
Education Is All in Your Mind - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/opinion/08nisbett.html?pagewanted=all
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tokenadult
"Fortunately, stereotype threat for blacks and other minorities can be reduced
in many ways. Just telling students that their intelligence is under their own
control improves their effort on school work and performance."

More generally, teaching children about "growth mindset" rather than "fixed
mindset" significantly improves their performance.

[http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2007/marapr/feat...](http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2007/marapr/features/dweck.html)

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alabut
The results of one of the studies in that article has been stuck in my head
for the year or so since I read it and has definitely made an impact in my
life. The idea that just splitting up kids in a class and praising them either
for innate intelligence or hard work could yield such drastic differences both
in test results and attitude was a real eye-opener. And made me reframe some
of the "gifted" education I'd had in my formative years and whether it was
more about making kids feel special than rewarding them for hard work.

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CalmQuiet
This is an analysis of various studies that all point in the same direction:
demonstrating how minorities' negative expectations can damage their
performance and how simple interventions can largely erase that damage.

Of relevance to all of us involved in challenging careers like hacking is the
impact that we may have on our own futures when we release ourselves from
doubts about our own potentials in demanding, competitive circumstances.

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nazgulnarsil
linking funding to performance? I seriously doubt a government agency will
consider such a wildly logical suggestion.

