Real Talk | 3 September 2019 | Term 3, Week 7
Did you know that intelligence is not fixed?
You know when you have those thoughts like “I am just not good at Maths” – well that is not real! There is no truth to the idea that some of us are just ‘good’ at some things and some of us ‘aren’t’.
Sure – I may not be able to play the guitar like Angus Young (if you don’t know who he is ask your parents or Google) but if I really want to I can learn to play the guitar and with practise – master it! This means I can do the same with anything new that I am learning; Maths, Science, English, Humanities etc.
The trick is how I persevere with what I am doing, never giving up and trying my best. I hope you read the article in iServi last week about Ms Donnelly and Alessandro Circati? It’s available here. The interviews are a great read and both elite athletes were asked about the perseverance required to succeed.
The clip below gives you a brief and easy to understand explanation of what fixed and growth mindset is. Carol Dweck from Stanford University did lots of research on this and what she found is explained in the clip. We want all of you to have a growth mindset in how you approach learning at Servite because it is true (scientifically proven even) that with perseverance and resilience (the ability to bounce back when things aren’t easy or you experience a set back) anything is possible.
This beautiful animation tells the story of someone who doesn’t give up and creates magic:
You can be just like her – with perseverance and hard work you can be more than you can even imagine.
You can change a fixed mindset to a growth mindset easily with how you think about things. You just need to change the language you use; both in your own brain and when you speak to others. You know those crazy thoughts that you say in your head like “I can’t do this”? You just need to change that to “I can’t do this … yet”.
This week your teachers will giving commendations on your growth mindset; how you are prepared to persevere through learning new concepts even when it gets tough and practising what you are learning.
Enjoy the week.
Servite Community Team
