5 Strategies For Creating A Genius Mindset In Students

A study of preschoolers by Diamond, Barnett, Thomas, and Munro (2007) showed an increase in executive control through a low-cost training regime of giving ... Skiptocontent 9.4kViewsFacebookTwitterSubscribe HowCanWeHelpEveryStudentTapTheirInnerGenius? contributedbyZaccDukowitz Whenwehearthewordgenius,certainpeoplecomeimmediatelytomind—AlbertEinsteininmathematics,orWarrenBuffettininvesting—butwhatexactlysetsthesepeopleapart? It’seasytosimplyshrugandsaytoourselves,“Thosepeoplearejustdifferent. Theyhavesomethingmostpeopledon’t,andit’sassimpleasthat.” Butthestepstakentoarriveataplaceofgeniusareactuallymoreconcreteandhavelesstodowithinnatetalentthanyoumightthink. Whenitcomestocultivatingintelligence,mindsetisahugefactor.Researchfromtopcognitivepsychologyandcognitiveneurosciencelabsisdemonstratingthatfundamentalaspectsofintelligence,andevenintelligenceitself,canbealteredthroughtraining. AstudyofpreschoolersbyDiamond,Barnett,Thomas,andMunro(2007)showedanincreaseinexecutivecontrolthroughalow-costtrainingregimeofgivingchildrenexperiencewithtasksinvolvinginhibitionofresponding.AstudyofadultworkingmemorybyJaeggi,Buschkuehl,Jonides,andPerrig(2008)showedasignificantlyhigher“fluidintelligence”(abilitytoreasonandsolvenewproblems)throughanemphasisonmindset. WhatisA‘GeniusMindset’? Mindsetreferstothebeliefsyouhaveaboutyourselfandyourbasicqualities.Ifyoudon’tbelieveyoucanbeagenius,thenyoumaynotbeabletobecomeone.Ifnothingelse,itwillbecomehardertoachieve.Self-talk,doubt,lackofaction,andsooncanallhinderintellectualgrowth.Butifyouopenyourmindtothepossibility,thenyourfuturebecomesanunwrittenbook. Crucialopportunitiesfortheapplicationofgoodmindsethabitsoccurintheclassroomeveryday.Studentswhoaren’tencouragedtochangetheirfundamentalbeliefsabouttheirownabilitiesmayneverprogressinsubjectareasthattheydon’talreadyfeelinclinedtoward.Andstudentswhoare—well,theymayinfactbebetterpositionedtobecomethenextEinstein. WhatAreTheCharacteristicsofGenius? Morethananythingelse,geniusisaboutthewillingnesstoseeandrealizecreativepossibilitieswhereotherseithercan’torchoosenotto.Geniusrequiresonetorejectconventioninpursuitofsomethingspecial.Thismeansitresultsfromamixofintellectualcapacity,creativethinking,mindset,andperseverance. AccordingtoTime,“AlbertEinstein…wasslowinlearningtospeakasachild–soslowthathisparentsconsultedadoctor.Thefamilymaiddubbedhim“derDepperte,”thedopeyone,andarelativereferredtohimas“almostbackwards.”Healsoharboredacheekyrebelliousnesstowardauthority,whichledoneschoolmastertosendhimpackingandanothertoamusehistorybydeclaringthathewouldneveramounttomuch.ThesetraitsmadeEinsteinthepatronsaintofdistractedschoolkidseverywhere. ButEinstein’scontemptforauthorityalsoledhimtoquestionreceivedwisdominwaysthatwell-trainedacolytesintheacademynevercontemplated.Andhisslowverbaldevelopmentallowedhimtoobservewithwondertheeverydayphenomenathatotherstookforgranted.“Theordinaryadultneverbothershisheadabouttheproblemsofspaceandtime,”Einsteinonceexplained.“ButIdevelopedsoslowlythatIbegantowonderaboutspaceandtimeonlywhenIwasalreadygrownup.” Mindsetcanhelpexplainwhystudentsbreakthemselvesoffintogroups,identifyingthemselvesas‘MathPeople’or‘BookPeople.’ Ifstudentsarepushedtochangetheirviewofthemselvesandtheirownbasicqualities,everyoneofthemcanlearnhowtobecomeagoodstudent—ofallsubjectsandnotjustthetypeofsubjectthattheyfeelnaturallyinclinedtowardstudying. Thisqualityofopennessandcuriosityisgenerallypresentinmostpeoplewewouldcallgeniuses. ConsiderLeonardoDaVinci,whowasanartist,anengineer,aninventor,and,aboveall,abrilliantthinker.DaVinci’scuriositywasthedrivingforcebehindallofthethingsheaccomplished.Thespecificskillsheneeded,suchastheabilitytodraworpaint,ortheabilitytothinkinmathematicalterms,werealldevelopedbyhimoutofamindsetthathecoulddothesethings—andneededto—inordertoinvestigatetheworldinthewaythathewanted. ShiftingMindset Afixedmindsetdescribesthestudentwhobelievesheorshecanonlyeverbegoodatonesubject.“I’mjustnotamathperson,”youhearsomeyoungpeoplesay,andshrugasiftheissuehasbeendecided. Agrowthmindsetdescribesastatewherethestudentbelievesheorsheiscapableoflearning. Thestudentmayacknowledgethatthematerialisdifficultorchallenging,butthisdoesnotmakeitimpossible.Infact,thechallengemaymakethetaskofmasteringthematerialthatmuchmorerewarding. 8StrategiesForCreatingAGeniusMindsetInChildren 1.Modela‘geniusmindset’forstudents Theyneedtoseeitinactiononadailybasis.Whatdoesitlooklike?Howdoesitrespondtofailuresandopportunities? Strugglingstudentscaneitherbeviewedwithafixedmindset,assimplystuckforeverwithanunderstandingthatissub-par—or,theycanbeviewedasawelcomechallenge,andanopportunityforyoutohoneyourteachingskills,andthemtohonetheirlearningskills. 2.Emphasizeprocess Inmathematics,insteadoffocusingoncorrectanswers,focusonthecorrectprocess.Ifstudentsarelearningandfollowingthecorrectprocess,thentheywilleventuallyalsoproducethecorrectanswers.Agoodautomatedtutoringprogramcanhelpbyhoninginontheexactstepastudentstruggleswithwhenattemptingachallengingproblem. 3.Surroundthestudentwithdifferentformsofgenius Geniusbegetsgenius.Themore‘looks’geniushasintheirminds,themoreofachancethey’llbeabletoseethemselvescapableofit.Thismeansdifferentfields,differentgenders,races,historicalperiods,cultures,mediaforms,andsoon. 4.Valuemistakes Nohaseverlearnedsomethingvaluablewithoutmakingmistakes.Mistakesaregoingtohappen,andtheyareactuallypartoftheprocessoflearning.Encouragestudentstoseetheirmistakesasoneofmanystepstowardmastery. 5.Encourageperseverance Studentsoftenneedpracticeinhardwork.Modelthemanystepsitmighttaketomasteraconceptorskillbytalkingthemthroughitandemphasizingtheworkitselfasvaluableoverthefinaloutcomeofmastery.Afterall,theskilldoesnotcomewithoutallofthepracticeandinstructionthatgetsyouthere. 6.Geniusisabehavior,too Geniusisn’tonlyamindset.It’sasetofbehavioralcodesandmindsetsthatarebasedontheeverydayhabitsofcontemporarygeniuses.Studentsmustreprogramthemselveswiththese‘abnormal,’creativemindsetstobegintodevelopgenius. Mostgeniusesshareacommonpersonalitypatternthat’sdistinctlydifferentfromthosewhoareunoriginalandordinary.Amindsetcharacterizedopinionsinsteadofideas–argumentativeandopinionatedandcriticalopinionscannotleadtogenius. 7.Embrace‘weird’ Normalpeoplecanreconnecttotheirgeniusiftheyadoptandpracticetheseabnormalcreativesuccessmindsetsofgeniuses. Geniusissynonymouswithabnormal.Failureisnormal.Creativityandgeniusareoftenoneandthesame,butnotalways.Genius,aswe’vediscussed,isfirstawillingness. 8.Risktolerance RememberhowwesaidthatEinsteinorWarrenBuffettseemedsodifferentfromregularpeople,butthey’renot?Inherentincreativityistheideaofdoingsomethingdifferent–whichrequiresrisk.Andthat’sokay.Risktoleranceisnecessarytodosomethingnoonehasdonebefore. StrategiesForCreatingAGeniusMindsetInStudents Postnavigation ←PreviousPostNextPost→ AboutTheAuthorTeachThoughtStaffTeachThoughtisanorganizationdedicatedtoinnovationineducationthroughthegrowthofoutstandingteachers. ProfessionalDevelopment