Shilpa Shetty alleges "harassment". Read here
Guess its only lesser mortals like us who have to subject themselves to airport checks whether we are leaving or returning home.. rules do not apply to celebrities, given how they are not prone to carrying drugs and other 'harmless' things in their luggage.
;)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Learning how we learn: And what we can do to change it
Have you ever wondered about how we learn? Have you ever thought about what we tell ourselves about how we learn? Before I attempt to answer these seemingly basic questions, I want to share something with you, my fellow-learners:
The scene is an auditorium packed with several hundred high school students of a city who have come together to participate in and witness an inter-school debate competition. The first participant’s name is called out, and a rather nervous student steps up to the mike. With a shaky voice, she introduces herself and begins to state her argument for the topic being debated. Midway, she happens to glance at the several hundred-strong audience, and her mind draws a blank. She forgets what she has to say and rapidly advances to a state of panic. Stammering through the rest of her speech, she quickly exits the stage, distraught at her dismal performance, vowing to herself never to take stage again.
Sounds familiar? Has this ever happened to you? Perhaps with a slight variation to the story, have you ever found yourself in similar situations? I would like to welcome you to my world, to our world, the world of implicit beliefs. Implicit beliefs? What are they, I hear you ask. Implicit beliefs are ideas we have about ourselves as people: as students, as employees or members of family or society (Dweck, 2006).
I would like to focus on our role as students, since that is the first stage of our formal education. We are “students” until the time we finish our education, at least formally so. During and after our formal student lives, our implicit beliefs about ourselves dictate whether we see ourselves as learners, as we enter the world of work, or as smart, talented individuals who have learnt all they have to, and are ready to conquer the world. You might ask: what has this to do with implicit beliefs? Allow me to explain.
Psychologists have been interested for several decades about how learning takes place among individuals, and what can be done to improve not only how much can be taught and learnt, but also how attitudes towards learning can be changed to maximize learning. In her work over several decades with students over diverse age groups, psychologist and researcher Carol Dweck (2006) discovered that two implicit beliefs held by individuals influenced the way students learnt in school. In her research, Dweck has also highlighted the prevalence and influence of these beliefs in other forms of adult relationships; however, the basic implicit beliefs remain the same. These beliefs have been called the fixed mindset and the growth mindset respectively.
Please recall the story I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Most of us would have had such experiences in life that have caused us to question ourselves and our abilities. What do we tell ourselves when faced with such situations? Well, for one thing, a lot of us (and that includes me!) would say to ourselves, “I’m so dumb. I’m never going to be good at public speaking anyway..why try? I should give this up and focus on something else I’m good at. What was I thinking?!”
That in essence, my friends, is the fixed mindset in action. People with fixed mindsets would be scared to venture out to try anything new, since one would be afraid of failure, afraid of being questioned, or of being rejected by one’s peers or teachers. The fixed mindset also generalizes to other challenging situations. For example, one might be afraid of raising one’s hand in class to answer a question, or to ask a doubt, for fear of being criticized by one’s peers and teachers. “Don’t you even know this?” is a very common statement that we all fear we might hear. As a student, I have often come across situations where I am confronted with this fear. And, this fear has prevented me from taking the first step towards a potentially new and exciting learning experience.
Let us consider another situation: it is the end of term and the results have just been announced. You have four A’s and one B on your report card. When you take the report card home to your family, what are your family members most likely to say? Honestly. Are they going to say, “Congrats on the four A’s! Good work!’ Or more commonly, ’Why did you get a B on that course, is the course too tough, is the teacher strict, are you being bullied in class, do you not understand what the teacher is saying?’ Which of these two statements are we more likely to hear?
I have spoken to several classmates, as well as teachers, and over the years, even in my own experience, I find that most people are likely to focus on one’s failures rather than successes. One takes one’s success for granted, while we focus on the need to improve on one’s flaws. While continuous improvement is an honorable ideal, it is also important that we take stock of our strengths and reward ourselves for it. In the process however, one must remind oneself that success and failure are never final. There is always room for improvement. Even when we succeed, there are ways in which we can improve.
Dweck in her research on implicit beliefs warns against the use of positive and negative labels. When we succeed, we are likely to think, ”Wow! I did that? I must be very smart, wise and talented!’ Thus, we attribute our success to inherent qualities, and we often overlook the effort that we have put into it. This is a very dangerous thing to tell oneself. Why? Because it is precisely this belief that backfires when things go wrong, when we fail or do not get the results we expect. When we fail to get good grades for example, and if we hold fixed beliefs about ourselves, what are we likely to say to ourselves? We are likely to think, “I am never going to get this right! I must be really stupid to get such bad grades in this subject. I don’t think I’m ever going to be good at this subject.” Thus, instead of focusing on what we should do to improve on the subject, we see our bad grade as an indication of our personal flaws.
As I write this, I am working on changing the fixed mindset in myself. I am trying to adopt the growth belief. In the growth mindset, learning is an ongoing process, which can be improved with structured, systematic disciplined effort, and concentration. Even the most challenging tasks can be broken down into manageable components and can thus be worked upon to achieve desirable results.
One can apply the growth mindset to learning just about anything, whether it is academics or extra curricular hobbies or pursuits, such as learning a new language, sports, or music. The growth mindset allows the individual to explore new territory, to experiment, make mistakes, and learn as part of the process of acquiring a new skill, without the fear of criticism or punishment. In the growth mindset, criticism when offered is in its most constructive form, in terms of what one needs to do to achieve the learning objective. Similarly, upon achieving success, praise in the growth mindset is for the effort, never for the innate talent, since believing that talent results in success, traps the individual into believing that one does not have the talent or gift to pursue a goal, and hence one should give up, when faced with failure.
I am discovering for myself that the process of learning within a growth mindset, itself is a source of joy. As I set realistic and achievable learning goals for myself, and am able to attain them, it gives me motivation to persist in attaining the goal. There are times when I do not achieve the goal as I had intended to. In that case, I go back, rethink and re-evaluate my behavior and focus on what I should do to improve in future. This ongoing process of learning within the growth mindset, places the control of the learning process completely within the hands of the learner himself or herself. Attaining goals therefore becomes a matter of personal choice and control. This results in higher self-confidence and motivation to continue to persist in the face of setbacks. It allows us to realize that setbacks are temporary and can be worked on so that in due course of time, the effort we put into changing our learning strategy results in better learning outcomes.
I would like to share with you what I think is a very striking and useful learning strategy used by individuals in the growth mindset. I have experimented with it, and have found that it is helpful even in the short-term. With continued discipline, I hope to sustain the use of this strategy in the long term. For many of us, when faced with learning something, say a topic in a subject, typically, we often read about it or are taught about it in a linear fashion. Starting with the basics, we are taught what the concepts are, followed by how to think about the basic concepts in a more complex manner, as we get familiar with the subject and understand how these concepts might be related to each other. Thus, the process of learning is often linear in nature. A useful strategy would be to understand the concept, and then to identify underlying themes or principles that influence the relationships between the concepts. Understanding the underlying principle would enable us to apply the same concept to related or even new areas of learning. For example, learning a bicycle helps us learn how to ride a motorbike, since we have mastered the principle of balance. Similarly, learning basic mathematical concepts equips the student with analytical skills that can be applied to non-mathematical problems. These skills can be identified by actively reading the learning material, instead of passively memorizing it. By ‘active reading’, I mean reading and understanding the learning material, in a critical fashion, and thinking about ways in which the concept can be further developed. One might also test one’s assumptions about the concept by discussing with one’s peers and/or teachers. Passive learning would be learning by rote memory, which is learnt quickly, but forgotten even quicker.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize of what I have just explained:
1. Learning is an ongoing process, marked by incremental improvement based on effort
2. One can learn just about anything one is interested in
3. Implicit beliefs about learning influence the way we think and behave
4. Our beliefs are of two kinds-fixed versus growth beliefs (Dweck, 2006)
5. These beliefs are universal and influence important aspects of our life
6. These (fixed) beliefs can be changed by systematic and disciplined efforts
7. Success serves as motivation and reward to persist or increase one’s efforts towards our learning goals
8. Failure is a signal to improve or change one’s learning strategy, and is not a comment on one’s personal qualities.
9. A change to the growth mindset therefore can bring about striking changes to one’s attitudes towards learning, and improvement in self-confidence.
Note: This article has been inspired by my exploration of the theory of mindsets and their influence on learning strategy offered by Dweck. Readers are suggested to refer to her work to get a better idea of her theory of mindsets. This article is a brief introduction to anyone who might be interested in exploring new ways to learn, and is not a quick remedy offering short-term solutions to more in depth problems associated with learning or other interpersonal issues. Thus, it is important to keep in mind that sustained effort and discipline are required to adopt more effective ways of learning.
Suggested reading
Carol Dweck (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Random House, New York.
(Article contribution by me to Technikon, a magazine brought out by IIT students. This article was inspired by the need among students for ways to improve their learning and performance)Thoughts on learning..
Oh give me a home where the buffaloes roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day..
(Old song, quoted by Prof.M.S. Swaminathan during his keynote address of the exhibition for Promotion of a culture of peace among children and youth, IIT Madras, June 24th 2007)
This song quite reflects what we say to ourselves and to our children, spouse, friends, parents..and so on..do we encourage their gestures or efforts or discourage them? How do we go about making sure that we create and nurture happy well grounded individuals who are confident in themselves and their abilities?
This is a question that has bothered parents, teachers, psychologists and others for several decades, inspiring a bulk of research in learning theory. I will post an article I wrote for the Technikon magazine brought out by the IIT students, where I discuss what learning theory says about this issue. But for now, I want to focus on a few other things..
Firstly we need to recognize that individuals, irrespective of age, have some areas of strengths and a few areas of improvement. It is up to each of us to recognize and build on the former, and try to minimize the latter. Our parents, teachers, colleagues, friends etc can (and do!) play a major role in helping us be better individuals. At this stage, I would like to highlight for each of us, the role we can play as a supportive individual for another person. For one, be kind when criticism needs to be offered..try to use supportive phrases such as, "this is a good effort, but this is what could be done to improve on it in the future.." or "great work, but please follow it up with A, B, C and D for better output next time.." and so on. Make sure your tone at all times is not accusing, but polite, supportive and perhaps even loving, depending on the relationship in which criticism needs to be given. In short, kindness is key.
Next, recognize that every person deserves benefit of the doubt. Do not make assumptions about him/her at the start of an activity. Allow room for error. Avoid generalizations of behavior. Try to be objective and offer support and feedback in a meaningful manner wherever possible.
Be flexible. Make adjustments to the behavior and character of the other person. It is very likely that the other person is also making an attempt to adapt to your temperament and mode of functioning.
Small efforts like these could lead us to developing more meaningful relationships in life.
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day..
(Old song, quoted by Prof.M.S. Swaminathan during his keynote address of the exhibition for Promotion of a culture of peace among children and youth, IIT Madras, June 24th 2007)
This song quite reflects what we say to ourselves and to our children, spouse, friends, parents..and so on..do we encourage their gestures or efforts or discourage them? How do we go about making sure that we create and nurture happy well grounded individuals who are confident in themselves and their abilities?
This is a question that has bothered parents, teachers, psychologists and others for several decades, inspiring a bulk of research in learning theory. I will post an article I wrote for the Technikon magazine brought out by the IIT students, where I discuss what learning theory says about this issue. But for now, I want to focus on a few other things..
Firstly we need to recognize that individuals, irrespective of age, have some areas of strengths and a few areas of improvement. It is up to each of us to recognize and build on the former, and try to minimize the latter. Our parents, teachers, colleagues, friends etc can (and do!) play a major role in helping us be better individuals. At this stage, I would like to highlight for each of us, the role we can play as a supportive individual for another person. For one, be kind when criticism needs to be offered..try to use supportive phrases such as, "this is a good effort, but this is what could be done to improve on it in the future.." or "great work, but please follow it up with A, B, C and D for better output next time.." and so on. Make sure your tone at all times is not accusing, but polite, supportive and perhaps even loving, depending on the relationship in which criticism needs to be given. In short, kindness is key.
Next, recognize that every person deserves benefit of the doubt. Do not make assumptions about him/her at the start of an activity. Allow room for error. Avoid generalizations of behavior. Try to be objective and offer support and feedback in a meaningful manner wherever possible.
Be flexible. Make adjustments to the behavior and character of the other person. It is very likely that the other person is also making an attempt to adapt to your temperament and mode of functioning.
Small efforts like these could lead us to developing more meaningful relationships in life.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
what iv been reading lately
Friday, June 15, 2007
The invisible network..
There is ESP..we can't prove it but we know its there..its almost like this network among us, friends, family and loved ones..and it shows up in unexpected ways and we are left pondering about its mystery when we come across such events in life..
ESP has happened to me more than once in life, in fact I can safely say it shows up quite frequently in my life. The most recent occurrence happened just yesterday..I had been thinking about A&H, good friends of mine, and have been wanting to mail them and get in touch with them for quite some time now, but have been postponing it for one reason or the other. And yesterday I almost mailed them but a brief powercut prevented me from doing so..when I opened my account after the power was restored there was a message waiting for me from H...I almost think its like this invisible tie that binds us all in a network of sorts..have yet to figure out how this works, but I'm sure that it exists...
It also is true of other modes of communication and across other situations in life..u get phone calls from people you have been thinking about just at that moment, or a song that has been playing in ure head is the first thing you hear when you turn on the radio..and the list goes on..
ESP has happened to me more than once in life, in fact I can safely say it shows up quite frequently in my life. The most recent occurrence happened just yesterday..I had been thinking about A&H, good friends of mine, and have been wanting to mail them and get in touch with them for quite some time now, but have been postponing it for one reason or the other. And yesterday I almost mailed them but a brief powercut prevented me from doing so..when I opened my account after the power was restored there was a message waiting for me from H...I almost think its like this invisible tie that binds us all in a network of sorts..have yet to figure out how this works, but I'm sure that it exists...
It also is true of other modes of communication and across other situations in life..u get phone calls from people you have been thinking about just at that moment, or a song that has been playing in ure head is the first thing you hear when you turn on the radio..and the list goes on..
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Chennai kisi se Kum nahi!
Check out the Hindi movie listings for Chennai this week..the movie 'Cheeni Kum' is released..oh wait, its cousin from Madras, 'Chennai Kum' is out! :P (ref.:http://www.chennaionline.com/film/movielist2.asp)
Webpage content writers please take note..its 'CHEENI KUM', not 'CHENNAI KUM'..its NOT a Tamil movie, but a HINDI one, that's right. it stars the other sooperstar, Bachchan Senior and (in my view) a sooooooooooooooooooper doooooooooooper star, Tabu.
So thambis and thangachis, maamas and maamis, please take note, its Cheeni Kum, without the 'A'.
Just thought I'd clear the air..I guess the average Rajini fan will be as ticked off if we listed 'Sivaji:The Boss' as 'Yes Boss' on any cinema webpage worth its salt. Next thing we know, the webpage would have been defaced, the web developer tracked and kidnapped at gun point, and his office ransacked.
It happens (w)only in Indi(y)a, saar!
Webpage content writers please take note..its 'CHEENI KUM', not 'CHENNAI KUM'..its NOT a Tamil movie, but a HINDI one, that's right. it stars the other sooperstar, Bachchan Senior and (in my view) a sooooooooooooooooooper doooooooooooper star, Tabu.
So thambis and thangachis, maamas and maamis, please take note, its Cheeni Kum, without the 'A'.
Just thought I'd clear the air..I guess the average Rajini fan will be as ticked off if we listed 'Sivaji:The Boss' as 'Yes Boss' on any cinema webpage worth its salt. Next thing we know, the webpage would have been defaced, the web developer tracked and kidnapped at gun point, and his office ransacked.
It happens (w)only in Indi(y)a, saar!
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 9.30 a.m. (Sat & Sun) | Seasons | No.8, Thiru Vi Ka Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 14. Ph: 4224 4224 |
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 3.30 p.m. | Seasons | No.8, Thiru Vi Ka Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 14. Ph: 4224 4224 |
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 10.00 p.m. | Santham | No.8, Thiru Vi Ka Road, Royapettah, Chennai - 14. Ph: 4224 4224 |
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 3.30 p.m. | Inox | Chennai Citi Centre, R.K. Salai, Mylapore, Chennai. Ph: 4265 8888 |
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 6.45 & 9.45 p.m. | Anu Ega | 435, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai -600 010, Ph No: 6411 666 |
| Chennai Kum | Hindi | 4.15, 7.25 & 9.55 p.m. | Mayajaal | East Coast Road, Chennai, Ph No: 2473 1125 / 26, 9840012881 |
Friday, June 8, 2007
You are The High Priestess
Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.
The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Games people play
'Games people play' is a book I've yet to read. However, games people play in daily life often continue to fascinate/interest/torment me, depending on the nature of the game and the kind of people that are in involved in playing it. Some of these 'games' we tend to laugh away, others cause us endless sleepless nights.
To start with I'd like to acknowledge the fact that all of us are at a game, of one kind or another. We do so to keep up an image, impress people, get ahead in life, and a million other reasons. While not all such games or attempts at impression management affect others adversely, some of them do, and we should be careful that our games do not hurt others. I have come across some instances in the recent past where I think that the things people do, irrespective of motive hurts the other person who becomes the target of such behavior. Consider the following examples..
1) Persons A and B are close friends, who share everything in life. One day, A calls B and says that she got to know from others that B was away on a holiday to a great place, and sounds hurt that B didn't tell her so in person about the vacation. B, on her part, had spoken to A's parents and had in fact mentioned the upcoming trip. It just so happened that A wasn't home when the conversation happened, and A's ever-so-busy parents forgot to update her about B's trip. However, A is ignorant of the fact and blames B for keeping things her. B naturally thinks A's parents have hidden motives for keeping things from A, such as phone messages or conversation updates.
2) C and D are coworkers and friends as well. Of late, C finds that D spends a lot of time on other things but little or no time, when it comes to maintaining contact with C. C feels secretly hurt but doesn't say anything to D. D needs help with life but doesn't know it. C sees the need for help and is pushing towards helping D with it, only to be told to be left alone.
These two instances are just a snapshot of the kind of behavior we convey to others. In our own way, its part of the grand repertoire of games we indulge in, perhaps to create an image, but in the process, aren't we deceiving ourselves? Isn't it simpler to live a more straightforward life where we don't end up hurting others? While we are all human and therefore fallible, we must become aware of the things we do and whether what we do affects other people. Only with such awareness can we bring about small incremental changes in our attitudes towards others and our behavior and thus become more compassionate friends, spouses, children, relatives, parents, grandparents etc. It calls for a little introspection and perspective taking, and maybe a bit of cognitive and emotional self evaluation, but its worth the effort to see a close friend or loved one smile in one's presence.
Here's to an open, honest life :)
To start with I'd like to acknowledge the fact that all of us are at a game, of one kind or another. We do so to keep up an image, impress people, get ahead in life, and a million other reasons. While not all such games or attempts at impression management affect others adversely, some of them do, and we should be careful that our games do not hurt others. I have come across some instances in the recent past where I think that the things people do, irrespective of motive hurts the other person who becomes the target of such behavior. Consider the following examples..
1) Persons A and B are close friends, who share everything in life. One day, A calls B and says that she got to know from others that B was away on a holiday to a great place, and sounds hurt that B didn't tell her so in person about the vacation. B, on her part, had spoken to A's parents and had in fact mentioned the upcoming trip. It just so happened that A wasn't home when the conversation happened, and A's ever-so-busy parents forgot to update her about B's trip. However, A is ignorant of the fact and blames B for keeping things her. B naturally thinks A's parents have hidden motives for keeping things from A, such as phone messages or conversation updates.
2) C and D are coworkers and friends as well. Of late, C finds that D spends a lot of time on other things but little or no time, when it comes to maintaining contact with C. C feels secretly hurt but doesn't say anything to D. D needs help with life but doesn't know it. C sees the need for help and is pushing towards helping D with it, only to be told to be left alone.
These two instances are just a snapshot of the kind of behavior we convey to others. In our own way, its part of the grand repertoire of games we indulge in, perhaps to create an image, but in the process, aren't we deceiving ourselves? Isn't it simpler to live a more straightforward life where we don't end up hurting others? While we are all human and therefore fallible, we must become aware of the things we do and whether what we do affects other people. Only with such awareness can we bring about small incremental changes in our attitudes towards others and our behavior and thus become more compassionate friends, spouses, children, relatives, parents, grandparents etc. It calls for a little introspection and perspective taking, and maybe a bit of cognitive and emotional self evaluation, but its worth the effort to see a close friend or loved one smile in one's presence.
Here's to an open, honest life :)
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