Growth Mindset: Sharing Thoughts with a Friend

I decided to talk about the Growth Mindset with a friend, since I feel like everyone should learn about the Growth Mindset sooner than later. And college is the perfect time to learn about it, so we can all implement these ideas in the rest of our classes and in the work force when we graduate!

My friend had never heard of the Growth Mindset, so I explained Carol Dweck's video that we watched at the beginning of class. I explained the part where students all over are in this competition to get the highest grades, when in reality, we should all be trying to understand the material at hand (since that's what we're here for in the first place). 

My friend agreed that we should be trying to focus on learning instead of simply obtaining the letter grade we want. However, he stated that it would be extremely difficult to get that ball rolling, since we have been doing it this way for so long. Even if you do get the ball rolling, there would be a lot of discrimination against the idea and many people may not want to do it that way. A lot of people may ask why we can't just be doing it the way we have been, since so many people have succeeded for so long this way. He stated that the only way to do that would be creating a college with no letter grades and simply basing their intellectual level off of what experiences they have. That way, when they go into the work force, the employers know what they can and can't do, instead of just looking at one test score that may not truly reflect the abilities of the candidate. 

Source: Very relatable quote, as a path with no obstacles is not a path of learning.