Using the article by Carol Dweck, write a short draft or create an outline in response to the following writing prompt:

 

What point does Dweck make about human mindset? Can you think of a time when you or someone you know exhibited either a growth or fixed mindset? Be sure to directly quote the article as you explain your own ideas and examples. When you are done writing, you will be asked a series of questions about your writing process.


Fixed vs Growth Mindset

By: Carol Dweck

There are two mindsets that students may have about their intelligence. With the fixed mindset, students believe their intelligence is just a fixed trait; they have a certain amount and that’s it. As you will see when students are in this mindset they worry about how clever they are. They don’t want to take on challenges or make mistakes; they want to stay in their comfort zone.

But students who have a growth mindset think no, it’s not fixed; intelligence is something that you can develop. It’s a potential that you can cultivate through educational instruction. Now, in a growth mindset, it’s not that a student believes anyone can be Einstein, or that everyone is the same. But they understand that even Einstein wasn’t Einstein until he spent years and years and years of dedicated passionate labor. So in the growth mindset talent is just a starting point; you jump off from there.