My father has been teaching Taekwon Do for over 40 years. He is one of those people that nearly everyone wants to be around. He just makes you feel good about yourself. When I read the excerpt from Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., I realized that my dad is our John Wooden. He has high expectations for all of his students. He does not expect perfection from anyone, but he does expect your best effort. He has always recognized that "best effort" is as individual as the student. He tells his students that our competitions are opportunities to improve, any trophies that you may take home are simply a bonus. When we are in class he encourages everyone to work hard, but reminds them that they are not in the class to impress him, they are there to impress themselves. His attitude and confidence in all of his students makes them all want to work harder and be better.
My mother has always told us that we can do anything that we put our mind to. We just have to work hard enough. Despite her best intentions and her constant attempts to motivate us to, I would have to place her in the fixed mindset category. My most distinct memories of advice from my mother are specific references to people who did something better than me, if I worked harder I could be more like them. So, I was left with the feeling that I was working pretty hard, and doing very well, but it was never quite enough. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel that I am scarred or damaged in any way. I have been instilled will a very strong work ethic and I truly appreciate that.
I was introduced to this concept in my first Math for Elementary Teachers course. Our professor warned us against telling our students how smart they were, especially girls. He wanted us to remember to recognize hard work. Students who found math relatively easy in their early grades and were told how smart they were would start to feel that they were not smart enough when the math started to get more complicated. I really appreciated having this theory expanded in the Mindset reading.
I am beginning to see some of the growth mindset in myself, finally. Particularly with regard to Art. I have moved from feeling that I have not an artistic bone in my body to believing that I am capable, with a willingness to learn and a lot (I MEAN A LOT!) of practice. The New Learning project assigned my Jean Eisele was so important for me. Even in only a few weeks I realized that I was capable of doing something that I had considered near impossible before. I couldn't expect myself to be Picasso at first, or ever, for that matter. But, I could learn how to draw. It was a perfect lead in to the Art course that we are now taking with Maria. I try to approach each new project thinking, "I can do this", no one is expecting greatness, they are expecting me to make an effort and learn something. I still find myself feeling somewhat satisfied with my creations and then looking around and seeing my classmates work and thinking "SHOOT!" I am so impressed at what they have done. I feel like mine just pales in comparison. They are black belts in Art and I am simply a beginner. I will not diminish their work by saying "Well, they have natural talent. It just comes easy to them". I have heard that enough in my 40+ years of Taekwon Do to know how utterly frustrating that can be.
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