The Misleading Concepts of Courage and Mindsets Angela Duckworth and Carol Dweck are both extremely intelligent psychology professors who seem to have recently acquired a common interest: success . Specifically, what led students to succeed in their efforts rather than give up. In their respective books, Grit and Mindsets, the two women write about two similar theories that may explain this success rate; Duckworth asserts that students must be "courageous" and persevere to achieve their long-term goals, while Dweck writes that success comes from those who have a "growth mindset" and believe that their intelligence and abilities can always grow to do better. Both women claim that talent plays almost no role in success and that success is entirely due to effort. However, as beautiful as both theories may seem, they both have flaws. Logically, both concepts make sense, and most people would like to believe them to be true, but in current practice, simply having a little courage and a growth mindset does not lead to immediate success. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The idea of ​​having courage and a growth mindset appeals to the majority of the public for many reasons. On the one hand, they are both still relatively new concepts, which people like to latch onto and test to see how effective they are. On the other hand, the world is finally able to give a name to what leads to success. Not being able to say why one student ends up being more successful than another is frustrating, so of course being able to say that the person who was more successful was more courageous or had a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset is a nice concept to have. However, this does not mean that these concepts apply to everyone. For example, in her book Mindsets, Carol Dweck states that those with a growth mindset “could turn failure into a gift” (Dweck 4). She says these students are always learning and their intelligence isn't just about a grade. Contrary to what she says, American schools – the country where ideas like courage and mindset are most prevalent – ​​run completely counter to this idea. Each student is summarized by their individual GPAs. Instead of letting a student immediately retake a test or assignment they failed, “we grade using an “F” for failure when we should use a “Not there yet” and allow them to keep trying” ( Mizerny by 7). This type of practice does not encourage students to have the growth mindset needed to try again, but rather to have their intelligence and mindset determined from this assessment alone. Schools also “encourage speed and competition rather than reflection and collaboration” (Mizerny par 10). There is a strong expectation that students will do something right the first time instead of allowing them multiple attempts to better learn the material and encourage their growth. Dweck writes that “you can change your mindset,” but this is almost impossible to do when you stunt the growth of your own spirit by failing without even being able to try again (Dweck 14). According to Dweck, and to an even greater extent. Duckworth, effort comes before talent, no matter what. Duckworth's entire thesis in his novel is that "talent is no guarantee of courage" and that "what matters,, 108(3), 374–391.