The problem with 'grit'

The problem with 'grit'
The "new character education" has thousands of administrators, teachers, and parents convinced that qualities such as perseverance, discipline, and self-control trump IQ in determining academic success, writes Jeffrey Aaron Snyder for The New Republic. Yet Snyder finds major problems with this premise. First, we don't know how to teach character. We have an increasingly cogent "science of character," but no "science of teaching character." Many so-called desirable traits may be largely inherited and resistant to educational intervention. We already know, for instance, that grit is strongly correlated with "conscientiousness," which psychologists view as stable and hereditary. The second problem is that the new character education unwittingly promotes an amoral and careerist "looking out for number one" point-of-view, completely untethered from values and ethics. It takes grit and self-control to be a successful heart surgeon, but the same could be said of a suicide bomber. Bernie Madoff was, by most accounts, extremely hard-working, charming, and wildly optimistic. The third and final problem is that the new character education limits the purpose of education to preparation for college and career. This is admirable given that for too long, black and Hispanic students, especially those living in poverty, have not been perceived as "college material." But is it is wise? More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.

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