by Shirley Tan
Conceptualized by Stanford University’s Professor of Psychology, Carol Dweck as a means of changing the educational process in today’s schools, the growth mindset is a concept designed to change how children and teachers approach learning and development.
Although it was developed decades ago, it has continued to be considered a way of looking at intelligence and figuring out how to help learners expand their capacity beyond the framework of a fixed mindset, which is what most educational philosophies have essentially encouraged.
A growth mindset involves the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed over time with the right environment and encouragement rather than assuming that a person’s skills and abilities are fixed.
Rather than praising someone for being smart, the idea here is to emphasize the hard work they have accomplished.
By doing so, researchers found that those being praised for hard work, will continue to work harder. While those who were merely told they were smart tended not to make much further effort.