Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What would you ask Carol Dweck?

Indigo, I read the book for an interactive community presentation, and have watched a few youtube videos. I hope the upcoming presentation is not Carol Dweck reciting the book as in the videos I've seen. So I am taking to heart your two questions about research and evidence since 2007. Thank you for those ideas.

Our head honcho has made several positive changes that reflect Carol Dweck's ideas. This is a good thing! However, the REASONS behind them I find disturbing. For example, we will no longer have a named gifted program in the ES because it negatively affected the self-esteem of the students IN the program. They still have compacted curriculum available for students ready for it. I don't think it matters whether there is a named program as long as the opportunities are still there, but the reason they gave seems odd. I don't think they polled the students on their self-esteem; the language is identical to Dr. Dweck's.

Some of the blanket statements I see in the book about ability
offend me. There IS such a thing as innate ability. It can be developed. If you do not have innate ability, you can still develop an ability. It may take longer. Mozart worked hard, but he had quite a few things to work WITH: being born into a family of musicians, having a parent who enabled him, AND having talent. eta: the book states that Mozart was good because he worked hard.

The worst thing teachers have said to my child is "You're a smart kid, this shouldn't be a problem for you." If adopting the "Growth Mindset" philosophy removes that phrase from every teacher's mouth, I'll be a happy camper. But when a teacher says "Good score, you must have studied really hard", what is a student to say if he DIDN'T study much at all? He may think, counter to what Dr. Dweck would like, "wow, I can do well without studying" or, "my teacher doesn't notice me, he doesn't know my abilities, why should I even bother?" That's bad, it leads to disengagement.

As I said, I will re-read the book for the presentation. I always pick up on something new the second time 'round. I am trying to open my mind for it, so that I can get the most out of it. But some things slam me to a halt as I want to sputter "but...but..."