Our oldest son, Michael, is waiting to do his defense on his doctoral thesis. He is studying mindsets as they affect higher education Japanese students learning English as a Foreign Language. He asked his father and I if we would read it and help prepare him for his viva (defense). We feel underqualified to say the least.
Michael has lived for 15 years in Japan, immersing himself in the culture and teaching English in a few universities. His Masters was in linguistics and now he is pursuing a doctorate in education.
As I began to read his paper I realized he used some of Carol Dweck’s research. Coincidentally in October I had ordered a book from the library called Mindsets but there was a waitlist and I did not get it until January. So when I began to read his paper I realized there was something synchronistic.
Some of Dweck’s research has been with secondary school students. An RSA video gives a quick and engaging overview of some of that research (RSA ANIMATE: How To Help Every Child Fulfil Their Potential – YouTube) which includes understanding the detriment of praising a child for their intelligence. The premise of her research (and what she was able to verify) is that children who believe that intelligence is something your born with ended up doing more poorly as they navigated the middle school years whereas children who believe that intelligence came through hard work and adding more knowledge to what they already knew, ended up excelling in their grades.
Berg’s research with higher education level Japanese students learning English did not bear out Dweck’s research in the same way her conclusions were for North American students but there is some overlap in the area of Positive Psychology. His conclusions involved being curious about the cultural influences that may have a bearing on this.
There needs to be a lot more research done with other cultures and younger students in those cultures before any definitive conclusions can be made about mindsets influence in non-North American cultures. At the same time I think it is important to be curious about what factors students from diverse cultures might bring in to the classroom. Remaining open to learning from the student and being curious will be an asset to any teaching situation.
Berg, Michael. (unpublished). Revisiting Mindset Theory: Insights from EFL Students in Japanese Higher Education. University of Liverpool.
Dweck, Carol S. (2016). Mindset: The new Psychology of Success. Penguin Random House.
RSA. (2015). How to help every child fulfill their potential. Dweck, Carol S. RSA ANIMATE: How To Help Every Child Fulfil Their Potential – YouTube