While a significant part of our mission is to engage and support students so that they are academically, socially, and behaviorally successful at high levels, another important goal is to help develop important qualities including strong work habits, resiliency and self-empowerment so that students take an active role in their own learning. In fact, it is these (and other) important qualities that separate students who are successful from those who are authentically successful according to Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, one of the nations leading authorities in the field of Child and Adolescent Resilience and a nationally renowned pediatrician.
Until somewhat recently, the prevailing belief by educators was that success – particularly academic success, was in large part due to a student’s IQ and other innate factors. In other words, some children were just born smarter than others and their academic success was mostly attributable to simply being more intelligent. While a student’s IQ is certainly a factor that contributes to his or her success, just as important is how that student approaches learning. Both parents and educators play a significant role in shaping that child’s approach.
Carol S. Dweck, one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, posits that individuals can be placed on a continuum according to their implicit views of where ability comes from. She states that some people believe their success is based on innate ability; these are said to have a "fixed" theory of intelligence. Others, who believe their success is based on hard work and learning, are said to have a "growth" or an "incremental" theory of intelligence. Individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset can still be discerned based on their behavior. It is especially evident in their reaction to failure. Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement on their basic abilities, while growth mindset individuals don't mind failure as much because they realize their performance can be improved. These two mindsets play an important role in all aspects of a person's life. Dweck argues that the growth mindset will allow a person to live a less stressful and more successful life.
This is important because (1) individuals with a "growth" theory are more likely to continue working hard despite setbacks and (2) individuals' theories of intelligence can be affected by subtle environmental cues. For example, children given praise such as "good job, you're very smart" are much more likely to develop a fixed mindset, whereas if given compliments such as "good job, you worked very hard", they are likely to develop a growth mindset. In other words, it is possible to encourage students to persist despite failure by encouraging them to think about learning in a certain way.
Our goal is to foster a growth mindset for our students. We want students to take risks, to stretch themselves and to realize that failure is not failure but, ideally, an opportunity to learn and persevere. Our most successful students are not always those who receive the highest academic distinctions. While some certainly achieve at the highest academic levels, those students who I would consider to be most successful are those that who are intellectually curious, confident, well-adjusted, and take an active role in their own learning not solely for the grade but because they are thirsty to learn new things. Those students who have these qualities not only perform at high levels, but equally as important, are happy and secure. They readily take on new opportunities and delight in challenging themselves – even if they are only moderately successful.
Both books by Carol Dweck and Ken Ginsburg give parents and educators practical tips on how to help children and young adults obtain those qualities that will not only help them to be successful students but to flourish outside of the school setting as well. They also relate through there own experiences on how easy it is to fall into promoting those qualities that are conducive to a more fixed mindset in our children. Even after having read many of their articles and the books that I mention above, I catch myself telling my daughters how smart they are or what great dancers they are before quickly adding, "I mean, your practice is really paying off", or "I like how you challenge yourself when you work on your homework". Both authors give tips on how to give the right type of praise to your children and how to help them build confidence even when they struggle. While I highly recommend that you read both books, you can read a little about Carol Dweck in an article in the March/April, 2007 edition of Stanford Magazine titled, The Effort Effect or How Not to Talk to Your Kids in the New York Magazine.
