Grit, tenacity and perseverance

Grit, tenacity and perseverance are multifaceted concepts, encompassing goals, challenges and ways of managing these. Grit is increasingly recognised as a disposition that is valuable for real world situations. At Shelford, we educate the heart along with the mind (Aristotle wrote about this, so it is not a new concept). Apart from imparting content knowledge, facts and developing academic skills, we believe it is incumbent on educators to also support students to develop grit, tenacity and perseverance. 

The very nature of these traits is a capacity to persevere to accomplish long-term or higher-order goals, in the face of challenges and setbacks, engaging psychological resources, such as recognising emotions like frustration, being comfortable with uncertainty, understanding failure and taking on board feedback and managing disappointment.

Growth mindset

An academic mindset is how students frame themselves as learners, their learning environment and their relationship to the learning environment. This is beliefs, attitudes, dispositions, values and ways of perceiving oneself. Mindsets can have a powerful influence on how students respond to challenge. A core mindset that supports perseverance is called a growth mindset. We focus on this in the Junior School, particularly, but also speak to our senior students about the importance of understanding that with effort, they will improve; with effort, they will come to understand. 

Sometimes, students need to do tasks they do not enjoy or find ‘fun’, in order to reach a long-term goal. Many athletes report they hate running for instance, but that they know they have to run to be fit enough to play the game they love. Running, although it is not enjoyable or fun for them, is something they need to do to reach an important goal. Being able to persist is an important quality. Successful students have the willpower to keep attentive, and to not be distracted, even when a particular task is not immediately gratifying. If you keep at it, get it done, build the skill, or competency, there is a longer-term reward. An example of this is rote learning or practicing a particular skill (music or sport), an aspect of something you love overall, that might be a little repetitive or boring. Even people who love their jobs, don’t love every aspect of it; there is intrinsic reward in sticking at something. Getting a task done. Building toward something great.

Dealing with setbacks or challenges

We can develop strategies that work in dealing with setbacks or challenges. It is helpful to learn to be productive in these situations. Plan, monitor, change and deal with specific obstacles. Students need support understanding emotions they might feel and not avoiding these emotions, but understanding them and working through them. They need practice at being uncomfortable, frustrated, or having a ‘sweaty brain’ because they are concentrating hard on a new task. Failing even. 

We believe that Shelford has a structure and educators who encourage persistence. We treat students fairly and with respect and show that we care about them. Teachers and others in the school environment have high expectations for students’ success and hold students to high standards. Support is provided, in ways that help students, not punish. Evaluation of student performance is carefully designed, so it is based on criteria that provides specific and useful feedback and can be varied to give students opportunities to demonstrate competence in different ways.

Instilling persistence

For parents, it is important to have a hopeful and optimistic view of your child’s competencies and to instil in them the confidence to persist – that they will get there but might need to keep working. Praise effort rather than outcome: ‘You must have concentrated and studied hard to get that mark.’ Do not limit or punish students as a result of the outcome of their efforts. A blanket punishment for a particular grade outcome does not consider where they started, how they worked, or improved. 

Do not reward effort and outcome with an extrinsic motivator (like extra time on screens or treats), as this will become necessary each time and students will lose intrinsic motivation. Rather, model effort, talk about the fact that you don’t always succeed, that you have worked hard in certain areas, had to overcome hurdles. Remind your daughters that they had to learn to walk and talk, to ride a bike, to read and write and that they are continuing to learn.

The power of ‘yet’

Learn the power of ‘yet.’ That they don’t know ‘yet’ or are not on top of the maths problem ‘yet’. That if they missed out on something they wished for, it was still better to try and not succeed than not try at all. That life is not always going to reward them and they need to learn to manage this. It is too easy for students to reductively declare, ‘I am not good at this’. This is an easy exit strategy. They are not there yet. They may need to work in a different way to get the result they desire. The effort they expend, the determination they show and develop, will be the qualities that help them succeed in every area of life and that is, after all, what we all want!

Katrina Brennan
Principal

This article was originally published in our Shelly Newsletter.