Just finished up a really interesting interview with Carol Dweck, author of the book Mindset, and it’s got me thinking hard about the language I use with my own kids in terms of creating a “growth mindset” in them or a “fixed mindset.” I’ve always believed that we should focus on effort to improve as much if not more than what we can actually do at any given moment. In the interview, she talks about assessment, teaching learning and much more. Hope you enjoy it.
A superb interview with a superb thinker — thanks so much!
I agree – very thought provoking interview.
Thanks for doing this.
Thank you for this interview. I had just started reading this book yesterday. Carol Ann Tomlinson mentioned it as a book to read at a workshop. And I also am thinking hard about what I say to my son and what effect that will have on his “mindset.”
Thank you for this interview. I just started reading this book yesterday. Carol Ann Tomlinson mentioned it as a book to read at a workshop. And I also am thinking hard about what I say to my son and what effect that will have on his “mindset.”
I am a huge fan of Carol Dweck! I reccommend Mindset to everyone. Thanks for helping to make more people aware of her work. I have changed the way I think about my own abilities and what my own potential is. I have changed the way I interact with my own children and I have changed the way I interact with my students. I wish I had read this book when I was in High School. I think it would have changed some of the choices I made then that were based on a fixed mindset particularly about my own abilities in math and science.
I am hoping to meet her at the NAIS conference in Chicago next week. She is one of my heroes!
I blogged about the book a while ago. Here are my two posts:
Changing your Mindset Part One
Changing Your Mindset Part Two
Great one. Dr. Dweck was kind enough to help me one time after reading some of her research. I emailed her for some of the source material and she very helpfully sent over what she could find. She sent me a mocked up magazine article about how the brain grows. I use it at the beginning of every year in my 8th grade science class. I try to instill a growth mindset but it’s really really hard not to slip back into the old “he’s smart” lingo.
Will, I’m enjoying Carol’s presentation after the fact. Is there a chat log somewhere? I bet the conversation was very stimulating there, too.
So much of what she said fascinates me. There is a cultural connection here, too. Research I’ve explored on student motivation describes how students in Korea and Japan (and likely other countries) demonstrate the growth mindset. they believe effort will lead to success. Western kids are fed the message of “innate gifts” and “natural ability”. Our whole culture needs to turn to a growth mindset. Imagine the changes we’d see.
Thanks for this interview. I have children aged 10 and 12 as well as being a teacher. Dr. Dweck hit all the ed reform buttons about how school should look. (Why do I keep hearing the same old research based information and yet nothing changes?) The only problem I have occurs when I wonder about the passion of my students. That is a tough nut to crack in my community because I think so much of their lives are wrapped up in survival — economic, cultural, and literal in some rare cases. Yet, this has given me a context in which I can at least begin to change my language even though I won’t have much impact yet on changing anything else (assessments, etc.) I just hope it’s not too late for my 12 year old.
Language we use (with anyone) is a barrier. If I were to say to you, ich bin sehr gut, or something, that language would be a barrier unless you knew it.
If I were to say to you, I attended a webcast were I heard and saw Carol Dweck, you would say “that’s nice dear, pass the sugar.” You would ignore it, because the schema in your brain, often called prior knowledge, is just not there.
But if I changed my language to say, I saw a TV broadcast of Carol Dweck, you would understand and be able to incorporate and respond.
Similarly, if I say to my colleagues at my school, I have a bimonthly webcast, they respond, “that’s nice dear, pass the salt”. But if I change the language and say, I have a bimonthly broadcast (or even radio show) they perk up, recognise and respond.
Our language about this fabulous Web2.0 world has been a barrier to so many. It is up to us to change our language to provide something familiar for people to “hang the knowledge on” as we learned in college with the prior knowledge thing. Anticipatory Sets and all that.
Carol speaks of the same barriers that our language, and because of it our mindsets, provide. Or do the mindsets come before the language? This is interesting …
This was an excellent interview with Dr. Carol Dweck. Her work has great implications for educators, the schools, and the systems that keep the “fixed mindset” in place to the detriment of children’s learning. I will be sharing this with others. I am in the process of reading Carol Dweck’s new book, “Mindset”. I am a great believer, fan, and follower of her work. It has impacted my life personally as well. As an educational consultant, I find that helping clients develop and capitalize on a “growth mindset” serves them well. Thanks for an excellent interview.
Favorite line: “Praise the process”