TEACHING GRIT:
PERSISTENCE, SELFCONTROL AND STUDENT
SUCCESS
Rebecca March—Information Studies
MCTC Faculty Development Days
February 28, 2014
“Experts to discuss
Grit—the secret
ingredient to success…”
GRIT
“Which
directions do
we give kids to
get them in
the direction
of more grit?”
“Grittier
competitors
triumph the
National Spelling
Bee!”
My interest in this…
Positive
psychology
 “Learned
Optimism”
 Outlooks can
change
 Reframe reactions
to negative events
 GRIT

Grit and Success
“What matters is…whether we are able to
help (students) develop these traits…”
---Paul Tough in “How Children Succeed…”
What is Grit?
“A passionate commitment to a single mission
and an unswerving dedication to achieve that
mission”—Angela Duckworth
Persistence
 Resilience
 Curiosity
 Conscientiousness
 Self-confidence
 Self -control

Who has grit?
NATURE
Who doesn’t have grit…




Kids Raised with:
Chronic stress
Adversity
Lack of comforting
Damaged executive
functions







Lack ability to:
Concentrate
Sit still
Rebound
Follow directions
Deal with confusion
and unpredictability
Overcome instinctive
reaction
Hold several facts in
head at once
Who does and doesn’t have grit?
NURTURE
Who doesn’t have grit..
Kids that are overpraised!
 Shorter task persistence
 More checking in with teacher
 Answers have intonation of questions
Is intelligence fixed or can it change?
MINDSETS
“The view you adopt for yourself profoundly
affects the way you lead your life.”
--Carol Dweck, Mindset: the New Psychology of Success
Fixed Mindset
 Intelligence is
fixed
 Personality is
fixed
 Born with it
 Unchangeable
Growth Mindset
 Intelligence
malleable
 Personality
malleable
 Traits can change
and be developed
“Learning is hard. True, learning is fun, exhilarating and
gratifying, but it is also daunting, exhausting, and
sometimes discouraging.”—Angela Duckworth
FIXED
GROWTH
ABILITY
Needs to be proven;
Ability can be developed
ability just there, can’t be through learning
developed
FEEDBACK
Only interested in
feedback about ability;
not interested in
suggestions for change
or growth
Most interested in
feedback that will aid
learning; suggestions for
growth appreciated
LEARNING
Only likes safe, sure
topics; motivated by
goals
Likes it when things get
more challenging;
motivated by mastery
Changing Mindsets
DEVELOPING GRIT
Getting Grittier…
Calibrated Meanness!!!
 Take
them seriously
 Believe in their abilities (and get
them to believe)
 Challenge them to improve
themselves
Take them seriously…
 Check
in
 Ask questions
 Help with clarity
 Help them prepare
 Self-authoring
Believe in their abilities…
CHALLENGE MINDSETS!
 What is intelligence?
 What is success?
 What is thinking?
Teach them to fail. Teach them to
wonder…
Take responsibility
 Productive persistence
 Permission to wonder

What do you do to
foster grit in the
classroom?
……Let’s talk
THANKS FOR JOINING
THE DISCUSSION
TODAY!