第1段

Over the past century, a powerful idea has taken root in the educational landscape. The concept of intelligence as something innate has been supplanted by the idea that intelligence is not fixed, and that, with the right training, we can be the authors of our own cognitive capabilities. Psychologist Alfred Binet, the developer of the first intelligence tests, was one of many 19th-century scientists who held that earlier view and sought to quantify cognitive ability. Then, in the early 20th century, progressive thinkers revolted against the notion that inherent ability is destiny. Instead, educators such as John Dewey argued that every child’s intelligence could be developed, given the right environment.

第2段

‘Growth mindset theory’ is a relatively new – and extremely popular – version of this idea. In many schools today you will see hallways covered in motivational posters and hear speeches on the mindset of great sporting heroes who simply believed their way to the top. A major focus of the growth mindset in schools is coaxing students away from seeing failure as an indication of their ability, and towards seeing it as a chance to improve that ability. As educationalist Jeff Howard noted several decades ago: ‘Smart is not something that you just are, smart is something that you can get.’

第3段

The idea of the growth mindset is based on the work of psychologist Carol Dweck in California in the 1990s. In one key experiment, Dweck divided a group of 10- to 12-year-olds into two groups. All were told that they had achieved a high score on a test but the first group were praised for their intelligence in achieving this, while the others were praised for their effort. The second group – those who had been instilled with a ‘growth mindset’ – were subsequently far more likely to put effort into future tasks. Meanwhile, the former took on only those tasks that would not risk their sense of worth. This group had inferred that success or failure is due to innate ability, and this ‘fixed mindset’ had led them to fear of failure and lack of effort. Praising ability actually made the students perform worse, while praising effort emphasised that change was possible.

第4段

One of the greatest impediments to successfully implementing a growth mindset, however, is the education system itself: in many parts of the world, the school climate is obsessed with performance in the form of constant testing, analysing and ranking of students -a key characteristic of the fixed mindset. Nor is it unusual for schools to create a certain cognitive dissonance, when they applaud the benefits of a growth mindset but then hand out fixed target grades in lessons based on performance.

第5段

Aside from the implementation problem, the original growth mindset research has also received harsh criticism. The statistician Andrew Gelman claims that ‘their research designs have enough degrees of freedom that they could take their data to support just about any theory at all’. Professor of Psychology Timothy Bates, who has been trying to replicate Dweck’s work, is finding that the results are repeatedly null. He notes that:’People with a growth mindset don’t cope any better with failure … Kids with the growth mindset aren’t getting better grades, either before or after our intervention study.’

第6段

Much of this criticism is not lost on Dweck, and she deserves great credit for responding to it and adapting her work accordingly. In fact, she argues that her work has been misunderstood and misapplied in a range of ways. She has also expressed concerns that her theories are being misappropriated in schools by being conflated with the self-esteem movement: ‘For me the growth mindset is a tool for learning and improvement. It’s not just a vehicle for making children feel good.’

第7段

But there is another factor at work here. The failure to translate the growth mindset into the classroom might reflect a misunderstanding of the nature of teaching and learning itself. Growth mindset supporters David Yeager and Gregory Walton claim that interventions should be delivered in a subtle way to maximize their effectiveness.  They say that if adolescents perceive a teacher’s intervention as conveying that they are in need of help, this could undo its intended effects.

第8段

A lot of what drives students is their innate beliefs and how they perceive themselves. There is a strong correlation between self-perception and achievement, but there is evidence to suggest that the actual effect of achievement on self-perception is stronger than the other way round. To stand up in a classroom and successfully deliver a good speech is a genuine achievement, and that is likely to be more powerfully motivating than vague notions of ‘motivation’ itself.

第9段

Recent evidence would suggest that growth mindset interventions are not the elixir of student learning that its proponents claim it to be. The growth mindset appears to be a viable construct in the lab, which, when administered in the classroom via targeted interventions, doesn’t seem to work. It is hard to dispute that having faith in the capacity to change is a good attribute for students. Paradoxically, however, that aspiration is not well served by direct interventions that try to instill it.

第10段

Motivational posters and talks are often a waste of time, and might well give students a deluded notion of what success actually means. Teaching concrete skills such as how to write an effective introduction to an essay then praising students’ effort in getting there is probably a far better way of improving confidence than telling them how unique they are, or indeed how capable they are of changing their own brains. Perhaps growth mindset works best as a philosophy and not an intervention.

第1段

在过去的这个世纪里，一种强大的观念在教育领域生根发芽。把智力看作是与生俱来的概念已被取代，而现在普遍认为智力并非固定不变。通过适当的培训，我们可以成为自己认知能力的主宰。心理学家阿尔弗雷德·比奈是第一批智力测试的开发者之一，他和19世纪许多科学家一样坚持着早期的观点，试图量化认知能力。然而，在20世纪初，一些进步思想家反对了与生俱来的能力决定论。相反，像约翰·杜威这样的教育家认为，每个孩子的智力在适当的环境下都可以得到发展。

第2段

“成长心态理论”是这一观念一个相对较新、也非常流行的版本。在今天的许多学校里，你会看到走廊上贴满激励性的海报，并听到有关伟大体育英雄心态的演讲，他们仅凭信念就达到了顶峰。成长心态在学校中的重点在于引导学生不再将失败视为他们能力的表现，而是将其看成提高自己能力的机会。正如教育学家杰夫·霍华德几十年前所指出的那样：“聪明不是你的固有品质，而是一种可以获得的东西。”

第3段

成长心态理论的基础是心理学家卡罗尔·德韦克（Carol Dweck）在20世纪90年代在加利福尼亚所进行的研究工作。在一项关键实验中，德韦克将一组10至12岁的孩子分为两组。所有孩子都被告知在一项测试中取得了高分，但第一组被赞扬他们在取得高分时的聪明才智，而另一组则被赞扬他们的努力。随后，那些被灌输了“成长心态”的第二组孩子更有可能在未来的任务中付出努力。与此同时，前一组孩子只接受那些不会影响他们价值感的任务。这组孩子推断成功或失败取决于其与生俱来的能力，而这种“固定心态”导致他们害怕失败并缺乏努力。事实上，赞扬能力使学生表现更差，而赞扬努力则强调了改变是可能的。

第4段

然而，成功实施成长心态的最大障碍之一是教育系统本身：在世界许多地方，学校氛围过于注重通过持续的测试、分析和排名来评估学生的表现，这是固定心态的一个主要特征。而且，学校常常会在赞扬成长心态的好处的同时，在课程中设置固定的目标成绩，这会造成一定的认知失调。

第5段

除了实施问题外，最初的成长心态研究也受到了严厉的批评。统计学家安德鲁·吉尔曼（Andrew Gelman）声称：“他们的研究设计具有足够的自由度，以至于他们可以用数据支持几乎任何理论。”心理学教授蒂莫西·贝茨（Timothy Bates）一直在尝试复制德韦克的工作，但发现结果一再为零。他指出：“拥有成长心态的人并没有更好地应对失败…拥有成长心态的孩子在我们的干预研究之前或之后的成绩都没有变得更好。”

第6段

德韦克对这些批评并没有视而不见，她对批评的回应和对自己工作的调整值得称赞。实际上，她认为自己的研究在很多方面被误解和错误应用。她也表达了对学校错误使用其理论的担忧，特别是将其与自尊运动相混淆：“对我来说，成长心态是学习和改进的工具，而不仅仅是为了让孩子感觉良好。”

第7段

但还有另一个因素在起作用。未能将成长心态应用于课堂可能反映出对教学和学习本质的误解。成长心态的支持者大卫·耶格（David Yeager）和格雷戈里·沃尔顿（Gregory Walton）认为，干预措施应采用微妙的方式，以最大限度地发挥其效果。他们表示，如果青少年将老师的干预看作是他们需要帮助，这可能会适得其反，削弱干预的预期效果。

第8段

学生的行为在很大程度上受其内在信念和自我认知的影响。自我认知与学业成就之间存在着强烈的相关性。但有证据表明，实际成就对自我认知的影响要比反过来强烈得多。在课堂上能够自信地进行出色的演讲是一种真正的成就，这可能比模糊的“动机”概念更具有强大的激励作用。

第9段

最近的证据表明，成长心态干预并不像其支持者所声称的那样是学生学习的灵丹妙药。成长心态在实验室中似乎是一个可行的概念，但当它通过针对性的干预措施被引入到课堂中时，似乎并没有起到预期的作用。不可否认的是，对于学生来说，相信自己能够改变是一个好的品质。然而，矛盾的是，直接试图灌输这种愿望的干预措施并没有取得良好的效果。

第10段

激励海报和演讲通常是在浪费时间，而且可能会让学生对成功产生错误观念。教授具体的技能，比如如何写一篇有效的论文引言，然后赞扬学生在这方面付出的努力，可能是提高他们信心的更好方法，而不是告诉他们自己有多独特，或者自己有能力改变自己的大脑。也许成长心态最好作为一种哲学理念，而不是一种干预措施。