Call Us Grit
What is grit? Angela Duckworth describes grit as “sticking with things over the very long term until you master them. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines grit as firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger. So, is grit important to teach?
Grit is not something that you are born with. It must be learned. It also must be taught. How is grit shown? Grit is when you must deal with so many setbacks that you want to give up, but you don’t. In children what does it look like? It could be the child that gets frustrated over a reading passage on a test. It is difficult for him/her to read and wants to stop or act out. The child calms down and comes back to the passage. She/he says to him/herself that I can do it. The child takes a deep breath and does it. Another example is when a child wants to try out for a talent show. He/she prepares an original song. He practices and practices. He is so nervous during the tryout that he does not do his best and is not chosen for the talent show. Instead of giving up. He prepares for the next year. He is even told by his family and friends that he didn’t make it last year why would you make it this year? He says I know what to do since I tried out last time. He practices again and makes it the next year. That is grit. Grit is setting a goal and overcoming naysayers and obstacles. Grit is so important in life. Life is going to throw us curve balls and we will strike out more times to count. Grit is accomplishing our goals even if it takes many years to achieve.
Teaching grit can seem difficult or simple depending on how you think about it. There are many lists of strategies to teach grit. The first strategy that is important is for the child to find something he/she really wants to do. Find a goal. In several of the list, it says to find a purpose or passion. But many times, young children really cannot identify their purpose or passion. They can identify what they would like to do and what they want to do. But adding a purpose and passion for young children is not in their developmental stage yet. Purpose and passion are usually abstract ideas for older children. Teaching grit early is also important. Also, teaching grit at any age is needed. The next strategy is teaching a little above the child’s ability level. “Take them out of their comfort zone.” (J. Ceder retrieved from: https://www.verywellfamily.com/how-parents-can-teach-kids-grit-4126106 ). The idea of taking them out of their comfort zone is to give them something a little more difficult to do. The child challenges himself/herself to overcome the anxiety. It is not just coasting along. It is also so they can tackle more difficult things and develop coping skills to achieve them. It is not giving up and letting their frustrations win. The third strategy is allowing frustrations to take place. Frustration is a natural part of life. Kids need to understand that being frustrated is okay. We all get frustrated. It is about how we deal with our frustrations. Do we give up and walk away? Kids need to be taught that frustration is a feeling that is fine. The next step is to accept their frustrations and move forward. Not letting the frustration stop us and give up. Overcoming frustrations sets us up to attack many more challenges. Which leads to accomplishment and proud moments.
The last strategy for grit is understanding that failing is part of the learning process. We really do not learn anything without failure. But failure is taught in schools and homes that it is not okay to fail. That is not so true. We are not failures because we failed at something. There are many reasons why we may have failed. But teaching failure is part of the learning process and is so important. Teachers, we need to praise and encourage each step through the process. Not only at the end of the accomplishment. We need to say look how you tackled that regrouping subtraction of the tens and hundreds. Now you can complete each digit by regrouping. Be specific about the praise and encouragement. Tell the child what they did so they can hear it and do it again. Teaching grit is to show the child the goals they set for themselves can be achieved. Grit is understanding an obstacle that will come. Knowing they have the tools to overcome and the grit to accomplish them.
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