Grit: the power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth
TED
6 min, 13 sec
The speaker discusses the concept of 'grit' and its role in success, based on her experiences as a teacher and a psychologist, and her research into various challenging settings.
Summary
- The speaker taught seventh grade math in New York City public schools, where she noticed that the most successful students weren't always those with the highest IQ.
- She pursued a career in psychology to understand the factors contributing to success, conducting research in various challenging environments, such as West Point Military Academy, National Spelling Bee, and tough neighborhoods.
- Her research found that 'grit', defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals, significantly predicted success, not IQ or social intelligence.
- She studied grit in Chicago public schools, finding that grittier students were more likely to graduate, regardless of their income, standardized test scores, or safety at school.
- Despite the importance of grit, there is little scientific understanding of how to build it.
- The speaker mentions the 'growth mindset', developed by Carol Dweck at Stanford University, as a promising idea for building grit. It's the belief that the ability to learn can change with effort.
- The speaker calls for more research and testing of ideas to build grit in children, stressing the need to learn from failures in this process.
Chapter 1
The speaker reflects on her teaching experience, noticing that success wasn't solely based on IQ.
- The speaker left a demanding job in management consulting for a more demanding one in teaching.
- She taught seventh graders math in New York City public schools.
- She noticed that IQ was not the only difference between her best and her worst students. Some of her strongest performers did not have stratospheric IQ scores.
Chapter 2
The speaker decides to study psychology to understand better the factors contributing to success.
- She left the classroom and pursued a career in psychology, studying kids and adults in various challenging settings.
- In every study, her question was, who is successful here and why?
- She conducted research at West Point Military Academy, National Spelling Bee, tough neighborhoods, and partnered with private companies.
Chapter 3
The speaker defines 'grit' and discusses its importance in achieving success.
- Grit, characterized by passion and perseverance for long-term goals, emerged as a significant predictor of success in her studies.
- Grit involves sticking with your future and working hard to make that future a reality.
- Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.
Chapter 4
The speaker takes her research to Chicago public schools to examine the role of grit in academic success.
- She started studying grit in the Chicago public schools, asking high school juniors to take grit questionnaires.
- Grittier students were significantly more likely to graduate, even when matched on every characteristic measured, such as family income, standardized test scores, or safety at school.
Chapter 5
The speaker discusses the challenges in building grit and mentions the 'growth mindset' as a promising concept.
- The speaker discusses how little is known about building grit.
- The best idea for building grit she's heard is 'growth mindset', developed by Carol Dweck at Stanford University.
- Growth mindset is the belief that the ability to learn can change with effort, and it encourages perseverance in the face of failure.
Chapter 6
The speaker concludes by calling for more research and testing of ideas to build grit in children.
- The speaker calls for more research, testing of ideas, measurement of success, and willingness to learn from failures in the process of building grit in children.
- She emphasizes the need to be gritty about getting kids grittier.
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