Developing Grit In Our Students:

Why Grit is Such a Desirable Trait,

and Practical Strategies for Teachers and Schools

By Jennifer Bashant, Ph.D.

Introduction

Why do most individuals make use of only a small long-term goals.” Grit involves working strenuously to-
percentage of their resources, whereas a few exceptional ward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years
individuals push themselves to their limits? Why do some despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The
individuals accomplish more than others of equal intelli- gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon;
gence? One personal quality that is shared by most high his or her advantage is stamina. While disappointment
achieving and successful people is grit. Grit may be the or boredom may lead most people to change trajectory,
quality that sets these highly successful individuals apart the gritty individual stays the course" (Duckworth et al,
from everyone else (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews & 2007). We all can identify people in our lives who have big
Kelly, 2007). ideas and a lot of enthusiasm for many projects, only to
drop them within a few weeks. Individuals with a lot of grit
There has been a lot of talk recently about grit tend to set very long-term objectives and do not lose sight
and how to develop it within our students. Grit is the qual- of them, even when they are not getting any positive feed-
ity that enables individuals to work hard and stick to their back.
long-term passions and goals. It makes sense that this
would be important for students, both in school and in life. Resilience, as defined by Martin Seligman, a re-
Can one learn to have grit? How do you teach it? These searcher from the University of Pennsylvania and creator
are some of the essential questions that will be ad- of the evidence-based Penn Resiliency Program, is "the
dressed in this research brief with the hope that you will ability to appraise situations without distorting them, and
gain a deeper understanding of what is meant by "grit," thinking about changes that are possible in your life"
and that you will discover a couple new ways to encour- (Perkins-Gough, 2013). Resilience is related to grit be-
age students to be more "gritty." cause part of what it means to be gritty is to be resilient
when challenges present themselves. There are many
According to leading researcher, Angela other traits one must possess in order to be gritty, which
Duckworth, grit can probably be taught. "Kids may have include conscientiousness, self-discipline and persever-
Journal for Leadership and Instruction

the wrong beliefs and have misunderstandings about skill ance. Having grit means that you choose to invest time
development…beliefs that stand in the way of tapping into and energy in a particular endeavor and give up many
performance traits." When students struggle with a task, other things in order to pursue this passion. Gritty people
they may believe that they lack the ability to solve the prob- have deep commitments to which they remain loyal for
lem and, therefore, give up. It is important for students to many years.
understand that it is ok to feel confused when learning
something new, and actually, it is expected. We can teach Research Supporting the Importance of Grit
students that making mistakes or taking a long time to
complete an assignment is a normal part of learning, not So why should we pay so much attention to grit?
a sign of failure. Duckworth and Seligman (2005, 2007) have demon-
strated that grit, perseverance and self-discipline are
Fall, 2014

Definition of Grit better predictors of success in college than the SAT or IQ

tests. These standardized tests serve an important func-
According to researchers at the University of Penn- tion, but are limited in their ability to measure important
sylvania, grit is defined as "perseverance and passion for traits such as grit and self-control.
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 Angela Duckworth and Deborah Perkins-Gough Grit Versus Talent
conducted a study at West Point Military Academy in order
to look at how well grit would predict who would stay for At one time or another, we all have been im-
the entire program. Although West Point has a rigorous pressed by an athlete, a student or a musician whom we
admissions process, about 1 in 20 cadets drop out be- would label as "talented." Talent, however, is only part of
fore the first academic year begins (Perkins-Gough, 2013). the picture. In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell talks
As part of the study, the cadets each took a short grit ques- about the 10,000 hours of practice required to excel at a
tionnaire when they first arrived. This score was actually a particular skill. "I believe ability can get you to the top,"
better predictor of who would stay than any other measure says coach John Woodin, "but it takes character to keep
West Point looked at. There have been similar findings you there. It's so easy to begin thinking you can just turn it
with many other groups, including the National Spelling on automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real
Bee contestants and first year teachers in really tough character to keep working as hard, or even harder once
schools. When one considers individuals of equal talent, you are there. When you read about an athlete or a team
the grittier people do better. that wins over and over and over, remind yourself that
more than ability, they have character" (Carol Dweck,
There have been many studies that show the im- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success).
portance of self-discipline in achieving positive outcomes
such as academic success, happiness and overall com- In terms of academics, if students are just trying
petence (Mischel, Shoda & Rodriguez, 1989; Ayduk et al, to reach the threshold of getting an A, and they also hap-
2000; Funder, Block & Block, 1983; Duckworth, 2009). Self- pen to be very talented, they may do their homework or
discipline is defined as "the capacity to do what you want study for a test in just a few minutes. Once they reach a
to do. It's knowing how to manage your emotions and certain level of proficiency, then they stop. They actually
thoughts and knowing how to plan your behavior in order work less hard than their peers for whom the work is chal-
to reach your goals" (Duckworth,2009). In 1995, Wolf and lenging. If, on the other hand, they are not just trying to
Johnson conducted a study which found that self-disci- reach a certain cut point, but are trying to learn as much
pline was the only one among 32 measured personality as possible by doing as well as they can, then there is no
traits that predicted college GPA better than the SAT did limit to what can be accomplished.
(Duckworth & Seligman, 2005).
There are a lot of fragile gifted and talented
In a study by Duckworth and Seligman (2005), kids who don't know how to fail. They don't know how to
highly disciplined adolescents outperformed their peers struggle, and they don't have a lot of practice with it.
that were more impulsive on all academic variables, in- "Being gifted is no guarantee of being hardworking or
cluding grades, standardized test scores, admission to a passionate about something. The people who are am-
competitive high school and attendance. Self-discipline bitious and have no limit to how much they want to un-
also predicted which students would improve their grades derstand, learn or succeed are both talented and gritty"
throughout the year, while IQ scores did not. (Perkins-Gough, 2013). According to Galton (1892) who
collected biographical information about highly suc-
The Big Five model has provided a framework cessful people (judges, statesmen, scientists, etc.),
for many of the studies on traits that predict success. "ability alone did not bring about success in any field.
Personality psychologists, for the most part, agree that Rather, successful high achievers also possessed zeal
the five-factor model encompasses all of the major per- and the capacity for hard labor" (Duckworth, Peterson,
sonality traits and organizes them into a framework. Matthews & Kelly, 2007).
These five factors are conscientiousness, agreeable-
ness, extraversion, emotional stability and openness to Encouraging Grit and Character
new experiences. Relative to the other big five traits, con- Fall, 2014
scientiousness is the most reliable predictor of academic According to Carol Dweck in Mindset: The New
course grades, physical health, longevity, job perfor- Psychology of Success, "After seven experiments with
Journal for Leadership and Instruction

mance and marital stability (Duckworth, Weir, Tsukayama hundreds of children, we had some of the clearest find-
& Kwok, 2012). Conscientious individuals are more likely ings I've ever seen. Praising children's intelligence
to avoid unnecessary interpersonal conflict and to settle harms their motivation and it harms their performance.
conflicts when they occur. These behaviors may explain Children love praise, and especially for their intelligence
why conscientiousness predicts how many friends chil- and talent. It really does give them a boost, a special
dren will have better than intelligence or any other big glow - but only for that moment. The minute they hit a
five trait. In addition, conscientious individuals perform snag, their confidence goes out the window and their
better in school which often leads to better paying jobs, motivation hits rock bottom. If success means they are
and for some, greater subjective well-being (Duckworth smart, then failure means they are dumb. That's the fixed
et al, 2012). mindset."

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 Children who have more of a growth mindset tend Research shows that how students conceive their
to be grittier. The attitude that "I can get better if I try harder," abilities in relation to a task can shape the outcome. Dis-
most likely results in the development of a tenacious, cussing students' strengths in a setting where they feel un-
hardworking person. "In theory, the work that Carol Dweck sure of themselves sets a positive tone and removes a bar-
has done to show that you can change your mindset would rier to success (Pappano, 2013). However, attempting to
also be relevant to changing your grit." Duckworth and her boost students' self-esteem with words is less effective than
colleagues at University of Pennsylvania are developing asking them to persevere on a challenging task.
an intervention, based on Dweck's work, to look at making
students aware of the value of deliberate practice. The Action Steps for Teachers and Schools
intervention requires teachers to tell kids that practice is
not easy…that they are going to be confused…frustrated. In order to build character and grit in students, it is
Teachers explain that when you are learning, you have to essential to also develop a school culture that emphasizes
make mistakes and do things over and over again which character and grit (Dean, 2014). Many times, a character
can be boring (Perkins-Gough, 2013). education program is implemented on top of an existing
school culture, but copying and pasting a program is not
Tim Elmore recently wrote a blog about building likely to be successful.
perseverance in students based on the findings that stu-
dents in Singapore are far more persistent in problem In one school that is successfully teaching grit and
solving than American students. He explains that although character, they use advisory to explicitly teach the important
we live in a world of speed and convenience (ATMs, high- skills and mindset. This teaching is supported by much of
speed internet access, fast, Instagram), this speed has what happens outside of the advisory, including "modeling
diminished perseverance and work ethic in our kids. He by teachers, the use of a common language about charac-
recommends the following strategies to encourage per- ter, and the recognition that all students play a role in charac-
severance in students: ter development. In addition, students are given room to chal-
lenge authority in the school, set the agenda for school meet-
• Talk about the power of attitude and persistence. ings, and engage with social issues beyond the school
Singapore teachers repeatedly talk to their students walls" (Dean, 2014).
from a young age about attitude and persistence.
They underscore how valuable this trait is for suc- One assistant superintendent for curriculum and
cess in life. instruction explained that the administrators in his district
firmly believe that character education and positive school
climate are the keys to reducing discipline problems and
• Turn the problem into a picture or puzzle.
raising student achievement. He researched this topic for
Singapore teaching methods include "model two years by reading about Positive Behavioral Interventions
drawing." Students turn math problems into a pic- and Supports (PBIS) and by reading Ross Green's Lost at
ture and the graphic helps them solve the problem School and Paul Tough's How Children Succeed. He de-
by engaging both sides of the brain. cided to build a period of time into the schedule in the middle
schools to address school culture and climate concerns as
• Start with smaller problems they can more easily well as to implement character education and citizenship
solve and help them get some quick wins. classes. Topics such as "how to have good conversations,
be an active listener, build meaningful relationships, set goals
• Share the "why" before the "what." We often fail to and pursue them, and recognize the consequences of be-
inspire kids because we don't share the relevance havior were taught" (Perkins-Gough, 2013). This school was
part of a study conducted by Angela Duckworth who found
Journal for Leadership and Instruction

of the problem.
that their character-building program has yielded results at
the elementary level, middle school level and even in the
• When possible, place students in communities to
ninth grade. In ninth grade, when many students have trouble
work together. Students learn best in communities adjusting to higher demands, retention rates have de-
where they can solve problems in cooperation with creased, discipline problems have fallen and student
peers. They often give up when they feel alone and achievement has risen (Perkins-Gough, 2013).
inferior.
Another school that has been studied by
• Make it a game or competition. Duckworth's team has been successful in teaching intellec-
tual virtues through repeated action and practice. One third
• Reward hard work and delayed gratification. What grade teacher in this school has posters about "Intellectual
Fall, 2014

gets rewarded gets repeated. Affirm hard work and Aggressiveness" along with examples of their use such as
actually reward completion in the end. "Use Evidence to Support your Ideas." This teacher says
things like, "Talk to your neighbor and let's be intellectually

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aggressive about this." He says it is important to have lan- Schools should devote more - not less - intentional
guage around these skills which allows him to attach it to effort to developing grit in students. Teaching grit means
their struggles or behaviors that may take them away from helping students understand how to set and achieve their
being successful. When students in his class misbehave, goals. When we teach students how to regulate their atten-
he interprets this as masking a lack of knowledge. He looks tion, emotions and behavior, we empower them to pursue
through such behaviors to give students the message that goals that are most important to them (Duckworth, 2009),
"you can fight through this and you can be successful" which sets the stage for helping each student reach his or
(Pappano, 2013). her full potential.

One high school math teacher described how in- References

stead of showing approaches to a geometry problem, he
lets students struggle until they uncover the principle them- Duckworth, Angela L., Peterson, Christopher, Matthews,
selves. He gets students interested by saying things like, Michael D. and Kelly, Dennis R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance
"Let's be curious about this." His students are motivated, not and Passion for Long-Term Goals. Journal of Personality
because of the grade, but because they are curious and they and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087-1101.
truly want to learn. If the question is framed correctly, it spurs
something intrinsic inside of them (Pappano, 2013). Duckworth, Angela L., Weir, David, Tsukayama, Eli and
Kwok, David. (2012). Who does well in life? Conscientious
In a study of three successful Boston charter schools, adults excel in both objective and subjective success. Fron-
researchers concluded that success is derived from a two- tiers in Psychology. 3(356), 1-8.
part model: (1) establishing a common vocabulary around
character strengths and then (2) utilizing the vocabulary in Duckworth, Angela Lee and Seligman, Martin. (2005).
very specific instructional moments. If a student is strug- Self-Discipline Outdoes IQ in Predicting Academic Per-
gling with an essay, the teacher might say, "Let me show you formance of Adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12),
how to be really gritty." If a student gives up too quickly or 939-944.
lacks the self-confidence to persist in math, the student and
teacher can reflect and discuss, "How does that feel? What Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Suc-
does it look like? How does it affect me? Together they can cess. Random House Publishing, New York: New York.
make a plan to challenge the idea that the student can't 2006.
figure out problems or is inclined to give up quickly. If he
usually gives up after one try, he can decide that next week Elmore, Tim. (2014). Seven Ideas to Build Perseverance in
he will try three times before giving up, or will commit to Students. Blog.
getting help after school."
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little,
Conclusion Brown and Company. New York: New York. 2008.

Although there are many interventions and strate- Pappano, Laura. (2013). Grit and the New Character Edu-
gies that can be implemented in order to develop grit, it is the cation. Harvard Education Letter. 29, 1-3.
quality of interactions and interventions - not the strategies
themselves - that matter most. "Human change occurs more Perkins-Gough, Deborah. (2013). The significance of grit:
readily in the context of caring and trusting relationships" A conversation with Angela Lee Duckworth. Educational
(Pappano, 2013). We must remember the importance of Leadership, 71(1), 14-20.
providing social emotional support to our students. "If public
schools start to devalue social workers, counselors and Seider, Scott. (2014). Character Compass: How powerful
school psychologists - if they don't understand that these school culture can point students toward success. Per- Fall, 2014
people are a key part of the learning situation for kids - then spectives in Urban Education, 11(1), 29-31.
we are in big trouble." Schools, especially those facing ma-
Journal for Leadership and Instruction

jor challenges, should not be afraid to look into partnerships

with research universities. The more relationships schools
can build with outside resources, the better off they are go- Jennifer Bashant, Ph.D., is a faculty member at the Capital Area
ing to be (Perking-Gough, 2013). School Development Association, University at Albany’s School of
Education.

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