Growth Mindset

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I’ve never heard of Carol Dweck before this article, though I am familiar with the term growth mindset. Coined by Dweck, there are individuals who, with an optimistic mindset, will believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. While this is a valid argument, it is not the first time this idea has been mentioned, and frankly I found Dweck’s statement to be condescending. The key point that I believe in, as noted by Paunesku and Kohn, is that educators shouldn’t focus solely on changing a student’s mindset, but rather challenge the academic system itself. The bigger issue is that most schools, especially in the U.S., have fallen into a routine of teaching certain subjects and expecting the highest performance of students by their grades, when they haven’t stopped to think about whether or not the material being taught nationwide is useful, interesting or even beneficial to students. 

College is different from compulsory education in the way that students have more freedom to choose a degree and classes that they are interested in, but even then there are limits. Sometimes a degree plan is abnormally strict, programs are unavailable, or financial security is non-existent. At times I’ve found myself subject to these situations at OU, though I’ve made peace with myself that my degree does not necessarily affect my life after college. I’ve stated before that my goal is to improve as a writer and find inspiration from this course, and I plan to stick with it.