[ed405]

Finally someone has written a really excellent article about this.

Many scientists already know that ‘grit’ is over-hyped and over-sold. Now there’s a really well-articulated piece explaining it.

Stay away from one size-fits all ‘solutions’ to very complex problems. Same goes for ‘growth’ vs. ‘fixed mindset’ btw.

[gnicholas]

Are you aware of similar critiques of growth/fixed mindset? It’s very popular in my kid’s school, but I’ve heard other parents say that the pedagogical strategies that are ostensibly based on it (not stratifying kids based on ability level) are bunk. I’m interested in knowing more about the pros/cons.

[rawgabbit]

I would argue that Carol Dweck argues that if you believe and are motivated, you can achieve. The criticism is that while motivation and belief i.e. grit is important -- it is only half the story. Countless studies have proven what really drives academic success -- financially well off parents who emphasize education and provide time/money/resources to help their children succeed.

"What the team found was there is a correlation between someone having more of a growth mindset and doing well academically. However, the correlation is small and the findings do not support claims that growth mindset interventions have profound effects on academic achievement." [1]

"The attempted replication of Dweck’s work that is about to be published concerned the 1998 study on praise and part of the 2007 study. Bates and his student Yue Li conducted a series of studies in a group of more than 600 Chinese students. Their results were mixed but mostly found no effect." [2]

[1] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/growth-mindset-education-psy... [2] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/debate-arises-ove...