Tuesday, February 13, 2007

the chosen one

I have totally suffered from what this article talks about—How Not to Talk to Your Kids (New York Mag):
“Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control,” she explains. “They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.”

In follow-up interviews, Dweck discovered that those who think that innate intelligence is the key to success begin to discount the importance of effort. I am smart, the kids’ reasoning goes; I don’t need to put out effort. Expending effort becomes stigmatized—it’s public proof that you can’t cut it on your natural gifts.

I guess the Chinese pile-on-the-criticism/don't-expect-any-compliments approach to education may be getting some new support.

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