The Growth Mindset and PERMA - Report Example

The Growth Mindset and PERMA Name Course Institution THE GROWTH MIDSET AND PERMA The essay discusses the growth mindset and the PERMA, and the impact of the various mindsets to the students and the learning environment. There is a review of the prominent myths in education such as myths related to the growth mindset. There is the additional discussion of why such myths are so appealing and the advantages and disadvantages of relying on such myths. Prominent myths in education (how and why they are proven and considered untrue) There are various myths in education. They include myths that engender subjects, myths that accompany the arts, and myths applied in various learning platforms such as e-learning. One such myth is the belief that boys are inherently good at mathematics. There is even follow-up evidence that shows that boys have been performing better at mathematics than girls over the last 100 years. Such made the widespread and believed until recently when studies revealed that social factors are the determinant. However, upon research, the statistics are as a result of the social factors that surrounded education over the last decade. Some of the social factors include the cultivation of a fixed mindset in the female students making them believe that mathematics and the sciences are a reserve for the male students. The other is the opposite treatment of the male students where they are encouraged to have growth mindsets. Other myths include the belief that different people are responsive to specific learning styles where it is explained that there are better results when students are presented with their preferred learning styles. Most people go further to elaborate the importance of the use of visual aids in learning as a preferred and more effective learning strategy for some and not for others. This remains a myth because there is the lack of evidence about the same. The other myth is that people use one side of their brain and not the other whereby human beings only use 10% of their brain and that the left side of the brain has a different function from the right side. It is popular belief that the right side of the brain is best related to creativity and art whereas the left side is associated with logic and mathematics. Scientific research proves no such thing except for the preferential use of different parts of the brain for different functions[Gea08]. The myths in education hold because of the sources of such myths and the subsequent reinforcement of the myths by commercial companies and even various governments. Others state that intelligence is exclusively genetic whereas others state that some people are simply not meant for education. Such myths may be ingrained into the minds of the teachers and the students, making neither put the required effort for much better performance among the students. Growth and a Fixed Mindset According to studies by Carol Dweck, new challenges and new perspectives encourage a growth mindset. Mindset in Education is socially ingrained in the students and the first step is the acknowledgement that it is possible for the individuals to accomplish certain tasks. The perseverance through adversity is referred to as Grit[Dav12]. The students that are defined as students with a growth mindset are those that value effort. Their perception of intelligence as a malleable skill makes them open to new challenges and improvement in case of bad academic outcomes. There are those students whose mindset leads them to believe in intelligence as inherent. Such students make little or no effort to improve their academic performances. The fixed mindset hinders growth because such students do not allow themselves into counterfactual thinking.[Aar15]. Students with a growth mindset approach challenges with an open mind. They exhibit the willingness to improve and value effort. Although they show resilience and persistence, students with a growth mindset ask for help when the going gets tough. That is because the students and other people with growth mindsets believe that achievement is a result of effort and not simply genetics. People with fixed mindsets, on the other hand, avoid challenges, believe that some people are created for certain tasks and not others, exhibit little resilience when the going gets tough and seldom ask for help. The avoid challenges and prefer to keep doing the things they already know to play safe[The151]. Mindsets can be changed over time. However, they are best cultivated among school-going children. That way, the rest of the life of such a student changes and they are more likely to accomplish more. Whenever it comes to praise, it is essential that the teachers and parents focus on praising the effort rather than the outcome. Emphasis on praising the outcome encourages cheating and deters the confrontation of new challenges among the students for the sake of pleasing the teachers and parents. It, therefore, creates a fixed mindset in the person. Letting the children and students fail and encouraging them to try again instead of scolding also helps in building their resilience. Such exercises makes the students develop resilience upon the realization that failure is an opportunity to learn something new and not a proclamation of doom. Mindsets and Resilience Ability and intelligence can be viewed through two main lenses: that ability is ingrained in people thus unchangeable (fixed mindset); the development of ability through effort is possible (growth mindset). The two categories of beliefs lead to different behavior and subsequently different results. One of the mistakes made by educators in the classroom setting and beyond is the praise of the intelligence of children. Such praise seems to foster the state of a fixed mindset where the students feel comfortable without any need to improve. Students and children with growth mindsets exhibit great interest in the acquisition of information on ways to become better for self-improvement. The people with fixed mindsets also exhibit negative reactions to failure. Such failure bursts their belief bubble. However, those with a fixed mindset face such failure with the mindset of a new opportunity to learn something new[Dav12]. Factors such as grit and a fixed mindset affect online learners a great deal as explained by the resultant low retention rates. Grit is seen in resilience during phases of failure and the commitment to the will to improve over time among the students. It is also defined as the passion for the long term goals of the students. The personal beliefs of individual students about their minds affect their likelihood of improvement and success in a positive manner. Resilience ensures that they do not give up in times of failure[Aar15]. Grit, however, is enabled by the PERMAS where positive emotions, meaning, and accomplishment play a big role in the reaction of the students during times of failure. It is only through the nurture of the PERMAS that the students internalize the positive mindset and make it a part of their long -term life goals. It is achieved through positive education that wellbeing is achieved among students. The human brain continues to develop with time and habits become hard-wired into the human brain. The creation of positive growth mindset hard-wires the brain to perceive itself highly and be ready for challenges. Committing to a growth mindset then becomes a way of life that does not require too much effort to fulfill[AHu13]. It is likely to ignore the importance of resilience among students and assume there is not much to worry about as students. However, the school environment has various stressors and the development of student resilience within the environment is essential in the coping mechanisms of the students. Some of the stressors come from the competition among the students whereby certain students never wish to go below certain grades whereas others compete for positions. Performance ratings also serve as stressors and may cause depression among the students that feel hopeless with regard to the improvement of their performance. When provided with the proper guidance in the classroom setting and the rest of the school environment, the outcome of such situations is only helped by the resilience of the students to failure. The Aspects of PERMA The PERMA model consists of five elements that are core to psychological wellbeing. They include engagement, positive emotions, meaning, relationships, and accomplishment. I shall place a special emphasis on accomplishment, positive emotions, and engagement. Mindset is one of the determinant factors of academic success because it determines the willingness to try to gain higher achievements among students[Kel14]. The PERMAs are related to the overall wellbeing, a state that is essential among the students for the maximum output in their studies. It is for that reason that the positive education approach is essential in the promotion of creativity and learning. The self -management of the mental health of a person is cultivated from a young age whereby the individual develops self-awareness and emotional intelligence at a young age[Alb14]. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence help in the coping strategies of the students. Such students tend to realize the importance of a growth mindset and the rationale of the same. Such positive education ensures that the involved people do not face the experience of a fixed mindset. Engagement is the psychological connection of the student to the organizations and activities around the student. It is essential for the student to experience the state off engagement for the overall positive development of the student and the involvement in the necessary educative activities. Such engagement creates exposure and the flexibility of the mindset of the student. That is especially important if the student had a fixed mindset. It is for that reason that accomplishment becomes a product of the hard work of the student and is not viewed as inherent or unchangeable. Positive emotions result in positive relationships that create the sense of social integration in the student. Such feelings of social integration make it easier to ask for help when things get tough[MEP11]. Accomplishment refers to the process of making progress towards the goals of the person in question. The development of “accomplishment” makes the individual feel capable of taking up the challenges that the day presents to them. With a sense of accomplishment, failure does not crush the spirit. Instead, it serves as a lesson and the person involved makes a point of overcoming the obstacles that caused the failure. That is because the person believes that it is about the effort and not the inherent nature of the individual that leads to success[MEP11]. The aspects of the PERMA define the strategies towards the development of the wellbeing of individuals. Wellbeing is abstract and wide and relates to the state of feeling and functioning well. Only through the assessment of student wellbeing can teachers and school counsellors determine the strong and weak points of the students and the best ways to address such points. The improvement of the social relationships and the positive emotions of the students help in the determination of the necessary strategy in the inculcation of a growth mindset among the students. Conclusion Myths create a fixed mindset among the students, limiting their ability to exploit their full potential. They also lead to the adoption of useless teaching strategies in relation to the teaching styles. The school environment has various stressors and the development of student resilience within the environment is essential in the coping mechanisms of the students. The PERMAs are related to the overall wellbeing, a state that is essential among the students for the maximum output in their studies. It is for such reasons that the teachers must focus on enhancing the PERMA of the students for the best student output. References Gea08: , (Geake, 2008), Dav12: , (Yeager & Dweck, 2012), Aar15: , (Hochanadel & Finamore, 2015), The151: , (Society, The British Psychological, 2015), AHu13: , (A.Huppert & So, 2013), Kel14: , (Keln, Waters, Adler, & White, 2014), Alb14: , (Park, 2014), MEP11: , (Seligman, 2011), Read More