I actually mentioned growth mindset in my previous post. I don't know if that wording was on my mind because I saw the name of this assignment or if it's because I've heard about growth mindset for so long. I mentioned growth mindset was one of the takeaways from my career class I took as a freshman at OU.
I believe in the growth mindset. I've never thought I'm incapable of learning something. I do sometimes think a person's baseline is different than another person's and that achieving that baseline might require more effort for one person than another. I've run into arguments for believing those things, but I always try to explain those beliefs in no way detract from what growth mindset proponents believe.
On the subject of schooling and the growth mindset, I agree the current grading system does promote chasing a grade rather than learning the material. I was one of the valedictorians at my high school, and I sometimes joke the reward should have been titled "Best Factory Worker." I looked at high school as a game in some ways. I just needed to figure out the system. Luckily for me, I did retain a decent amount of what I was tested over. However, I think if grades weren't seen as such a big deal I could have possibly learned and remembered more. At the same time, without grades, I might not have applied myself to all the classes I took and instead would have focused on only the ones I found most interesting.
One particular path has never stood out among the rest for me, so incentives such as grades have always been a carrot at the end of the stick for me when my interests didn't lead me anywhere. My explanation for why I focused on getting good grades was that my only job as a student was to do so. I've always wanted to make the most of time, so I think I did that in high school. Why I was able to achieve the grades I did was because I didn't give up when I probably could have. I believe that's what separated me and the other valedictorians from all the other students who were just as capable of getting all A's.
(Caption by Laura Gibbs, Image from Flickr)
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