Building
GRIT & RESILIENCE
A Focus on Student Learning (FOSL)
Presentation
THRIVING =
ENGAGED LEARNING
+
ACADEMIC DETERMINATION
(how a student PERCEIVES their ABILITY to learn)
Grit & resilience are factors
(Thriving in Transitions. Schreiner, Louis, Nelson. 2012)
Factors that place college students at high risk
1st generation
Low Income
Disability
Mindset
(Dweck, 2005; Schreiner, Louis, Nelson, 2012)
Remedial Courses - are they the answer?
Needed by an estimated 40% of college students (Attwell et al., 2006)
Little research about subsequent effect
- Short term benefits but not a predictor of degree completion
- Possibly even 7% negative impact (Schreiner, Louis, Nelson. 2012)
- May produce a stigma that perpetuates the problem
MORE EFFECTIVE WHEN GROWTH MINDSET AND GRIT ARE TAUGHT
Shift focus toward active participation, self-regulation, & investment of effort
Transitioning to Success
Look at successful seniors who were considered high-risk
What behaviors, resources, & strategies did they employ to help them succeed?
4 Themes Emerged:
1. SUCCESS MINDSET
2. ACADEMIC STRATEGIES
3. SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
4. MEANINGFUL INVOLVEMENT
Thriving in Transitions, 2012
Declining Student Resiliency
“We have raised a generation of young people who have not been given the opportunity
to learn how to solve their own problems, to get into trouble and find their own way out,
to experience failure and realize they can survive it, to learn how to respond [to
challenges] without adult intervention.
So now, here’s what we have: Young people going to college still unable or unwilling to
take responsibility for themselves, still feeling that if a problem arises they need an adult
to solve it.”
-
Peter Gray, “Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges”. Psychology Today. 9/22/15
“Faculty are expected to do more handholding, lower academic standards, and not
challenge students too much.
Students are afraid to fail; they don’t take risks; they need to be certain about things.
Failure is seen as catastrophic and unacceptable.
Students email about trivial things and expect prompt replies.
Failure and struggle need to be normalized. Students are uncomfortable not being right.
Growth is achieved by striking the right balance between support and challenge.
We need to reset the balance point. We have become a “helicopter institution.”`
Peter Gray, “Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges”. Psychology Today. 9/22/15
How can we help?
Support students as they experience setbacks. Goal Setting with Obstacle Planning.
Help them see that these are a normal part of a rigorous education.
Emphasize the importance of failure in the learning process. Share personal failures.
Encourage reflection.
Encourage risk taking. Take level of difficulty into consideration in grading projects.
Instill a sense of belonging and bravery in students.
Change the perception of failure from something that should be avoided at all costs to something
essential to a meaningful education.
Personal Resiliency Builders
Relationships
Self Motivation
Service
Competence
Humor
Self Worth
Inner Direction
Perceptiveness
Independence
Spirituality
Perseverance
Creativity
Optimism for the future
Flexibility
Love of Learning
Focus on Strengths, not Weaknesses
Patience
Tools for Teaching A Growth Mindset
● Intentional Praise
“Smart vs. Hard-Working Students”
● Share Inspiring Stories
● Teach about brain development, psychology, and
neurological processes
● Effort is required and encouraged
● Learn from mistakes
What is Grit?
Passion coupled with the tenacity to overcome obstacles
MINDSETS to INFLUENCE GRIT
(Dept. of Ed., 2013)
1. I can succeed at this
2. My ability and competence grow with effort
3. Challenge is inevitable for success
4. This work is in line with my interests, values, or goals
5. I belong in this academic community
FAMOUS FAILURES
Things don’t always work out the way we want.
What matters is what you do when you FAIL.
GUESS WHO?
After being cut from his high school basketball team, this
famous failure went home, locked himself in his room and
cried.
Michael Jordan
GUESS WHO?
Before she wrote this book series, she was nearly penniless, divorced, severely
depressed, and trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and
writing a novel. The first nine publishers rejected her book before a small
business man accepted it.
JK Rowling
GUESS WHO?
Walt Disney
Was once fired from a newspaper for “lacking
imagination” and having “no original ideas”
GUESS WHO?
She was demoted from her job as a
news anchor because she “wasn’t fit
for television”.
Strategies for Teaching Grit
Establish the environment
Set the expectations
Teach the vocabulary
Create the frustration
Monitor the experience
Reflect and learn
Example Exercise
Think of something that you are good at doing
How did you first learn to do it?
What made you keep doing it even though it was hard?
What helped you get better at it?
Once you started to get good at it, what made you want to get even better?
(Cushman, 2008)
Exercise, continued
In pairs, share with one another the thing that you are good at.
What was similar about your experiences?
What was different?
This can be followed by testimonials from the class or an “expert” or
“Gritty” guest.
SUMMARY
Teach about GRIT
Teach about mindset
Reframe problems or failures as challenges and bumps in the road
Create a safe environment
Help students develop habits, skills, and strategies
Acknowledge the sacrifice that GRIT requires
Remind them of their already demonstrated grittiness.
(Davis, 2014)
Additional Resources
2013 US Dept. of Ed Report Promoting GRIT, Tenacity, and Perseverance: http://pgbovine.net/OET-Draft-Grit-Report-217-13.pdf
The Duckworth Lab at Univ. of Pennsylvania: https://sites.sas.upenn.edu/?q=duckworth/pages/character-lab-0
The Resilience Project @ Stanford: https://undergrad.stanford.edu/resilience
Jia Jiang’s 100 Days of Rejection: http://fearbuster.com/
The Science of Resiliency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=403i7IWrv78
Resiliency quiz: http://www.resiliency.com/free-articles-resources/the-resiliency-quiz/
TedTalks: Scott Gellar, Carrie Green, and Eduardo Briceno