes a much bigger problem than making sure the kids receive adequate phrase for their efforts. Back to what Kohn said, growth mindset isn't enough against political, cultural, and economical barriers. While it seems like a good idea in theory, actually achieving it is a difficult matter, and there are more failure stories than successes. 

While intrinsic motivation is important, it doesn't mean that extrinsic motivation is a bad thing. Having an internal drive to do things is good and well, but it's also okay to have external forces as a motivation (such as wanting to lose weight to look good in an outfit). Additionally, while the idea of growth mindset is a good one, many of the quotes that fall into that category are often quoted to aneurotypical people. It's not enough to just quote these things at people, or just rely on growth mindset alone. It's just one tool that should be used. 

That said, some of those motivational quotes can be pretty funny (this is a repeat from last time, but its still funny): 

Cha cha real smooth now. Source: Tes Teach