Ah, it feels so good to have February upon us. The days are getting longer and we are much more closer to seeing some more sunny days. Last week, I introduced grit and its role in the classroom. I want to expand and go more in depth on grit, not only because it fits well into my inquiry question, but also because it’s such an important thing to teach to our students.

Thus, I bring to you some wise words, spoken by Angela Lee Duckworth, a Grade 7 educator, who explains her theory on grit and its relationship to the success of her students. She poses the challenge that schools measure only the IQ of their students, but intelligence can only go so far in one’s life. What builds long-term success within students after they leave school and enter the working world, is grit. Grit drives students to achieve their goals, to persevere in the face of adversity. Duckworth says that teachers can help promote grit through encouraging a growth mindset. She says that teachers should show their students that the brain changes and grows in response to challenge and that failure is not permanent. As a result, students are more likely to persevere when they fail. Building a growth mindset along with encouraging grit, is a step in the right direction but as Duckworth argues, we need more. We need different ways of measuring student success that is not solely based on IQ scores or on intelligence.

If you would like to do some further reading, there is an article that is written by Corey Donahue that goes into some more discussion about Duckworth’s beliefs in grit. Article can be accessed here: http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/blog/helping-students-succeed-by-building-grit/

Reference:

Ducksworth, A. (April 2013). Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit?language=en#t-355670