Grit is the news a lot lately. Angela Duckworth, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, recently won a Macarthur “Genius” grant for her work studying grit. Carol Dweck, a researcher at Stanford University, wrote a bestselling book called Mindset that outlines the type of thinking that goes into being grittier. Schools across the country are implementing techniques to help students develop grit – or perseverence, or resilience, or whatever you want to call it. What is grit? Is being gritty a good thing? How can we help our students be more gritty?
What is Grit?
Grit is, according to Duckworth, “the quality of being able to sustain your passions, and work really hard at them, over really disappointingly long periods of time.” I love three parts of this definition:
First – that grit is best demonstrated when you are chasing your passions. Duckworth acknowledges that we are not usually gritty when we are working on something we don’t enjoy or like to do. I am pretty gritty when it comes to teaching and learning. I’m generally not as gritty when it comes to doing my taxes or my dishes.
Second – working hard is evidence of grit. When we are working hard toward a goal, we are demonstrating our grit. Our hard work may not pay off quickly, but it does pay off in the end.
Third – reaching goals can take a disappointingly long amount of time. Often, we buy into the idea that success is quick and easy. We believe the idea that overnight success is possible. Grit teaches us that these are myths. Often, we are disappointed at how long success takes. When I get disappointed with my progress, I remind myself of the parable of the tortoise and the hare – slow and steady gets the job done.
Is Being Gritty a Good Thing?
I strive to be gritty, but it’s not a comfortable or easy thing to be or want. Grit takes time, effort, and patience, three things of which I often do not have to give! When I wonder whether grit is a good thing, I think of our role models in society. I think of Olympic athletes, championship sports teams, accomplished scholars and entertainers. I think of our elected and business leaders. Whenever I read or listen to an interview with people who have reached the top of their sport or profession, I never hear them say, “man, it was so easy getting to the top! I barely put forth any effort at all!” On the contrary, all of them say that it took years of hard, sustained work to be as successful as they are at that moment. And, usually, they don’t even feel they are finished with that work! I remind myself that nothing worthwhile is easy, so I should persevere through adversity to accomplish my goals. These role models’ stories tell me that grit is something to want as I pursue my own goals.
But adversity for the sake of building grit is not really the point. As Alfie Kohn points out, “persistent people persist,” so just letting kids fail and hoping they will pick themselves up and move forward is probably not a productive route to take. I’ve seen many a teacher fail large numbers of students in the name of “rigor” who have not then taken the time to teach kids how to respond to the failure. Failing in and of itself is not a good, but learning how to respond to the failure is. Responded well to failure is done in several ways:
Analyzing why the failure happened – Why did I make a bad grade? Who is responsible for this outcome?
Seeking perspective from trusted friends, teachers, supporters, or fellow students/coworkers – Can they think of reasons for the failure that I haven’t?
Generating alternative strategies to use when faced with a similar scenario in the future
Too often, teachers don’t take the time to help students through this process. They feel they have to “move on” with the curriculum, and they don’t give students time to consider their failure and develop strategies to persist in their learning. Students are exposed to material once, given a test, and if they don’t do well on the test, they are left behind as the learning bus moves on. They have failed for the sake of failing. They have not been given the tools to learn how to be gritty.
But the next test will come. The next assignment will be assigned. We want and expect students to continue on in their education beyond that failed test or botched project. We don’t want them dropping out and leaving behind opportunities to learn. We actually want them to be gritty.
How Do We Help Our Students Be More Gritty?
First, we need to foster a growth mindset in students. Growth mindset means that students believe that being smart is something we acquire, not something we inherit. We must cultivate the idea in our schools that going to school makes us smarter. We come to school with certain abilities and aptitudes, but we should leave school with MORE abilities and aptitudes. Learning hones and cultivates our intelligence. It shouldn’t be designed to expose our stupidity to the world.
Second, we shouldn’t set kids up for failure so we can show them and the world that they aren’t cut out for more learning. We should set them up with challenges to overcome, and if they don’t overcome them on the first try, we should give them more guidance and more tries. Because that’s how we learn. Teachers should build in opportunities for redemption into their classrooms – opportunities to relearn and re-experience content so they can learn from their mistakes. Students often don’t realize they don’t know something until they take the test, but that is usually the last chance they get to work with the content. Giving them second chances can give them purpose to try again – to demonstrate grit.
Third, we should help students come up with alternative explanations and game plans for tackling tough challenges. Letting students say things like, “I’m stupid at math” or “I’m just not cut out for this,” shouldn’t be tolerated. We should work with them to come up with alternative explanations for their struggles. Saying “I’m not really fast at math, but I can get it done eventually” or “I wonder if this type of work is what I enjoy” is more productive than negative self-talk. This type of thinking acknowledges the struggle, but it also provides a pathway to move forward. It’s OK if every kid doesn’t like math, but every kid can DO math.
Let’s infuse our kids with grit by guiding them through failure. It will be a long, hard, often disappointing journey, but the rest areas of accomplishment along the way are worth every step.
Source of quotes: NPR story on Grit – 3/17/14
