Discovering grit: getting gritty about making students grittier

Abstract

Teachers have long wondered about what makes some students successful when others are not? They have experienced frustration when watching a student who is clearly intelligent – flounder and give up too easily. This paper seeks to find out what experiences make gritty students turn into gritty, successful adults. Angela Duckworth defines grit as, “Passion and perseverance to achieve very long-term goals.” (Duckworth, 2013) This study used the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) and compared it against qualities discovered in the themes threaded throughout the literature concerning modern grit research. The five qualities this study sought to connect with grit were: belonging, ability, personal value, influence and growth mindset. The self-report survey completed by 241 participants, found that the perceived qualities of belonging and ability, and the mindset known as growth-mindset had a moderate effect on grittiness. The study found that a person’s perception on their own value and their ability to influence their own lives had a positive impact on their grit level. In the final chapter the researcher made some recommendations as to how teachers can apply the knowledge gained from this research into best teaching practice.