Mindsets and attributional styles have much in common.By co-author Carmen Latterell, P.HD.fixed mindset
For example: “I lost the race because I am a bad runner, will always lose my races, and will also do poorly in other activities.” If this individual had won the race, the explanation would be: “I won the race because there wasn’t muchFortunately, Seligman also describes theattributional style. In the context of the example of the runner, an optimistic way of accounting for a loss might be: “I lost the race because the track was muddy.
On the other hand, preservice elementary teachers exhibit more of a fixed mindset, reporting that if they do not solve math problems quickly, then they probably won’t be able to do so at all. Therefore, the struggle or challenge is not enjoyable to them. Our research found that this confusing and contradictory view of the math growth mindset is unique to preservice elementary teachers. Thus, we suggest that their undergraduate math courses need to be taught in such a way that they gain a sense of success with math. We contend that the college math professor can play a key role in encouraging the growth mindset of future elementary teachers and, by extension, their future students.