Teach Kids to Use the Four-Letter Word

I recently began to use a certain four-letter word in my classroom. The kind of word that most teachers wouldn't dare say, not unless they wanted to raise eyebrows among colleagues, supervisors and parents. But I use it freely. And loudly. Now my students say it, too -- when they struggle with a worksheet, strike out on the ball field, fumble with the final strokes of an art project. Some of them have even taught the four-letter word to younger siblings at home.

"Grit." A four-letter word that every teacher and student should know and use.

The "Other" Common Core

Haven't heard of grit? You're hardly alone. In an educational culture consumed by grading, ranking and incentivizing (think No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top), the learning landscape has become overgrown with performance standards that leave little room for anything but high-stakes testing. Don't get me wrong -- I'm no apologist for accountability. I don't dislike grades. In fact, I'd love for our community classrooms to run just a bit more like corporate boardrooms. If you can't measure something, you can't change it. As my fellow Dallasite Mark Cuban once quipped, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."

But along with the new standards and value-added evaluations, educators shouldn't drop their focus on the "other" common core -- the habits and mindsets that, when effectively nurtured and carefully monitored, form the basis of a richer learning experience. Today's classrooms are notorious for handing students the basic skills to live in the world while denying them the strength of character to transform it. We teach kids to memorize, drill, spit back and move on. But what happens when they can't move on, when the answers are elusive? Can we prepare students to deal with the inescapable disappointment, frustration and hair-pulling that is a part of learning and life itself? William Butler Yeats said that education isn't about filling a bucket, but lighting a fire. And it is this "total education," complete with lessons on humility, hard work and resilience, that ultimately writes the script for a child's long-term success. It's not about grades. It's about grit.

Sustained Interest and Growth Mindset

Developing grit isn’t a new concept (character education has surfaced in many schools for decades), but it’s become a lot less squishy thanks to important research that helps explain why some students fail -- and why others succeed. Angela Duckworth, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, studied (among others) the performance of West Point cadets during basic training. She discovered that the most powerful predictor of success -- acceptance into the academy -- was grit. Duckworth calls grit "the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals." Applied to learning, grit would be summoned every time students stare down a challenge, persist through adversity, or refuse to quit after failing to reduce a fraction -- for the fifth time.

Duckworth’s research is heir to the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck on mindsets. Believing that we can succeed even after suffering repeated setbacks (what Dweck calls a "growth mindset") can actually re-wire our brains -- and rewrite our fortunes. Students who show grit absolutely reject the notion of remaining still. They push and scratch past roadblock after roadblock. In their supercharged efforts to drive further ahead, grit is the grease, and mindsets are the engine.

3 Ways to Teach Grit

How can we teach grit when all students want to do is quit? Here are a few battle-tested suggestions to help kids reach deeper and aim higher.

Powerful Words

Dweck demonstrates the power of "process-driven" language on student behavior. By shifting the focus of our feedback to effort as opposed to outcome, we leave students with the feeling that their best is yet to come. Instead of praising Johnny's top mark, applaud his diligent study habits. Or the way Sarah worked through a particularly difficult passage in the text. This kind of process-driven feedback works for setbacks, too. Consider the sweet potential behind that tiny disclaimer "yet." There's something stunningly honest and uplifting about telling a child that a goal hasn't been mastered . . . yet. Keep at it. You're almost there -- not yet -- but soon.

Weekly Reflection Journals

Every Friday, my students cap a week of learning with self-rating journal entries like "Something New I Learned" or "This Week's Memorable Moment." To test their grit, I've added a new prompt: "Something I Struggled With." In this small space, there is both a mirror and a window. Students look into the mirror and admit a shortcoming. Teachers look through a window and perceive an opportunity. I'm still amazed by how honestly students answer this prompt. Their responses are raw, unfiltered -- and revealing. A cheeky student once showed me his journal. The entry for "struggle" was left blank. "I didn't struggle with anything this week!" he crowed. I handed the journal back, along with a deeper prompt: "Maybe you struggle with the fact that you think you don't struggle!"

Community Meetings

Finally, create a forum for class-wide discussion about grit at community meetings. These are scheduled, relaxed opportunities for students to sound off on issues affecting their class and their world. Frame the gathering with a news item (for older students) or a telling cartoon (for younger students) geared toward grit, and give them time to process it before they convene. At the meeting, encourage a conversation about why grit mattered -- and why it should matter to them.

It won't be easy. Kids grow tired, weary from effort. So do their teachers. To bring change, we press on, filled with determination. And grit.