When to grit and when to quit: (How) should grit be taught in K-12 classrooms?

ABSTRACT

Educational lore casts grit as a panacea for solving long-standing achievement disparities. Fifteen years of empirical research has not supported this claim, yet many schools still uphold grit. Why? This article examines when (and if) K-12 educators should emphasize grit in classrooms. We first define the construct and offer evidence-based critiques of grit’s conceptual claims. Next, we discuss grit’s influence on school achievement, which has, at best, a negligible impact on school achievement. However, at worst, grit reifies social inequalities by boosting the performance of already-privileged individuals and harming minoritized groups and those in under-resourced learning contexts. Finally, we argue that grit does not compensate for adverse circumstances—including poverty, racial/ethnic discrimination, dis/abilities, and intersections—but instead reinforces privilege. Building on these insights, we close with several recommendations for policymakers, schools, and teachers to reduce the inequitable opportunity gaps that undermine achievement and support students with research-based interventions.

Disclosure statement

We have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Additional Resources

• (1) WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) my life website https://woopmylife.org/en/home

Developed by Psychology Professor Gabriele Oettingen, New York University, this website offers apps, videos, and tool kits for educators, students, and parents to utilize the research-based strategy of mental contrasting to goal set goals. The app has been translated into 25 languages.

• (2) Nathan, L. F. (2017). When grit isn’t enough: A high school principal examines how poverty and inequality thwart the college-for-all promise. Beacon Press.

In this book, Nathan reflects on her twenty years as a principal of a Boston charter school that promoted character education. Weaving student interviews with vignettes on the limitations of education in an inequitable society, Nathan provides practical steps for schools to help their most vulnerable students.

• (3) Dweck, C. S., Walton, G. M., & Cohen, G. L. (2014). Academic Tenacity: Mind-Sets and Skills that Promote Long-Term Learning. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This manual introduces the term “academic tenacity” to describe and provide evidence for several non-cognitives that research has empirically shown to improve school achievements, such as engagement, school belonging, student self-efficacy, and self-control. It highlights several examples of successful research-based interventions.