Limitless mind Learn, lead, and live without barriers

Boaler, a Stanford professor of education, is convinced that anyone is capable of learning anything despite their genetic makeup and life circumstances. The secret is having a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset (and sometimes ignoring the limiting labels supplied by well-meaning parents and teachers). Tapping into a wealth of research, interviews with scientists, and her own experiences, Boaler presents six keys to learning. They include understanding that the brain can be changed by learning, that mistakes and challenges engender brain growth, that we can change our bodies and minds by changing our beliefs, that neural pathways are optimized by multidimensional learning, that creativity is better than speed, and that collaboration boosts learning. The author fills the pages with examples of students who blossom when teachers substitute exploration for rote learning, especially in math and science. Boaler, who had to stand up to fellow educators who belittled her research, is a courageous freethinker with fresh ideas on learning, teaching, and even parenting that will be useful both at home and in the classroom. Her website, www.youcubed.org, offers additional resources.--Candace Smith Copyright 2010 Booklist

In a useful study directed toward students and educators alike, Boaler (Mathematical Mindsets), a Stanford mathematics education professor, argues against approaching learning in terms of "fixed intelligence and giftedness," and in favor of approaching it through the new science of neuroplasticity. She notes that skills long thought genetically fixed, such as the rare phenomenon of perfect pitch, can be learned and nurtured, and maintains that it's more productive to categorize children as "hard-working" rather than "smart." In discussing math education in particular, Boaler points out international comparative tests in which American students did relatively poorly, attributing this to an excessive focus on memorization; she favors instead a diverse approach, such as taking visual as well as numerical approaches to solving math problems. An advocate of wide-ranging intellectual creativity, Boaler notes that two computer scientists who in 2018 solved a difficult equation that had long stymied mathematicians "believed their success came from the fact that they had less knowledge than others" and thus could "think differently." While Boaler's hyperbolic title promises too much-her book shows the human mind as expansive but not unlimited-and she can occasionally belabor a point, on the whole her guide offers fresh pedagogical approaches to educators and meaningful encouragement and ideas to students. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.