We learned about the growth mindset within the
first couple of months of this program. The growth mindset, designed by
Carol Dweck, is the belief that people can develop their skills and
qualities. The fixed mindset, contrary to the growth mindset, is the
belief that people have a certain fixed set of skills and qualities that
they have no control over. After Dweck designed the growth mindset,
she tried to apply this mindset to teaching. From what I remember from
our previous classes, it was said that students with growth mindset
(believe that they can develop) bounce back quicker from set-backs and
are more determined to improve their academic skills. Students with
fixed mindset, on the other hand, get discouraged easily and tend to
just give up if they can’t do something right the first time.
I was really amazed by the growth mindset when I
first heard about it. When I started to teach, I actually mentioned the
growth vs fixed mindset to my students. I firmly believed that all of
my students are capable of getting an A in my classroom. After a few
months passed, however, I started developing a doubt in the growth
mindset. I saw that certain students failed nearly everything while
other students got high A’s on everything. As much as I even tutored
the failing students, they continued to fail. I started to accept the
lost hope I had in certain sets of students. I started catering only to
the medium and high students because I thought that catering to the low
students was a lost effort. I remembered the actual moment that some
of my hope was renewed in the growth mindset. A student who fails
everything in my class with extremely low scores joined the basketball
team. He was only allowed to play on the team if he held his GPA high
enough. On the next test he took, he scored 100% on the multiple choice
section. It was then that I saw that although many of the students may
consistently be failing everything, this was a reflection of how much
they cared rather than a reflection of their ability.
After my hope was renewed in the growth mindset, I
have been using it in my classroom. Seeing that students have
motivation issues rather than ability issues, I started pulling students
aside and letting them know that if they scored higher than a 90% on a
test, I would give them a pack of oreos or a deck of cards (whichever
appeals to them more). The students that I have made this deal with
have been studying a lot and have actually been making it to the top 5
scores of their sections.
I have also been using an affective assessment to
help me teach. I gave students a survey of their interests and
learning preferences on a homework assignment a few months ago.
Usually, with I recycle homework assignments or hand them back to the
students after they’re graded. For this homework assignment, however, I
have stored it in my classroom. I glance at it once in a while when I
want to get an idea of what type of interests or learning preferences a
certain student has.
