We found that students’ mindsets—how they perceive their abilities—played a key role in their motivation and achievement, and we found that if we changed students’ mindsets, we could boost their achievement. More precisely, students who believed their intelligence could be developed (a growth mindset) outperformed those who believed their intelligence was fixed (a fixed mindset). And when students learned through a structured program that they could “grow their brains” and increase their intellectual abilities, they did …show more content…
At one point in the cognitive development of a child they will learn that trophies that are handed out to everyone do not mean as much as a trophy that are awarded to a particular player, one that the child witness working hard though out the season. In little league sports often the score is not kept so that the children learn the love of the game and not the competiveness first. Once a score is introduced to a player so starts the competition of the sport and the child becomes aware of losers and winners. It is at this time participation awards should no longer be handed out. Coach Jeff Walz discusses how a participation trophy society is not preparing kids for the real world. Walz declared "I am trying to prepare you for the real world, because when you go to get a job there's competition and what are you going to do to stand out?" Walz goes on to say that we as a society are not preparing kids for the reality of a competitive world. "It's work, you gotta work to be great and it's not about winning in basketball ball it's about winning in life" …show more content…
I was struck with amazement at all this person has accomplish all the hard work and dedication it would take to be awarded a trophy often left me slightly envious. Had I looked harder as a child I may have seen that perhaps those awards were just participation awards, and if that was the case the awards would have been like wallpaper to me. Participation trophies while they do not take away from the gold, metal and silver do no honor the