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| Coach Bobby Knight and Indiana University player Neil Reed |
She adds that lowering standards “just leads to poorly educated students who feel entitled to easy work and lavish praise” (196).
Dweck encourages us to sympathize with Shelia Schwartz who maintains her high standards even when students don't seem to care about attention to detail. Quoting Schwartz, Dweck writes: "One student, whose writing was full of grammatical mistakes and misspellings . . . marched into my office with her husband from West Point--in a dress uniform, his chest covered with ribbons--because her feelings had been hurt by my instance on correct spelling" (196).
Later, however, Dweck denigrates Coach Knight’s insistence that players not make mistakes in high-stakes basketball games.
What is the difference between insisting on flawless spelling and insisting on flawless performance on the basketball court?
If making mistakes and learning from them is what practice is all about, when is wanting to avoid mistakes a bad thing?
Shouldn’t we strive to make no mistakes at times? Wouldn’t growth-mindset teachers expect students to stop making spelling mistakes? Can’t a basketball coach who expects his players not to make mistakes in games be growth-minded?
We should strive to make as little mistakes as possible. There's nothing wrong with that. We just have to accept that mistakes are still going to happen though. It's how we react to those mistakes that makes a difference. I believe Growth-minded teachers and coaches dislike mistakes just as much as fixed-minded teachers and coaches; they want to be the best that they can be. What separates them is how they react to those mistakes. Growth-minded teachers make mistakes as an opportunity to learn. Fixed-minded teachers make mistake a hindrance to perfection. Expecting students or players to not make mistakes is not fixed minded. Not showing them why they're making those mistakes and how to fix them is fixed minded.
ReplyDeleteMaking zero mistakes is impossible, whether it is writing a paper or during a game. We should not expect everything we do to be perfect because it is not going to happen. We should strive to be as close to perfect as we possibly can, but when we make a mistake we should know that it was going to happen. It is how we react to the mistake that defines us as a person. I feel that if a person has a growth mindset then it would be easier for them to accept the mistakes and know that with time and more practice the mistakes will happen less. If a person has a fixed mindset I feel as though they would have a harder time accepting the mistake because they are not supposed to make mistakes. Whether you are a fix-minded person or a growth-minded person, mistakes are going to happen. They are inevitable. The reaction from a growth-minded coach or teacher would much more supportive than that of a fixed-minded coach or teacher. The student or the player would learn more from the growth-minded coach or teacher because they would take the time and have the patience to help them become a better player or student.
ReplyDeleteIt has been repeatedly shown that higher expectations cultivate greater results. I have no doubt that Schwartz’s complaining student was much more careful about her mistakes on the next paper. She learned the hard way that Schwartz would not lower her standards, and she was better because of it. Similar to Brayden’s response, I believe that if Schwartz offered suggestions and explained how the student could correct herself in the future, then she would be a growth-minded teacher. High expectations do not mean that mistakes will not be made; they simply pave the way for improvement and learning.
ReplyDeleteOne message that impacted me when I was in the youth group at my church was about perfection in our everyday lives. In my youth pastor's words, "we should strive for excellence, not perfection." Striving for excellence is a consistently dynamic and challenging feat that results in growth from mistakes. It also means giving tremendous effort in every area. Perfection in everything is an unreachable goal because we are human. Constant fear of messing up causes people to take all measures to avoid mistakes. That becomes a problem when it hinders someone from continual development. On the other hand, there are definitely times when perfection is crucial. For example, tellers at banks cannot leave until the money is balanced in the drawers and the vault. It is important for them to be very attentive during each transaction so that the bank and its customers have the correct sum of money. That does not mean that mistakes will not happen in these areas, but it is best for there to be as few as possible.
The difference between insisting upon flawless spelling and flawless performance is a simple one. When you are writing any type of work, you can check, double-check, and triple-check your spelling until it is absolutely flawless. You have all the time you need to insure perfection. Whereas during a performance, such as a basketball game or vocal performance, you have to be absolutely sure in your skills in order to achieve any degree of excellence, much less perfection. So it is reasonable to argue that a mistake in a performance is much more understandable than a mistake in an easily reviewed spelling error.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the spelling of the student, those are easy mistakes that can be checked for and even corrected before a paper is turned in. Those grammatical errors didn’t sound like they were just 5-10 small typos and/or errors, instead it sounded like the paper was riled with it and it may have seemed that the student didn’t care about the quality of their work. The paper was a mental effort, but basketball is a physical effort that is almost impossible to request for superhuman ability and perfection. Once the human body is pushed as far as it can go there is no way to keep pushing without rest. I think it is possible to strive for your students and players to not make mistakes, but it is impossible to expect them to NEVER make a mistake. If mistakes were never made and everyone was so perfect, there would be no need for a growth mindset or for even having a competition to compete in or grades to give. This makes me think of the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a satirical dystopian story where everyone who has a quality, whether physical or mental, that is better than anyone else’s has to have “handicaps” that restrict or conceal these abilities. The whole world is in a fixed mindset where everyone has to be the same and anyone who isn’t is punished to be the same so that no one else can feel inferior or better than someone else. It deals with what I see to be both sides of the line of a fixed mindset between making everyone the same to cancel out competition and being a person who goes through a power trip as declaring your greatness. Either way, in Harrison Bergeron the idea that any of the people can grow as individuals or get better at something by putting in the effort instead of restricting others.
ReplyDelete-Arian "Skye" Norman