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

Yes, stretched out by others, possibly because the book was written for general audiences.

Stretched out by others possibly by removing Dweck's work from the context of the time in which it was written, nearly a decade ago, without regard for what has changed in that decade.

The research was conducted and the book mindset (copyright 2006) came out prior to:
- common core (2010), national standards, one-size-fits-all education, and the emphasis on closing any achievement gap and/or excellence gap, often by creating a ceiling for children at the top.
- NAGC changing the definition of "gifted" to emphasize accomplishment/achievement/eminence rather than gifted as a way of being/thinking (recapped in this blog post, Gifted Parenting Support, November 26, 2011)

As these trends were not part of the landscape when mindset was published, it would be unusual for Dweck to anticipate the movement of gifted education in that direction, and therefore to have included statements in her work which may be in defense of gifted education in the face of such changes. At the time when mindset was published, these influences did not exist.

Unfortunately, even for those of us who've read the book, it may be equally difficult to focus on what mindset says about the research, when we are immersed in today's educational landscape which causes us to wonder why mindset seems silent on certain topics (which did not exist a decade ago).

At the time when mindset was written, a hot topic in gifted education was "underachievement". The research presented in mindset was research into motivation. Another article summarizes a sentiment similar to the research presented by mindset, this way:

NotherBen,

Has your meeting occurred yet? Would you please update us after the meeting?

Meanwhile, in considering many of the posts discussing implementation of various changes in classrooms (attributed to Dweck), possibly some of these changes may have had roots in other research? This article by Dr. Sally Reis of University of Connecticut (UConn) offers a great synopsis of research on Schoolwide Enrichment Models (SEM).

Indigo,
The event is in a few weeks yet, and of course I will post an update!

Having finished Mindset now, I am not ready to "throw the baby out with the bathwater" regarding "talent is nothing, hard work is everything" dichotomy. That's the bathwater. I find Growth mindset is an idea worth considering. And no, I didn't have any Kool-aid lol. While I think the book could have been better edited (based on my own marginalia and post-its), and certainly needs updating (Circuit City is held up as a growth-mindset business success story), the essence of developing a growth mindset is attractive.

Dweck confesses to having had a fixed mindset for much of her life; I suspect she still does. She also notes that Mindset is her first foray into writing a popular book. I think the effort to make it simpler for the masses led her and her editor to make some missteps.

Thanks to longcamp for posting the link to the radio programme, I look forward to listening to it. I hope the upcoming talk does not dwell on "don't praise intelligence". I still don't understand how identifying a person as "gifted" is praise. Perhaps THAT is the simple, basic question I would ask, because it seems to raise a lot of hackles and keeps us from listening to the rest of her message.

I agree, in principle it is no more praise then telling someone that they have colour x colored eyes - it is a factual statement and praise/judgement neutral as far as I am concerned too.

The difference is that it is clearly better to have a high IQ than a low IQ. Height is a better analogy than eye color. Society values height, especially in males. You would be more reluctant to tell a male friend that he is short than that he is tall (not that he would not know). Telling a guy he is tall may be considered praise, but telling him he is short is not. Height is not under one's control.

I don't entirely disagree with your points but personally I consider praise to be complimenting someone their achievements as opposed to their God given attributes.

I think that it is entirely healthy to tell a child that they are intelligent (when they are).

I agree completely. I'll add that I believe that children have a right to know important information about themselves, which includes information about how their minds and bodies work. I know that people may disagree, but to me, not telling a child that she's extremely intelligent is very unfair to the kid. So it might make things difficult for her --- so what? It's not the KNOWLEDGE about being different that makes things hard; it's the REALITY about being different. Reality doesn't go away when we ignore it --- it typically gets harder to deal with instead. Plus, not acknowledging a person's abilities (I did NOT say skills) kind of turns them into a dirty secret.

In contrast to height, research shows that the growth/development of one's brain is under one's control (and the control of others who surround and influence that individual).
1) Growth spiral: Stimulation and/or challenging task ==> growing more neural connections ==> increased mental capacity.
2) Downward spiral: Boredom and/or easy task ==> growing fewer neural connections ==> underachievement.

Motivation may play a role, in that individuals complimented/praised for effort may be more likely to choose option 1 (challenging task), when a choice of tasks is available... while individuals primarily complimented/praised for being smart may be more likely to choose option 2 (easy task), when a choice of tasks is available.

When telling a child important information about themselves (such as "You are gifted"), some may say it is also wise to share this "mindset" information from the fields of psychology and neuroscience. This may be seen as providing a user manual for a new machine or appliance (their brain), so they may:
- appropriately understand that "gifted" does not mean they will never make errors/mistakes
- choose to cultivate a positive attitude toward mistakes as a part of embracing the learning process
- enjoy choosing a challenging task
- embrace the struggle and effort which can accompany learning something new.

I'm going to also put this in its own thread because I think it's worth it, but this article (link is a pdf file) seemed worth sharing here because of the comments in the beginning on growth vs. fixed mindsets.

That's a great article, ElizabethN! Thanks for sharing.