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Carol Dweck Biography

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We learn from Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, that there are two different mindsets: the fixed and the growth. When you have a fixed mindset you think it is set in stone what your qualities and intelligence are. You usually lack motivation to try again, usually try to avoid challenges, they tend to ignore criticism; even if it’s just constructive, and they often feel threatened by other people’s success. A growth mindset is when you believe you can grow your basic qualities. You usually pick yourself back up when you get knocked down, embrace the challenges that are thrown at you, learn from criticism, and see the success of others as a form of learning.
Dweck states that when she was in sixth grade she had a teacher who was so sure that people’s IQ scores told just how smart and trustworthy they were. She said they had one consuming goal- “look smart, don’t look dumb. Who cared about or enjoyed learning when our whole being was at stake every time she gave us a test or called on us in class?” (6). When my …show more content…

When I decided to ask her about her mindset, I learned that she is very strongly with the growth mindset. She is a firm believer that everyone can become smarter when they give themselves a chance. She loves a challenge and refuses to settle for less. I remember our sophomore year of high school and she had decided to take chemistry. She almost failed the first semester, but she never gave up no matter how difficult it was. She was faced with the challenge and decided to look at it from a new perspective and see what she could do differently the next semester. After doing this, she passes the class with a B+ and was so proud to find out that she had done better than the C- she had been aiming for on her final. I’ve learned from my best friend that you can’t let obstacles get in your

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