There has been quite a “new” movement in education of late. The movement is toward teaching grit and determination in the classroom. I suppose in the usual approach to public education; we will need norms and rubrics and curriculum in order to make sure our students are successfully learning grit and determination. Studies are showing up all over the place regarding these very topics. I was reading one yesterday in fact that was completed by a teacher turned psychologist. She studied some kids and wait for it….found out that if kids can persevere through difficult situations, they are more likely to succeed. She even went as far as to say that that perseverance (grit and determination) are possibly as important if not more important than intellectual gifts in terms of ability to accomplish tasks and thereby meet success. While I can appreciate the study and its findings, my knee jerk reaction to it was, “well no kidding, now I know how to solve all the problems in education!”
Any engaged teacher or coach and even most administrators already know the fact that grit and determination are deciding factors in the accomplishment of anything. We didn’t need a study to show us that. In fact most of the adult world probably understands that without the need of explanation from the world of behavioral psychology. We all either know it because we have succeeded due to it or failed due to lack of it, but most of us are familiar with the capabilities of grit and determination. So, why the sudden emphasis? The fact is that children are losing sight of success because of a number of factors that are part and partial to grit and determination. One writer even calls it an emerging field of study. The truth is that we never needed to call it a field of study before because it didn’t warrant study. Young people were either instilled with grit growing up or they weren’t. Most likely if you are my age, more were than weren’t. You see, grit and determination are built through unsuccessful attempts. Attempts at anything really. The point is that those attempts are plural, meaning that success wasn’t met on the first try in the past. Now, things are different.
Sport is one of the most basic ways children learn to persevere. We used to hear, “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Now the message is if you can’t get it on the first shot, quit and try something else but you still get an award. We have even made effort the norm for success in an attempt to normalize mediocre performance. How many soccer and baseball leagues have gone to participation awards and scoreless games in an effort to make everyone feel like a winner. We have turned our back on building grit and determination from the earliest years and then wonder why kids won’t try to be successful when they are challenged as young adults. One of my students once told me, “there ain’t no mountain high enough if you don’t try to climb it in the first place.” He was totally serious.
In an article from ladders.com, the author explores eight secrets to grit and resilience as practiced by the Navy SEALS (see the link below). I am a firm supporter of our military and especially the special forces. Thank God there are people willing to do that job. Anyway, I found these eight secrets not secret at all. They are as follows: purpose and meaning, make it a game, be confident – but realistic, prepare prepare prepare, focus on improvement, give help and get help, celebrate small wins, and find a way to laugh. The reality is that these lessons were taught to me at a young age and through my formative years by parents, coaches, teachers, scout masters, and pastors. They may not have voiced them as such but taught them nonetheless. Perhaps it’s time to put away the participation trophies and set kids up for success through these eight “secrets” to grit and determination/resilience.
https://www.theladders.com/p/22109/navy-seal-grit-resilience
