Why does it matter?
The question “Does your teacher ask you to keep trying when the work gets hard?” — which students answer on a Likert scale — covers how well a school environment is developing students’ development of grit, passion, and perseverance. Challenging students to develop resilience boosts engagement in the short-term and helps develop student resilience to adversity in the long-term.
Help students develop “grittiness”
Character Lab’s grit playbook outlines strategies for encouraging strength of will and grit in others. Many recent research studies show that grit and measures of talent and IQ are unconnected, suggesting that there are no limits to how far passion and perseverance can take us. Here’s a quick look at their suggestions for adults looking to help others work harder that are easily adaptable for the classroom.
Model it
Character Lab recommends wearing your passions on your sleeve and openly sharing frustrations when you fail, going out of your way to point out what you learned from your failure.
Celebrate it
Character Lab recommends drawing attention to grit. In one-on-one conversations, praise passion and effort. Point out when students have done something “gritty.”
Enable it
Character Lab also stresses the importance of what is made possible by the support of others. As educators, it’s important not to let students give up on a bad day.