"Growth vs. Mixed Minds"

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Improving K-12 Education - "Growth vs.Fixed" Minds

Carol Dweck, the author of "Mindset: The new Psychology of Success," developed an eight session work study when students were broke into two groups. Some students have a fixed mindset and others want to develop their mindset. One group received study skills and a growth mindset while the others got just study skills. The students with a fixed mindset did not do well because of lack of motivation to put the study skills in to practice and their grades continued to decline and the other students that want to develop had the growth mindset sessions and did well because they found that the brain is like a muscle and gets stronger with use.

The students that took the growth mindset course learned that their brain formed to connections when they learned something new and their intellectual skills got better. The students were taught how to apply this to their school work and had a rebound in their grades. Teachers could tell the difference in the students that had not had the growth mindset sessions compared to the one's that did.

The flexibility of growth of skills is needed at all levels in order to keep up and grow with our changing world. A good teacher must have a growth mindset in order to teach the students with the curiosity to learn. Others want to feel smart and students must have teachers to provide the leadership to open up the minds of everyone that wants to learn.