We’re seeing a flood of articles and books this fall focused on ways to help students become more resilient learners – or as the catch phrase of the hour has it, to gain some “grit.” If you think about John Wayne, roaring down the hill on his charging horse with the reins in his teeth, you can be forgiven. The idea of True Grit is embedded pretty deeply in the American psyche.
A lot of this focus comes as many states and schools begin full implementation of higher standards for teaching and learning. Whether it’s the College- and Career-Ready Standards here in Alabama or other iterations of the Common Core, we know that students are being asked to learn more and to stick with a learning process that demands a deeper and more persistent effort on their part. In fact, that’s the important message being communicated to students by a new coalition of organizations called Alabama GRIT (Graduate Ready. Impact Tomorrow).
Teachers, of course, are also being challenged to persist as school and district leaders (and instructional partners and coaches) call for higher levels of professional practice. Resilience has always been a key trait of successful teachers, and I’m pleased to report that we are seeing this trait surface among many of the school faculties associated with the Instructional Partners Pilot and the Powerful Conversations Network.
Useful resources
As we all search for a larger serving of educational grit, I thought I’d share some resilience-related resources that have come across my desk (and my iPad!) in recent months. Check them out – they are worth your time.
► We can always count on ASCD’s Educational Leadership (EL) magazine to spot important trends and deliver useful articles and information. The September 2013 issue is devoted to the theme “Resilience and Learning.” Many of the articles are locked (members only), but I hope most schools subscribe to this valuable resource. There are also some really good public articles, including a short column by Carol Ann Tomlinson, “Growing Capable Kids”. Another column, written for principals by Thomas Hoerr, underscores the value to students of “Good Failures”. Educators are naturally suspicious of fads. If you’re wondering whether “grit” falls into that category, be sure to read the EL interview with University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Lee Duckworth, recognized as a leading researcher and thinker about resilience and learning.
► ASCD also publishes a twice-monthly newsletter, ASCD Express, that often expands on EL’s themes. In the Sept. 12 edition, Cheryl J. Wright highlights some of the research about factors that influence resilient students’ achievement in her article “Three Pillars for Supporting Resilience”. And for a frontline perspective, see reading coach Bridget Stegman’s reflection on growing Resilient Readers in a High-Poverty Elementary School. I love the way this begins: Because I teach in the world of high-stakes testing, I have often had to remind my elementary students that learning how to read well isn’t about a test; it’s about the rest of their life.
► Our communications consultant John Norton spotted this article at a wonderful new Education Week blog, Teaching for Triumph, written by primary grades teacher Justin Minkel, the 2007 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. One of Minkel’s roles is to bring “advanced learning opportunities to immigrant and at-risk students.” In his Oct. 7 post, “True Grit”, he tells the story of Rosa, “a stocky 5th grader who doesn’t look particularly fast” but turns in impressive performances at regular 5K runs. Rosa helps Minkel make the point that grit is “perseverance plus passion.” The question for teachers and parents is this: How can we cultivate that fusion of perseverance and passion? How can we help students to not just succeed, but to find joy in their success?
► Grit, resilience and persistence are often associated with rigor (a word that “grit” seems to be replacing in article headlines and book titles this year). Secondary school educators, in particular, will find powerful evidence about the need “to expand access to rigorous course work…among underrepresented minority students” in the College Board’s 2013 report on college and career readiness. Access, of course, is most meaningful when students are well-prepared and ready to persist.
► Several recent books that focus on grit, resilience and related non-cognitive skills are worthy of your attention, including Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character, which was reviewed in the New York Times by education writer Annie Paul Murphy. (For an alternate view of the “grit” issue, see this post by Darnell Fine at Education Week’s Teacher Roundtable.) Other noteworthy books: Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and Mary Cay Ricci’s Mindsets in the Classroom, which offers ideas about applying Dweck’s research in elementary settings.
Having a growth mindset
As I reflect on broader access to rigorous coursework, one of my first thoughts is about Carol Dweck’s work around the idea of a “growth mindset” for both students and teachers. This is a constant topic of discussion among coaches in the Instructional Partners Pilot program that ABPC supports in partnership with the ALSDE. It’s the research-supported idea that when we see ourselves (and our students) as individuals with minds that are always capable of growing, new learning abounds. There’s no better way to end this short list of resources than to point you to a 2010 article by Dweck, “Even Geniuses Have to Work Hard”.
If you don’t have time to read all of the “gritty” articles I’ve shared here, at least read the piece by Carol Dweck. As we implement our new, more challenging standards, I can’t think of anything more important and more pressing than for both teachers and students to hold a “growth mindset” attitude.
We are all working hard, trying to keep up with this exceedingly rapid pace of change. We need to remind ourselves to take one step at a time. We will have productive struggles and some productive failures, and both will pay major dividends. Work on the grit, but don’t forget to smile and celebrate!
