Grit - (Perseverance)

Learning Objective

Students will understand the meaning of this character strength to then apply it in their lives.

Mục tiêu học tập

Học sinh sẽ hiểu được ý nghĩa của điểm mạnh tính cách này để áp dụng vào cuộc sống.

What Does This Character Strength Look Like When Applied?

Definition: Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals. I work hard to keep improving.

Motto: "I persist toward my goals despite obstacles, discouragements, or disappointments." ¹

"Excellence sometimes seems like the result of natural talent. But no matter how gifted you are—no matter how easily you climb up the learning curve—you do need to do that climbing. There are no shortcuts. Grit predicts accomplishing challenging goals of personal significance. For example, grittier students are more likely to graduate from high school, and grittier cadets are more likely to complete their training at West Point (US Military University). Notably, in most research studies, grit and measures of talent and IQ are unrelated, suggesting that talent puts no limits on the capacity for passion and perseverance." (Character Lab)

"To be gritty, in my view, is to have passion and perseverance about something in your life. This doesn't mean that you necessarily engage in all possible pursuits with equivalent passion and perseverance. And indeed, the limits of time and energy suggest that focusing on one thing means focusing less on others. You can't pursue becoming a great pianist and at the same time a great mathematician, and a great sprinter and chef and philosopher…But it's also true, I think, that to be gritty means to pursue something with consistency of interest and effort. Some people choose not to pursue anything in a committed way, and that, to me, is lack of grit." (Dr. Duckworth)

Agency: This term is used a lot in describing the empowerment and self-confidence we want our students to experience as they make decisions. It connects to growing their sense of self-efficacy and understanding concerning their locus of control. These two concepts connect to the self-talk in whether we see ourselves as internals or externals regarding our belief regarding whether we are in charge of how we affect our lives or if we see life affecting us.

What it Looks Like and How to Encourage:

• Enjoying the challenge of long-term projects

• Committing to, and completing, longer tasks and projects

• Practicing and working to improve

• Recovering quickly from setbacks

• Connecting actions to deep personal values and beliefs (Doing what you believe in)

• Viewing mistakes and failures as opportunities to learn

• Support with growth mindset language and strategies

• Promote a language around grit and wellbeing

• Developing and using self-talk around how to take healthy risks, accept challenges and persevere

Unpack the Strength ²:

• What does the strength look like in action?

• What does this strength feel like in action?

• When and where can you use it?

• What is the "shadow-side" of this strength?

Điểm mạnh tính cách này trông như thế nào khi được áp dụng?

Learning Activities (Choose from the Following)

1. Deepening Your Understanding - Your teacher will give you a handout of the two paragraphs at the top of the page. One is from Character Lab, and the other is from Dr. Duckworth. Task> First, read the paragraphs on your own. Use a pen to underline words that you feel are important. Then go to the bottom and back of the paper to write your understanding of the two paragraphs in your own words. Also, write down what lessons you learned from reading the paragraphs! The next step is to talk to your partner about what they learned.

2. Challenges, Not Barriers! - Let's do this activity which we also do with the Growth Mindset character strength. Think of a barrier like a wall and a challenge being a door that you can figure out how to open and walkthrough. What is the difference between a barrier and a challenge? Spend a couple of moments sharing your answers to this question with your partner. Next, work with your partner for three minutes to write down as many daily barriers you face in a typical week. Task> Choose two or three of the barriers to come up with a way to overcome them.... to open the door to move through them! Which character strengths, skills, how you use your time, and other problem-solving tools can you try? Goal> To recognize that problems and things we think we cannot do are doable if we pause, devise a plan, and then put in the effort and time to take on the challenge. To recognize that there is a wide range of ways to change barriers into challenges and opportunities.

3. Grit Scale - Dr. Angela Duckworth is a world leader researching how important it is to grow our character strength of grit. You can take her questionnaire to get a score that tells you how much you are engaging grit in your life. The score range is 0 to 5. 0 is low grit, and 5 is high grit. Here is the questionnaire and the Vietnamese translation to help you answer the questions. Talk with your partner about your grit scale results. Were you surprised or not with the results? The results can help you with your WOOP goal setting. Goal> To better understand your level of "grittiness."

4. Sharing Time - Everyone shares either something they learned from reading the two paragraphs, a barrier and how they will overcome it, or how their grit score will affect their WOOP goal for this character strength. Goal> To deepen your understanding of how you exercise your growth mindset to overcome obstacles can strengthen and grow your grit.

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1. Personal Strength Spotting - Work with a partner to share one or two examples from your life when you engaged the character strength of grit. Describe the difficulties you possibly overcame, what you overcame to overcome them, and list any failures you experienced. Goal> To deepen your understanding of this character strength through personal reflection.

2. Strength Spotting - Think about a person you know who displayed grit (perseverance). It can be a person you know or possibly a historical figure. Draw a picture of the person and write text descriptor bubbles around them to explain their gritty actions. Share with your partner. Goal> To deepen understanding grit by making connections in one's life.

3. Sharing Time - Each partner decides which example of "strength spotting" they would like to share with the class. Then share it with the class. We will do lots of strength spotting in ourselves and others! Goal> To deepen your understanding of this character strength by learning from your classmates and their experiences.

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Let's create a Character Card!

1. Decide whether you want to use paper and drawing pencils or if you want to use technology.

2. The ultimate goal is to create cards for all 27 character strengths, so decide on the card size for this and your future creations.

3. You decide on the layout of your card. Think about having sections that contain a picture of the strength, a definition, and ways to exercise the strength in real life.

4. Create your card and save it to your growing collection.

5. Share your card with a partner or the whole class.
   

Goal> To deepen your understanding of this character strength by engaging your spatial and artistic skills. To also exercise your character strength of CREATIVITY!

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Taking Action: Use the WOOP goal-setting system to plan to engage this character strength more often in your life. It can be helpful to work with a partner to complete the WOOP worksheet to coach and support each other to reach your goal. Goal> To exercise this character strength more often with intention in your life! To also exercise the character strength of PROACTIVITY!

Hoạt động học tập (Chọn từ những hoạt động sau)

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Hãy tạo một Thẻ nhân vật! Mục tiêu> Để hiểu sâu hơn về sức mạnh của nhân vật này bằng cách tham gia vào các kỹ năng nghệ thuật và không gian của bạn. Để cũng thực hiện sức mạnh SÁNG TẠO của nhân vật của bạn!

1. Quyết định xem bạn muốn sử dụng giấy và bút chì vẽ hay bạn muốn sử dụng công nghệ.

2. Mục tiêu cuối cùng là tạo ra các thẻ cho tất cả 26 điểm mạnh của nhân vật, vì vậy hãy quyết định kích thước của thẻ cho việc này và các sáng tạo trong tương lai của bạn.

3. Bạn quyết định bố cục của thẻ của bạn. Hãy suy nghĩ về việc có các phần chứa hình ảnh về sức mạnh, định nghĩa và các cách để rèn luyện sức mạnh trong cuộc sống thực.

4. Tạo thẻ của bạn và lưu nó vào bộ sưu tập ngày càng tăng của bạn.

5. Chia sẻ thẻ của bạn với một bạn kh.. và / hoặc cả lớp.

I Want To Learn More

• Dr. Angela Duckworth provides a lot of information to go with your grit score. Here is her frequently asked questions (FAQ) response document.

• Dr. Angela Duckworth explains the character strength of grit

Tôi muốn học nhiều hơn

• (chúng tôi sẽ cần xem liệu có tài nguyên nào bằng tiếng Việt có thể giúp học viên tìm hiểu thêm về thế mạnh này không)

¹ Niemiec, R. M., & McGrath, R. E. (2019). The power of character strengths: appreciate and ignite your positive personality. Cincinnati, OH: VIA Institute on Character.

² Embedding Character Strengths. Institute of Positive Education. With permission.