Growth Mindset: Thoughts

Growth Mindset is a topic that I have sort of come in contact with, but I didn't exactly have a name or definition for it. I'd heard teachers talk in the past about how students should be measured on a Pass/Fail basis, so they're not concerned with getting a specific letter grade, but it was never something I was very familiar with. 

For me, I definitely think that I fall on the fixed mindset perspective, but I honestly wish I didn't. I was always trained in high school, by my family and people around me, that I needed to get the best grades possible. Most of my friends were very intelligent and always received really high scoring grades. I wanted to do whatever I could to prove to everyone that I was just as smart as they were, and it was very difficult for me to accept lower-scoring grades. I was, and still am, so obsessed with the idea of letter grades. It makes it difficult for me to learn sometimes, as I'm so focused on memorizing the little details, and not on actually enjoying the subject material. 

My mindset could also be applied to when I played sports as well. I had a lot of trouble accepting that I wasn't as good as everyone else sometimes, and let that cloud my thinking. I played soccer for a long time, and there reached a point where I was unable to get any better because I just didn't think that I could. I look back now and sometimes wish that I didn't have such stagnant thinking, because I probably had a lot more potential than what I gave myself credit for. 

This year, I would love to learn more about the growth mindset and try and reshape my thinking. I think this could be a very useful tool for measuring success in the future, especially starting with young kids now. Students who have gotten used to the grading systems in place today would have a hard time adjusting, but younger kids who have never come in contact with the letter grading may benefit from growth mindset. It could teach them the importance of learning and enjoying subject material, rather than trying to achieve a certain grade as a measure of success. 

Young Children at School from Inquirer