I wonder…

I see my four year old and am amazed by her creativity. She is a natural dancer and singer, making up her own songs and putting on a show for her imaginary audience. She also loves to build and color. I’ve seen her time and time again make mistake after mistake and naturally show signs of a growth mindset. She’s not afraid to make mistakes. She just picks herself up (sometimes literally when a pirouette goes wrong), and tries again. It made me wonder…

I try to teach my students to have a similar growth mindset by teaching them the concepts of flexibility, perseverance, resilience, and optimism. We spend weeks learning these concepts, which I use in my redirection of students everyday and incorporate into all my lessons. No matter how much prompting however, there are just some kids that have a wall up around certain subjects. But each and every student can show these things during tasks of their choosing. Take “Joseph” for example. Every time we start math, his behavior acts up and he says how bored he is in an effort to avoid completing his work. It is virtually impossible to get him to make sense of the problems, much less persevere. I give Joseph a task on the computer, however, and he can troubleshoot any glitch that comes his way with a sense of pride in the challenges he is able to overcome. It made me wonder…

Then I look at adults. I see how adults seem to enjoy different aspects of their jobs and go about solving everyday problems in different ways. The other day, my coffee maker broke. I was about to throw it away and get a new one, when my dad stepped in. Within 20 minutes he had it working again. It dawned on me that fixing things was a kind of challenge he enjoyed. For me, it was so frustrating to even think of fixing, it was worth the $50 to get a new one. It made me wonder…

The Link

All of these wonderings made me draw new conclusions I had never thought of before. So often in books it describes people as having a growth or fixed mindset as Carol Dweck describes. Those are the only two options. But what if EVERYONE has a growth mindset and can endure challenges that can help them grow and succeed, but it is EASIER to use perseverance, resilience, flexibility and optimism, when it is a challenge one enjoys; A challenge that relates to a person’s passion.

For me, I like challenges involving creativity. I love to plan new ideas for my classroom and also writing. This is when I get into my workflow and I find not only success among all the challenges, but also a sense of self efficacy. This makes sense when I reflect upon what I chose to do as a career. I have an Undergrad in Drama and a Masters in Education, which are two outlets where this passion for creative work can be applied.

The Carryover

For my dad, who finds this sense of self efficacy from fixing and building, his long career as an engineer makes absolute sense. My husband enjoys playing strategic video games and the challenges it entails. It is no wonder, he is happy in the technology field. This observation led me to my second question. Is there is a connection between one’s passion as children and the careers they choose as adults? And does this relationship determine the satisfaction one feels in their career?

The Big Question

For my daughter, who is only four, it is easy to see her creative passions come out, but it is too early to see how this interest, even so young, will translate to her adulthood. What if, however, there were a way to cultivate this innate growth mindset in this creative area to help her develop the specific skills needed to undergo a career in a passion area?   

Heading Out on My Passion’s Path

“Passion’s Path,” speaks to each individuals natural passions that show signs even as young children. Within each passion area, there are multiple directions it could go. Teaching kids about the possibilities available to them in their passion area is the first step to building reachable dreams.

This blog is dedicated to recording my journey of discovery along My Passion’s Path, as I continue to think outside the box to engage my students and follow my own dream of being a published author. What is your passions path?