In this Ted Talk, Eduardo Briceno discusses how powerful having a growth mindset truly is. He gives the example of world-famous chess player, Josh Waitzkin. Waitzkin says that the key to his success was not falling into the trap of believing that he was the best and that there was no room for improvement.

Based on research, brains can show that for people with a fixed mindset, they receive the most information when they are receiving information about performance such as a grade or a score. When they do not get a good grade or score, in order to protect their ego, they lose interest or withdraw. For people with a growth mindset, they receive the most information about what they could do better next time. They focus more on learning and improving their progress over time.

Briceno asks the audience how many of us believe that we are not good at math, or socializing or conversely that we are naturals at what we do. I thought that this last point was interesting to note because I have yet to discuss how a fixed mindset can also affect our most intellectual students. This truly encourages teachers to build a growth mindset with every single student, even the ones that are the most intellectual in our class. If we are to fulfill our potential, we have to begin to think differently about ourselves as being capable of growth and change.

Reference:

Ted x Talks. (November 18 2012). The power of belief: Mindset and success. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc.