Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

The book called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Contents) by Carol Dweck postulates that people have two kinds of mindsets: growth or fixed. People with the growth mindset view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving. People with a fixed mindset believe that they are “set” as either good or bad. The issue is that the good ones believe they don’t have to work hard, and the bad ones believe that working hard won’t change anything.

Carol Dweck's specialty in motivation is the study of students' beliefs about their intelligence. Her research shows that students who believe their intelligence is fixed (they have only so much and that's that) tend to worry about how smart they really are. Their motivation and engagement are tentative--when a task gets too hard, they lose interest and flee. But students who believe their intelligence can be developed get deeply involved in learning and remain engaged in the face of difficulty. She has shown in many studies that their engagement and intrinsic motivation is hardier.

However, this does not mean that intrinsic motivation is simply a stable personality trait. When we teach students the view that intellectual skills can be developed, their intrinsic motivation and their engagement in their schoolwork take a sharp turn for the better.

What Do We Tell the Kids?

You have a bright child, and you want her to succeed. You should tell her how smart she is, right?

That’s what 85 percent of the parents Dweck surveyed said. Her research on fifth graders shows otherwise. Labels, even though positive, can be harmful. They may instill a fixed mind-set and all the baggage that goes with it, from performance anxiety to a tendency to give up quickly. Well-meaning words can sap children’s motivation and enjoyment of learning and undermine their performance. While Dweck’s study focused on intelligence praise, she says her conclusions hold true for all talents and abilities.

Here are Dweck’s tips from Mindset:

Listen to what you say to your kids, with an ear toward the messages you’re sending about mind-set.

Instead of praising children’s intelligence or talent, focus on the processes they used.

Example: “That homework was so long and involved. I really admire the way you concentrated and finished it.”

Example: “That picture has so many beautiful colors. Tell me about them.”

Example: “You put so much thought into that essay. It really makes me think about Shakespeare in a new way.”

When your child messes up, give constructive criticism—feedback that helps the child understand how to fix the problem, rather than labeling or excusing the child.

Pay attention to the goals you set for your children; having innate talent is not a goal, but expanding skills and knowledge is.

It’s important for children to learn they’re basically good and that their parents love them unconditionally, Dweck says. “The problem arises when parents praise children in a way that makes them feel that they’re good and love-worthy only when they behave in particular ways that please the parents.”

Excerpt from Chapter 7 Parents, Teachers and Coaches: Where Do Mindest Come From

• Every word and action from parent/teacher to a child sends a message. Listen to what you say to your children and tune in to the messages you're sending. Are they messages that say: You have permanent traits and I'm judging them? Or are they message that say You're a developing person and I'm interested in you development?
• How do you praise? Remember that praising children's intelligence or talent, tempting as it is, sends a fixed-mindset message. It makes a child's confidence and motivation more fragile. Instead, try to focus on the processes they used - their strategeis, effort or choices. Practice working the process praise into your interactions with your children.
• Watch and listen to yourself carefully when a child messes up. Remember that contructive criticism is feedback that helps the child understand how to fix something. It's not feedback that labels or simply excuses the child. At the end of each day write down the constructive criticism (and process praise) you've given to your children.
• As a teacher, remember that lowering standards doesn't raise self-estemm. But neither does raising standards without giving students ways of reaching them. The growth mindset gives you a way to set high standards and have students reach them. Try presenting topics in a growth framework and giving students process feedback. I think you'll like what happens.
• Do you think of your slower students as children who will never be able to learn well? DO they think of themselves as permanently dumb? Instead, try to figure out hwhat they don't understandand what learning strategies they don't have. Remember that great teachers believe in growth of talent and intellect and are fascinated by the process of learning.
• As parents, teachers and coaches, our mission is developing people'e potential. Lets all use the lessons of the growth-mindset - and whatever else we can - to do this.

In Alameda, the District has started a three year implementation of the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM). SIM strategies and routines embraces the growth mindset by encouraging all students to grow their learning habits.

Interview with Carol Dweck

What is the best enivornment for teachers to help students?

My work shows that people do not thrive in an environment in which they feel judged, but they do thrive in an environment that they they feel is interested in their development. An administration that simply judges and evaluates its teachers will not win their trust, but an administration that shows it is interested in helping teachers improve and grow will be seen as the teacher's ally. Teachers who live in this more trustful environment may then be encouraged to create such an atmosphere in their classrooms--presenting themselves as resources for students' learning rather than judges of their ability.

It has been repeatedly shown that a classroom that emphasizes students' improvement and learning fosters better motivation and achievement than a classroom in which students' abilities are judged.

What role does the larger community play in motivating students, especially at the secondary level? How can community groups (businesses, youth groups, social services, etc.) work together to foster motivation for learning in adolescents?

The community can play an important role in motivating students. Often community groups seek to identify and reward the students with obvious brains and talent, ones who are already thriving--and that's fine to a certain extent. However, to really motivate students in general, community groups should emphasize their interest in the DEVELOPMENT of talent. When I first surveyed the literature on people who have made outstanding contributions in all walks of life, I was amazed to find that most of them were not outstanding or unusually talented to begin with. They had passion and commitment and they developed into the extraordinary people they became. Community groups can look for this passion and commitment, and help students gain the resources to turn their passion into genuine accomplishment.

What can school officials do to help students understand the value of performing their best on assessment tests?

Many students resent the assessment tests. They feel that they will be judged by their scores on them and they are are afraid they'll look dumb. Under these circumstances, students don't want to invest in the test.

School officials should convey to students all along that these tests show their learning and all the progress they've made through their hard work. Their score is, in a sense, a reward for all the work they've done. This orientation toward the test should make them more eager to show their skills when they take the test.

Education research seems rarely to consider the personality of the teacher as a motivator in improving performance. Yet students often mention personal connections with teachers as prime motivators. Should we look harder at the role of teachers' personalities, and how could we do that?

One teacher factor that is really important is the teacher's belief about students' ability to learn and to expand their intellectual skills. When teachers convey that they are there to help all students develop their abilities, students will trust and form strong connections to the teacher. (If teachers instead convey that they are there to see who's smart and who's not and to treat them accordingly, students are more likely to see the teacher as someone who is not on their side.)

Teachers who believe that all studentts are capable of intellectual growh, who are there as resources for students' learning, and who set high, challenging standards for their students (which they help them achieve) will be teachers who are good motivators and memorable teachers.

How successful are incentives (e.g. monetary rewards) in motivating students?

Monetary rewards are not a good solution. They may get students to do things, but they will not make them enjoy learning or learn deeply. In fact, these rewards will do just the opposite.

Many students don't work hard because they don't think they're smart and they don't want to look dumb. The solution here is NOT to try to convince them they are smart. It's instead to teach them a new way of seeing things. We have had great success motivating students by teaching them about their brain and then showing them how to apply the lessons to their schoolwork. We teach them that every time they apply themselves and learn new things, their brain forms new connections and they, over time, can become smarter. This is extremely motivating--they are in charge of their mind and its growth. Schoolwork becomes something that makes them smarter, not something that makes them feel dumb.

As a teacher of future teacher, what are some things that I can do to help my student teachers develop the qualities needed to be the kind of teachers that will motivate students?

Student teachers need to learn several things that are key in motivating students. First they should learn to focus on students' effort, learning, and progress and not their underlying abilities. Praise for effort and progress motivates students, praise for ability ends up undermining their motivation. This is because praise for ability tells them that they always have to look smart, so they stay away from hard work and get discouraged when they make mistakes.

Teachers must also learn to tell the truth. They should not hide students' skill deficits from them in an effort to protect their self-esteem. Students need to know where they stand and what they need to do to improve--even it the effort required of them is great. In my writings, I discuss more ways in which teachers can play a large role in motivating students.

It often appears that the goals we invest the most time in for our students are relatively short term goals, such as just one year for the STAR test here in California. Is it not also necessary to invest time encouraging students to have long term goals, often focusing on those goals, to achieve the most productive growth mindset? Is the failure to invest more time encouraging long term goals for our students a major current failing of our educational system?

This is so important. Many students do not understand how what they are doing in school now plays into their long-term goals. Yet if teachers convey that students are growing and building their brains every time they learn, students will think about their effort as an investment that will yield benefits well into the future. It is tremendously empowering to students to understand that they have the starring role in their own intellectual development and that they are in charge of who they will become--with of course the help and guidance of their teachers.

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Last modified: May, 2007

Disclaimer: This website is the sole responsibility of Mike McMahon. It does not represent any official opinions, statement of facts or positions of the Alameda Unified School District. Its sole purpose is to disseminate information to interested individuals in the Alameda community.