Discussion 4

Zackeus D. Johnson

590(Summer 2016)

Technology Leadership in Schools.

Discussion Four

How did 5th graders’ respond to receiving one or the other of these types of praise?  Why might praising innate ability promote a fixed mindset while praising effort promote a growth mindset?

During the video, I could tell that the level of the student’s confidence was high when they were praised for doing the easier task. They were more comfortable; their facial expressions were showing that they were enjoying the task at hand. However, as the project became more complex, the child’s expressions started to change. They began to lose hope and their level of confidence declined. What I did notice was the children never gave up or never stopped trying to figure out how to make the blocks match the finish product. Also, the teacher never discouraged them or intervened to do the task for them. Promoting and innate promotes a fixed mindset. It’s well-intentioned, but wrong headed. Of course kids are going to be motivated after being told “great job”, but it removes the strategy of learning new things. Therefore it’s fixed because students will yield the same results; focusing on looking good and not learning.

Those who show a growth mindset, feel smart when they are working on something difficult and makes progress. They appreciate the growth and what they learn from putting forth effort. Therefore, student who are praised for their effort would prefer the more challenging task because they are growing throughout the process of attempting to complete the task. Establishing a growth mindset with children will always yield the best outcome. Challenge students to take risk and try something different. It will teach them their style of learning and will also aid teachers with knowing what students should be paired in classrooms for certain assignments.