Growth Mindset and Me

Through my work as an office assistant at the Student Learning Center, I have become somewhat familiar with growth mindset, as this is the philosophy it seeks to instill in the students, tutors, and other employees. In general, I would say that I fit fairly well in the growth mindset box, as I enjoy learning new things and challenging myself in new situations. However, I still strive and expect to get the right answer. Both of these statements are true of me across the board, whether in school or in life as a whole. I think growth mindset fits in very well with the idea of constructive criticism, which I find to be very important in making progress.

Growth Mindset Mantra. Web source: Twitter.

I am not entirely convinced that the now and not yet are in complete opposition to one another. I think this is partly because I focus so much attention on language learning, which melds the need for immediate effort with future results. Perhaps in a beginners class the motivation is to get good grades, but without that effort it will be impossible to move to the next level of using the language. Or perhaps that actually is the tension at the heart of growth mindset.

As far as the semester goes, I am interested in learning more about Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences, which was also mentioned by my boss at the Student Learning Center. I think one of my main takeaways from the growth mindset readings so far was the need to challenge myself and not make ease the goal. I like challenges, and this inspires me to see how I can stretch myself even in arenas that are otherwise familiar territory.