Dweck Brainology Analysis

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“Oh wow, what a smart child!” This is a statement that deceivingly seems inconsequential on the surface. However, once one digs below the surface, as Carol S. Dweck did in “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn,” one can see that having a certain mindset can be a determining factor of whether or not a child will be able to become successful. Dweck believes that a praise (similar to the type mentioned before) cause students to have a certain mindset on the way smartness functions, consequently affecting their work ethic. TO elaborate, she claims they either have one of two mindsets; a growth mindset, which is when a student believes they obtain knowledge by working hard; or a fixed mindset which is when a student believes everyone has a set level of smartness they have to live up to. According to Dweck, when a student has a growth mindset they are set up to become smart while a fix mindset would lead them to failure. To support her claims, Dweck uses studies she has conducted, although the studies were indeed related to her argument, some pieces of her evidence were not convincing. Essentially, Dweck argues that having growth mindset, as opposed to a fix mindset, automatically will make a student smarter; however the human mind is more …show more content…

As previously mentioned, there could be an exceedingly complex mindset and I fall into that category. To obtain knowledge and truly grasp a concept students have to practice it, which would mean I have a growth mindset, consequently marking me as smart. On the other hand, there are times where I am afraid to fail and believe I should already know a certain concept, which would mean I have fixed mindset (not as smart). It is plausible that since I show evidence of both, I fall in the middle and could be considered an average Jane to