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Repeat Not Recognition [XCII]
Or… Building confidence, not congratulations
The ‘Growth Mindset’
This is something which is now going around the thoughts of people and parents, especially in the western world.
Children are now being praised for their effort, not the outcome.
The outcome is what counts, and whilst you want to encourage children — they need to know the boundaries of where they are just not doing well enough.
There is a fatal flaw in this thinking.
Another meta-analysis from 2018 seemed to show that growth mindset interventions aren’t very effective. Most of them either didn’t shift students’ mindsets, or they didn’t improve academic outcomes — sometimes both.¹
In the ’40s parents read Dr. Spock’s book “Baby and Child Care” — most of that advice turned out to be wrong.
Let’s not commit to the growth mindset just yet.
¹ “Study finds popular ‘growth mindset’ educational interventions aren’t very effective.” ScienceDaily. May 22, 2018.
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