Amanda Penn, Author at Shortform Books

One Cause of Bullying: A Fixed Mindset in Kids

Experiencing rejection is painful for an adult, but imagine how it feels to a child. Children experience rejection daily in schools. Starting in grade school, some kids are victimized, attacked, or ridiculed. Ongoing bullying makes some children’s lives a nightmare and can evolve into years of depression and anger. What are the causes of bullying? Is the cause of bullying a fixed mindset? We’ll cover some causes of bullying, in schools particularly, and why a fixed mindset may be partially to blame.

How to Cope with Rejection? A Growth Mindset Can Help

We all experience rejection in our lives, whether it be in a relationship, after a job interview, or in a social situation. Coping with rejection can be difficult: What’s the best mindset for learning how to cope with rejection? Whether you have a fixed or growth mindset affects the course of your personal relationships. Mindset helps explain: Why people work against their own interests in relationships Why relationships devolve into warfare Why some relationships succeed and others don’t We’ll cover how having a growth mindset helps you cope better with problems in your relationship and learn how to cope with

Problems in the Criminal Justice System (Examples)

What are some of the most egregious criminal justice system problems? Are the issues in the criminal justice system solvable? How? We’ll cover a few of the criminal justice problems that arise when judges have to make decisions solely on their gut feelings about a person. As we’ll see, some criminal justice system problems could be solved if we let a computer make more of our court decisions.

How to Overcome Fear of Failure—A Growth Mindset Is Critical

In general, in the fixed mindset world, success is about proving to yourself and others that you’re smart and talented. It’s about validation. If you fail, it means you’re not smart or talented, therefore failure is intolerable. If you have this mindset, it’s hard to learn how to overcome fear of failure. We’ll cover Carol Dweck’s advice for overcoming fear of failure and discuss why fear of failure is holding you back.

How to Stop Bullying? Create a Growth-Mindset Culture

Bullying prevention is a huge issue in schools, but are we approaching the problem from all sides? Do you wonder how to stop bullying at its source? We’ll cover how to stop bullying from the perspective of Carol Dweck’s growth mindset. We’ll also discuss why a fixed mindset contributes to the experience of both the bully and the victim.

Why the Value of Hard Work is More Critical than Ever

To instill in children the value of hard work, we teach them such stories as “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Little Engine That Could.” The lesson is to keep trying and you’ll succeed: Slow and steady wins the race. But those with fixed mindsets take away a different lesson: Hard work is for those who lack talent. They’d rather be the faster, more talented hare than the tortoise, who only succeeded because the hare messed up. A smarter hare would beat a no-talent tortoise. We’ll cover why fewer and fewer people believe in the value of hard work,

“False” Growth Mindset—Dweck Shares 4 Common Misconceptions

What is a “false” growth mindset? Is it possible that you think you have a growth mindset when in reality, you’ve actually embraced a mindset that’s causing you (and your children or students) harm? We’ll cover the common misconceptions that result in a “false” growth mindset and look at how to create an authentic growth mindset.

3 Famous Cases of Miscarriage of Justice—Is There a Solution?

What are the different varieties of miscarriages of justice? How do they arise? Is there anything we as a society, and you as an individual, can do to prevent miscarriages of justice? We’ll cover three very different cases of miscarriage of justice–those of Patrick Dale Walker, Amanda Knox, and the Penn State leadership team. Through these cases, we’ll see the variety of ways in which a judge or jury can misread a situation, and we’ll explore possible ways to solve the problem.

Myth of Effortless Perfection—A Fixed Mindset Holds You Back

Many children, especially young girls, are taught that their value lies in their perfection, and that this perfection shouldn’t take any effort. But effortless perfection is a myth, and believing in the need to demonstrate effortless perfection is a dangerous mindset. We’ll cover Carol Dweck’s growth and fixed mindsets and why effortless perfection is a myth.

10 Growth Mindset Strategies—For School, Sports, Work, Life

What’s a growth mindset? What are the best growth mindset strategies? How can they benefit you in school, sports, parenting, and life in general? We’ll cover six scenarios in which your mindset comes into play and look at how the reactions of people with fixed and growth mindsets differ. Then we’ll look at the best growth mindset strategies to help you learn to get the best out of every situation.