Grit is is being discussed in various articles, radio programs, TED Talks, and through many other avenues. Angela Duckworth, former middle school math teacher and now researcher and psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has popularized the term, and the researchers, and authors of and in these articles, speak about the positives and negatives of grit and why it should or should not be introduced into our school systems’ curriculums. Duckworth has seen things in her grade school students that made her wonder. It appeared that the children who struggled the most at the beginning of the school year would likely be at the bottom of the class at the end of the year, and that the kids who were more advanced would end the year
…show more content…
Credé, an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University who studies techniques to improve academic performance, argues that grit is repackaging the idea of “conscientiousness” that we’ve known about for over 50 years. He accuses Duckworth of misinterpreting her research of West Point cadets training at the United States Military Academy. Duckworth says that the cadets with high grit scores are 99 percent more likely to finish training than the cadets with average grit score, while Credé states that her research shows the likelihood of high grit cadets completing training over the average cadets is more like 3 percent. Credé cites examples of schools that are already starting to incorporating grit into the curriculum and urges educators not to begin teaching grit since there are more effective ways to improve academic performance. He argues that by separating grit into two parts – perseverance, and consistency of interests – researching more about perseverance would be a better course for the …show more content…
However, when research assistant at the Institute for Creative Technologies in South Carolina Gale Lucas is introduced, they again explore its downsides. Duckworth and Vedantam talk about her research, and how grit is made up of four main psychological assets: interest, practice, purpose, and hope. Duckworth believes that the idea of deliberate practice, is the key component to producing the top placing spellers in her studies of National Spelling Bee contestants. Duckworth continues to mention how the idea of genius seems effortless, but to achieve such grace and talent there are thousands of hours of hard work and practice that go unnoticed or unmentioned. This corresponds with Anders Ericsson’s “10,000 hour rule,” where it takes an average of 10,000 hours of practice for someone to become an expert at what they are doing. Duckworth quotes Aristotle, “The roots of knowledge are bitter. Only the fruit is sweet.” Passion also plays a large role in success. It is the driving force that motivates someone to get through the unenjoyable parts of work or study. Swimmer Mark Spits confesses to Duckworth that he doesn’t Duckworth bring her beliefs of grit into her household as well and teaches its values to her children by means of her “Hard
Credé, an assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University who studies techniques to improve academic performance, argues that grit is repackaging the idea of “conscientiousness” that we’ve known about for over 50 years. He accuses Duckworth of misinterpreting her research of West Point cadets training at the United States Military Academy. Duckworth says that the cadets with high grit scores are 99 percent more likely to finish training than the cadets with average grit score, while Credé states that her research shows the likelihood of high grit cadets completing training over the average cadets is more like 3 percent. Credé cites examples of schools that are already starting to incorporating grit into the curriculum and urges educators not to begin teaching grit since there are more effective ways to improve academic performance. He argues that by separating grit into two parts – perseverance, and consistency of interests – researching more about perseverance would be a better course for the …show more content…
However, when research assistant at the Institute for Creative Technologies in South Carolina Gale Lucas is introduced, they again explore its downsides. Duckworth and Vedantam talk about her research, and how grit is made up of four main psychological assets: interest, practice, purpose, and hope. Duckworth believes that the idea of deliberate practice, is the key component to producing the top placing spellers in her studies of National Spelling Bee contestants. Duckworth continues to mention how the idea of genius seems effortless, but to achieve such grace and talent there are thousands of hours of hard work and practice that go unnoticed or unmentioned. This corresponds with Anders Ericsson’s “10,000 hour rule,” where it takes an average of 10,000 hours of practice for someone to become an expert at what they are doing. Duckworth quotes Aristotle, “The roots of knowledge are bitter. Only the fruit is sweet.” Passion also plays a large role in success. It is the driving force that motivates someone to get through the unenjoyable parts of work or study. Swimmer Mark Spits confesses to Duckworth that he doesn’t Duckworth bring her beliefs of grit into her household as well and teaches its values to her children by means of her “Hard