“You are not special. You are not exceptional, contrary to your participation soccer trophy and 5th grade report card” (David McCullough). McCullough articulates that Americans tend to disregard extraordinary achievements, and instead celebrate ordinary progress so that no individual feels inferior. In comparison to our global competitors, society’s contentment with mediocrity is hurting the overall cognitive performance of students in America’s educational systems. America’s pervasive acceptance of mediocrity has prevented society as a whole from standing up and taking bold steps in new directions. The typical mindset of society shapes our perception of success, which is entangling us into deep consequences. It seems that America is inventing …show more content…
Up until the 1960’s, it was believed that people were either born with or without intelligence. UC Berkeley professor Mark Rosenzweig, performed a series of experiments with rats demonstrating how environment influenced rat behavior. His findings changed society’s outlook of inherited intelligence. Rosenzweig's results presented the idea that all youth have the capability to succeed, although it depends on how the individual develops their own attitude or belief toward their personal intelligence. Carol Dweck, a psychologist from Stanford University interpreted Rosenzweig's experimental results and separated the issue into two outlooks of personal intelligence. “Some students start thinking of their intelligence as something fixed, as carved in stone” (Michelle Trudeau). Dweck perceived this as a fixed mindset of intelligence. “Others think intelligence is something you can develop your whole life” (Student’s View of Intelligence). She calls this the growth mindset of intelligence. Dweck wondered if a child’s belief about their own intelligence could contribute to their academic success. She conducted an experiment analyzing the correlation of these elements in 373 seventh grade students who struggled in math. The students were randomly assigned to attend a workshop. One seminar taught how to study well, while the other educated students on the expanding nature of intelligence of the brain. The second group discovered that “the brain actually formed new connections every time they learned something new, and that over time, made the individual smarter" (Student’s View of Intelligence). Those who attended the neuroscience seminar and believed that they could grow and advance in their cognitive development, saw a steady increase in academic performance by the end of the semester. They received better overall grades than the other group
In Carol Dweck’s article titled, “Brainology” Dweck discusses the different mindsets that students have about intelligence. Some where taught that each person had a set amount of intelligence, while others were trained that intelligence is something they could develop and increase over time. in Dweck’s article she writes, “ It is a belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constrictive, determined reactions to setbacks” (Dweck pg. 2). Dweck is talking about a growth mind-set in which is how students perceive the growth of knowledge and that no one person is born with a certain amount of intelligence, it too can be trained and developed over time. By introducing Dweck’s ideas of a growth mind-set to students, students will enjoy learning and be less devastated by setbacks, because they know they can develop intelligence. Dweck also writes that students with a growth mind-set, “believe that intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and education. They
It was not until I read Carol S. Dweck’s “Brainology” that I realized I had a fixed mindset. I care more about getting a 4.0 than actually understanding what I am being taught and I also hate struggling. These habits are part of having a fixed mindset. It was after reading this article that I discovered I could change my mindset and be successful. Having a fixed mindset means that you believe that you and others only have a certain amount of intelligence. A growth mindset on the other hand, is believing that everyone has the ability to reach a higher level of intelligence through effort and hardwork.
Both were given a workshop with skills on how to study, but one was also given lessons on what a growth mindset was and how to develop one. The group given the lessons on growth mindset was extremely fascinated by the thought that they could control how much knowledge they were capable of learning. Overall, the growth mindset group excelled while the control group continued to not do so well. After receiving these results, Dweck was so inspired that she developed a growth mindset computer program called “Brainology,” that would be available to students all around the world. Dweck concluded that it’s extremely important to teach students that it takes hard work to achieve
“Making the Grade” by Kurt Wiesenfeld Newsweek magazine, June 27 1996 brings to light an issue that has been glazed over by society for some time, grade inflation. It’s highly disturbing that “we lament that schoolchildren get “kicked upstairs” until they graduate from high school despite being illiterate and mathematically inept, but we seem unconcerned with college graduates whose less blatant deficiencies are far more harmful, if their accreditation exceeds their qualifications”. The issue of grade inflation is not simply an issue of students feeling entitled to higher grades than they have earned, it is a problem that directly impacts our society in a multitude of negative ways. Perhaps the “gold star” mentality started out with the good intentions of creating children with positive self-esteem, however, a direct result is lazy adults with a sense of entitlement for no reason, who lack qualifications to adequately and safely perform their jobs.
Also, in Carol Dweck’s research article “Brainology”, she states the subtitle “Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn”. She dishes mindsets and achievement, how do students learn these mindsets, and so on… … Dweck suggests, “Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount, and that’s that. We call this a fixed mindset, and, as you will see, students with this mindset worry about how much of this fixed in intelligence they possess”. Many students believe that the challenge encountered in learning is a threat to their growth path. She put forward two different minds of the ideological study contrast, the finds showed that students studied with a growth mindset were more interested in learning and
The pool of opportunity has grown smaller from what it once was, and it seems that opportunity parallels the wealth in capitalist America—a small number of individuals are successful in their endeavors, and the rest must settle for less with disappointment and disillusionment. While hard work and perseverance may push individuals to new heights, the power of optimism and positive thinking can only take a person so far. The great American dream and frontier is only available to those with certain circumstances, and those circumstances are becoming less available to the new generation coming into the
It seems our definition of success is related to our own individuality. Our view of success is rooted in the outcome of competition among individuals. Americans seem quick to claim that we have each succeeded through their o...
Living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, our culture has naturally valued prestige and luxuries. We admire fancy items and often judge other individuals by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and the schools that they attend. The “American Dream” serves as a motivational factor for people; believing that hard work and dedication can bring “success” to ones’ life. Although this is partially true, it is difficult for individuals in the middle class and lower class.
“A refreshed mind is a creative and productive one,” is a quote written by Kathy Bell, in her book Regression (Bell). In a society that is continuing to regress to the ways of previous historical times, does it make you think that maybe no one is working to keep their mind refreshed and allow our society to grow as opposed to it going backwards? Particular aspects of our society are regressing to ways that can be compared to those of the Paleolithic period, including the way our society's gender roles are portrayed, our ideology and how we treat people, and being civilized. We are reverting to women being the homebodies and taking care of their children and given high expectations, and men being the one in charge. Today's society, like the Paleolithic culture, has a monotheistic religion, and have put people back into groups similar to the groups the Paleolithic people traveled in. Our society today is also turning back and losing its civility, and becoming a selfish, uncaring group of people as a whole.
The essay titled America Remain the World’s Beacon of Success by Tim Roemer discusses the positive position America placed as a leader in many of its endeavors in the fields of technology, sciences, and healthcare. In Roemer’s opinion, America regarded upon by other countries as the litmus test comparing their success. Roemer enumerated the many achievements and discoveries America accomplished as new country at only 700 years old. Now the question remains, will the success of America continue to be sustainable? I believe it will be, and I agree with Roemer’s opinion despite the internal issues the country face on a regular basis. After all, success is a daily repeated effort in small sum.
America has always seen as the symbolic ideal country of prosperity and equality. This is the reason why people come to America hoping to become successful, but in matter of fact we all have an equal plan field to be successful is not entirely true. For there are social boundaries that keep use limited based upon our own status. Whether we are born of a low class or of a high class the possibility of economic mobility in a sense are predetermined by two factors of social class and success together they both affecting one’s another opportunity of success. In order to achieve success, we must know that it is made up of two main concepts and they are fortune and position.
In The article “Brainology” “Carol S Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, differentiates between having a fixed and growth mindset in addition how these mindsets have a deep effect on a student’s desire to learn. Individuals who have a fixed mindset believe they are smart without putting in effort and are afraid of obstacles, lack motivation, and their focus is to appear smart.. In contrast, students with a growth mindset learn by facing obstacles and are motivated to learn. Dwecks argues that students should develop a growth mindset.
The key difference between Walter Isaacson’s, author of “The Genius of Jobs”, and Carol Dweck’s, author of “The Secret to Raising Smart Kids”, perspective of intelligence lies in their thought of inherent ability; Isaacson believes that intelligence is a natural gift that can be expanded upon, but Dweck would respond by agreeing to a degree but believing that the beauty of intelligence lies in that expansion.
In Carol Dweck’s “Brainology” the article explains how our brain is always being altered by our experiences and knowledge during our lifespan. For this Dweck conducted a research in what students believe about their own brain and their thoughts in their intelligence. They were questioned, if intelligence was something fixed or if it could grow and change; and how this affected their motivation, learning, and academic achievements. The response to it came with different points of views, beliefs, or mindset in which created different behavior and learning tendencies. These two mindsets are call fixed and growth mindsets. In a fixed mindset, the individual believes that intelligence is something already obtain and that is it. They worry if they
"Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. ... For every thing that is given something is taken." Emerson, "Self Reliance", p 169