Sometimes I feel I come across an article at just the right time. I had recently praised a child for their hard work, they failed miserably at the task and they totally called me on it. You are just trying to make me feel better. I highly recommend you perusing this article in the Atlantic, "How Praise Became a Consolation Prize" by Christine Gross-Loh. She is interviewing Carol Dwek about Growth Mindset and how many of us misunderstand what it means and how to implement it in our classrooms. Just because I have a Growth Mindset doesn't mean I can automatically transfer that to my students, it is not something they just pick up. I have read many articles by Carol Dwek but had not come across the idea of "false Growth Mindset' before. "The mindset ideas were developed as a counter to the self-esteem movement of blanketing everyone with praise, whether deserved or not. To find out that teachers were using it in the same way was of great concern to me. The whole idea of growth-mindset praise is to focus on the learning process. When you focus on effort, [you have to] show how effort created learning progress or success." (Carol Dwek, The Atlantic) Once again I have reflected upon the past year and realized that I have been guilty of this, and especially in my own life. I hated to see my children discouraged and frustrated, if I could have a mommy do-over I would be more mindful of how I praised my children. In class it is something I will be super mindful of this year. "Many parents and teachers who themselves have growth mindset aren’t passing it on because they are trying to protect the child’s confidence, focus on the child’s ability, and kind of boost the child’s view or protect the child from a failure. They’re conveying anxiety about ability." (Carol Dwek, The Atlantic) This is will be a balancing act for me, I still want to focus on their abilities, some of my students have encountered a lot of failure, but how will I accomplish this without "conveying anxiety about ability". It is in my nature to want them to feel good about themselves. I look forward to analyzing how focusing more of my praise on the process vs. the outcome effects students this year. I wonder how this works with other adults, how I praise my team, am I focusing on outcomes or process. My personal children are off at college this fall so not sure if I missed the boat on this with them. It is like Mila Kunis character in Bad Moms says, "At least once a day, I feel like the worst mom in the world, and I cry in my car." They both made it to college so I didn't mess up too bad. I hope you enjoy the article, I did. Adrienne Jones
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