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New York, N.Y. – Carol Dweck’s growth mindset research has found that children who believe their talents and abilities can be developed through hard work, perseverance and lots of good mentoring from others are willing to take on more learning challenges. When faced with these challenges, they are more resilient and more likely to succeed, particularly children from vulnerable populations.

Dweck, who won the 2017 Yidan Prize for Education Research, is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation and is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford.

In a new interview with C. M. Rubin, Founder of CMRubinWorld, she explains that while grades and test scores are “not going away any time soon,” they do not tell us what students are capable of achieving in the future

When Dweck was asked how parents and educators can make challenges look attractive for students who are used to failure, she found that the challenges may need to be small at the beginning. But, as they experience the excitement of growing their brains, they often become eager for larger challenges.

“Many people’s abilities blossom later when they dedicate themselves to something they value and are deeply interested in,” says Dweck, who believes it’s critical for schools to “put a premium on progress and improvement for the advanced and the less advanced students. The important thing is to focus children on tehir learning process. When children do well, parents and educators can appreciate their success, but also make sure to tie it to their process; their hard work, good strategies or good use of resources.”

She found that adopting a ‘growth mindset’ in the home and the classroom begins when parents and educators work together to develop the mindset of their own and then to foster a ‘growth mindset’ in the children.  Dweck says that first, the adults must work together in order for the children to see their own successes as growing out of their learning process.

“Grades and test scores are not going away anytime soon,” said Dweck. “However, it’s important for students to know that grades and test scores, although important in today’s world, do not tell them what they’re capable of achieving in the future.”

For the full interview and more information on how you can develop a ‘growth mindset’ within your family, visit cmrubinworld.com.