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I have never heard about Carol Dweck, but I have heard the very general gist of growth mindset, even though I never knew the official term for the idea. After watching the videos, I'm somewhat torn on my opinion about Dweck's study.
I do believe that there is negativity on rewarding based on the finished product because I've been in that position before. I would spend hours on hours studying for a test only to not even get the average score, and it's disheartening, really. Instead of wanting to work harder, there's hopeless feeling that comes around when I don't perform as well as I want to, and that shouldn't be the way it is. And honestly, I used to have the growth mindset, so I'm not exactly sure what happened to me (haha). I guess what I'm trying to say is is that I've been in both mindsets before, so I understand the rewards and repercussions to both.
Although I agree with idea of "yet" and that there is a current problem with the educational system, I am not sure how it could change. I still think that people will always look for who has the best grades or the most acclaimed research. Most people won't pay attention to the process. To be honest, in my major, most professors expect all their students to put sweat and tears into their courses, so there isn't a reward for learning - there's only the end product, the grade.
All in all, I agree with the general problem. We should put more positive light onto the journey rather than the destination. I'm just not exactly sure how we would do that for every student, especially those in higher education.
I hear you, Elena! The grading system I use in this class does result in a letter grade at the end because that's what the university requires. But at the same time, I try to separate the letter grade from the actual work you do in the class, so that the focus is all the learning and the feedback (and also the fun of learning, I hope!). Yes, the grading is still there... but hopefully it won't ever result in that letdown and frustration like what you described with a disappointing grade on an exam. That's my goal, anyway: you can let me know what you think about that when you see how the class goes for you! There are more and more teachers taking this un-grading approach. I know for me, as a teacher, it works so much better than having to put grades on papers and exams. I hope it will work for you too! :-)
ReplyDeleteYour comment about putting more reward on the journey is important. I also think it’s far more rewarding to put a lot of work into something and come away feeling accomplished. Not because you threw something together at the last minute and managed to get a good grade. How would we reward a journey, educators don’t usually see that part?
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