Mental Growth free essay sample

Learning is really hard for me because I give up too soon on things I don’t know. I always thought education was not meant for me, so I just gave up. Do you ever feel this way too? In the article Developing Growth Mindsets: How Praise Can Harm, and How to Use it Well Carol Dweck builds on Benjamin Barber statement that the world is divided into learners and non-learners. So which are you? A learner or non-learner? Do you have a fixed mindset or do you have a growth mind set? It’s okay if you don’t know which you are. I have a hard core fixed mindset. All I think about is getting a good grade, and if I don’t get that grade, I want I make the quick judgment that I was not born to know the subject. My mindset changed when I read Developing Growth Mindsets: How Praise Can Harm, and How to Use it Well. We will write a custom essay sample on Mental Growth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I learned that people can change their mindsets from fixed to growth mindsets if they want. I decided that I want to change my mindset to growth mindset, and since the day I have changed it from a fixed to a growth mindset. I have grown in many ways, especially in my learning and in my everyday life. Different mindsets can change people lives for better or for worse. Most people have developed a fixed mindset because they don’t want people to tell them that they are not good at something, but there are 4 in 10 people who have growth mindsets and are open to new learning experiences. Dweck claims there are two types of mindsets. The first one is a fixed mindset which is when people believe that intelligence is a fixed trait, meaning that they believe that they have a certain amount of intelligence and that amount can’t change. The second one is a growth mindset, which is opposite to a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that they can grow and develop their intelligence. They also believe that intelligence is not a genetic trait , but it is acquired through education and learning how to accomplish a task. There are many ways that a fixed mindset can affect our daily lives; for example, in our everyday lives, an average of 70 percent of people giving up on what they need to do on a daily basis, thinking â€Å"I don’t think I am up for this, or this is all I can do. † On the other hand, 30 percent of people don’t give up until they get what they want, thinking â€Å"I will learn from this. † Dweck also talks about three mindset rules. For fixed mindsets, it is important to always look wise at all times. Many fixed mindset people care about grades, but, on the contrary, the growth mindset only cares about learning. The second one is to put effort in everything you are doing. If you are a fixed mindset you probably think being clever is natural, so when you get a bad grade you think, â€Å"Well I am not good at this subject. † You fail that subject because you did not put any effort in it. A person with a growth mindset will think the harder you work at something, the better you get at that thing. Finally, the third rule is facing setbacks; when fixed mindsets decide that they are not good at something, this means that they will never be good at it. Meanwhile, a growth mindset person will think that any mistake is part of learning. Equally important is how praise can harm people. Dweck states that when your child gets a good grade in one class and a bad grade in another, your resound should be, â€Å"keep up the effort in your more difficult course. You’ll get it eventually. † This allows you to properly encourage your child, and help them create growth mindsets. As I read through the article, I made a certain discovery that I am a fixed mindset because I always thought that I was born with the little amount of intelligence that I have. Intelligence should be natural, and I would question why I don’t have any. Back when I was in high school, my math teacher gave us a math test worth 60 percent of our grade. As I was solving the problems on my test, I got stuck on some of the questions. I was only able to answer 14 of the 60 questions. At the end of the test the teacher said, â€Å"I can give some of you extra time if you need it. † I thought to myself, â€Å"What is the point of the extra time. It’s not like I know how to solve the problem anyway, and it’s not like I want to get an ‘A’ any ways. I am good with a ‘C’, and besides I am not born with math intelligence like my big sister anyway. † This mentality I had back in high school has affected me so that now I have to retake the class in college. I realized I had the ability to develop and use a growth mindset back when I was in 12th grade in high school. My English teacher told me, â€Å"If you get interested in things you want to learn as well as the things don’t want to learn, without thinking about grade you will surely be successful in life. † After hearing this I thought to myself, â€Å"So I should be learning, rather than worrying about my grade. † Since then I was able to learn more about things. For example, I was able to pass my math class and not worry about my idiomatic teacher who always told the class that if we don’t get what he is teaching we will never get it because we were not meant to get it, but since I did not let what he said get to me, I got an A out of his class. My growth mindset started in Skyline High School, when I was told by my counselor that if I did not pass my CAHSEE exams I would not be able to graduate. So I thought to myself, â€Å"What am I doing wrong that I did not pass my exams? † I remember that every time that I got stuck on a hard question, I would move on to the next easy one, and did not make any effort to solve it. On the last exams when I got stuck on any problem, I would go over it again until I got the right answer. I passed both of my exams, and I was able to walk the stage. I was assured that without doubt my growth mindset kept me go through my challenge. When we see a student who gets a higher score than us, we assume that he/she is naturally good at the subject, but we never really look at how hard they have worked to be a good student. If I happen to get an â€Å"F† in any of my subjects, I will make a quick assumption that I don’t have any intelligence on that subject. I would not make an effort to look at what I did wrong. I would just walk away from it. On the other hand, if a person with a growth mindset makes a single mistake on any subject they are taking, they would go over it until they get it right. Why? Because they believe that working hard and growing your intelligence is the key to success in life. I understand a lot about myself because this article, it let me identify what the problem is. By realizing the problem of a fixed mindset, I was also able to connect with my past, and question and visualize what I have been doing to myself. I recommend this article to anyone. When I went to www. mindsetonline. com/testyourmmindset/step1. php to test my mindset I found out that I have more of a fixed mindset than a growth mindset. I got eight fixed mindset and five growth mindset. In conclusion, if I were to give advice to others on how they could learn and achieve more in life, it would be to always use a growth mindset because there are many benefits that come with it, such as the enjoyment of life, even when you’re not good at something—meaning you don’t have to think good at something to want to do it and to enjoy doing it. Enjoy putting in time and effort, rather than fearing them, like if you’re constantly interested in learning more and improving, then putting in time and effort to do so seems enjoyable. In a fixed mindset, effort looks like it will be fruitless or worse, but having a growth mindset can also lower depression.