ERIC Number: ED660497
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jun-25
Pages: 336
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-4214-4928-9
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Mindset Matters: The Power of College to Activate Lifelong Growth
Daniel R. Porterfield
Johns Hopkins University Press
We live in an era of escalating, tech-fueled change. Our jobs and the skills we need to work and thrive are constantly evolving, and those who can't keep up risk falling behind. That's where college comes in. In "Mindset Matters," Daniel R. Porterfield advances a powerful new argument about the value of residential undergraduate education and its role in developing growth mindsets among students. The "growth mindset," according to Porterfield, is the belief that we can enhance our core qualities or talents through our efforts, strategies, and education, and with assistance from others. People with growth mindsets have faith in self-improvement. They tend to be goal oriented and optimistic, confident that they can master new challenges because they've done so in the past. Feedback is their friend, errors their opportunities to begin again. For students like this, college is a multiyear process of self-creation and self-emergence, a becoming that unfolds because they are applying themselves in a place rich with stimulating people, happenings, resources, and ideas. America's colleges and universities help students build the skills and self-confidence they need for lifelong discovery, creativity, mentorship, teamwork, and striving. These five mindsets, the book argues, are critical for thriving in disruptive times, and students who develop them will reap the rewards long after they graduate. To show how college activates these mindsets and why it matters, Porterfield shares the personal stories of thirty recent graduates--many the first in their families to attend college. Their growth was both self-powered and supported by involved faculty, engaged peers, and opportunity-rich campuses. Porterfield also outlines how colleges and universities can do more to foster cultures of mentoring and personalized learning that help students become leaders of their own learning.
Descriptors: Role of Education, Higher Education, Undergraduate Study, Self Efficacy, Goal Orientation, Positive Attitudes, Feedback (Response), Creativity, Mentors, Teamwork, Persistence, College Role, Student Development, College Faculty, Teacher Influence, Peer Influence, College Environment
Johns Hopkins University Press. 2715 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. Tel: 800-537-5487; Tel: 410-516-6900; Fax: 410-516-6998; e-mail: hfscustserve@press.jhu.edu; Web site: https://www.press.jhu.edu/
Publication Type: Books; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A