Developing Grit

Overview

Angela Duckworth’s Ted Talk spurs a conversation for students to develop grit, developing a clearer understanding of their interests and goals.

Purpose

This activity helps spark the conversation about what is necessary for success beyond IQ or talent. It introduces the concept of “grit,” which encompasses stamina, passion, and determination to complete and achieve a task. Students can identify areas of their lives where they have displayed grit, whether in school, sport, extracurricular, or other arena of life. This is an easy activity to start the conversation and help students start to understand what motivates them and how they can transfer this to other areas in their lives.

Implementation

This activity takes place during one class period. It is suggested for grades 9-11 towards the beginning of the school year. A projector will be needed to display the video.

Details

Lesson

– Watch Ted Talk “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Lee Duckworth

– Pose the following questions for review and discussion.

1. What does the speaker say about the ability to learn?
2. According to her research, what correlations did the speaker find between performance in life and school?
3. Name three details about how the speaker describes grit.

– Encourage students to think of their own definitions of grit. In what areas of their lives to do they display grit (i.e. school, extracurriculars, jobs…)

Key Points

-Students are more likely to learn thanks if they work hard and long enough
– “motivational perspective”
– Grit is unrelated to IQ or talent
– Stamina and passion is important for future goals

Connections to other components

This activity also connects with Goal Achievement. It establishes some crucial qualities to set and achieve goals for academic and personal achievement.

Materials

– Ted Talk (6:05)

Adaptation

This activity was adapted from a similar activity created by Cypress Bay High School.

Download Complete Activity (pdf); Download Complete Activity (doc)