Growth Mindset

Before watching Carol Dweck's Ted talk, I was not familiar with the growth mindset learning method. Something that specifically resonated with me is Dweck's focus on "the Yet." In today's society, to provide for oneself and his or her family, source of income is required, something significantly dependent on one's performance in an university setting. To accomplish this degree, students tend to avoid difficult classes and challenges, in order to achieve the A+— "the Now." In Oklahoma due to improper funding, public education ranks very low nationally, which after learning more, I interpret it as the system having too much of a fixed growth mindset. In general, I think that a growth mindset includes enriching, yourself and others, knowledge of the unordinary— hobbies, passions, and the other unique aspects of one's life. In itself, this transformation of intellectual perspectives would challenge society as we know it. And like Dweck mentioned, embracing these challenges is what ultimately induces learning shown scientifically by new neural synapses formed. 

I think courses like Mythology and Folklore is a good first step to encourage growth mindset. Though this new perspective is dependent on efforts of students embracing challenge, I believe that education systems play a large factor in students thriving while using this learning method. I am very interested in learning more about growth mindset. My personal goal is to embrace the challenges I encounter and to positively tackle them head on, not only in school, but in every aspect of my life.

Growth mindset, Flickr