The Growth Mindset achieved popularity in education circles as an antidote to Snowflake Children. Young people have no resilience due to a fixed mindset. The growth mindset teaches children that achievement isnt a result of innate talent, but rather effort, hard work and perseverance.
Id like to offer another mental model??The Contribution Mindset. Its fairly simple and boils down to the sentence below:-
A contribution mindset means looking for opportunities to help, add value or otherwise be of use to others
I believe this mindset will eradicate a whole host of mental demons.
The Contribution Mindset teaches people to search for what you can do for others, as opposed to what the world can do for you. The best employees have this mindset, as do the best parents, teachers, leaders, colleagues and friends.
Education teaches the opposite. It creates a culture of spoon-feeding, entitlement and a sense of importance. Teachers are placed under increasing pressure to drag, kicking and screaming, young people towards levels of education externally deemed to be acceptable.
This is wrong.
The role should be opposite. Young people must contribute more to the school than the teachers. They must be the teaching assistants, the planners, the markers, the litter pickers, the behaviour police, the fundraisers, the community-builders ad infinitum.
Young people must be taught that, to be valued by society, you must create value. No-one owes you a job, an education, a PlayStation, a smart phone, healthcare, holidays, cars etc etc. Humans are community builders and strong communities rely on the people who contribute.
Education teaches young people to be selfish. It needs to teach them how to be responsible, create value for others, and above all, CONTRIBUTE to the world.
