Article Review: Angela Lee Duckworth & Paul C. Gorski

What I found most compelling and interesting about this Ted talk is that no matter how smart you are, if you have grit, you will succeed in life. Grit is a positive trait based on an individual's perseverance of effort combined with the passion for a particular long-term goal or end. According to Angela Lee Duckworth, “Grit is having stamina” (2:58), which basically means you do not give up, you keep going (Duckworth, 2019). When you have grit in your life there is no room for failure because, failure is not the result. Being gritty can come from any person, the wealthy, to the middle class to the poor. Grit is all powerful and surrounds anyone no matter their socioeconomic status. To have grit you have a lot of courage. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the triumph over it. 

Courage is taking that chance when others around will not. It is the ability to follow a vision, no matter where it leads. It is the standing up for a belief, especially when that belief maybe unpopular or because it is the right thing even if an easier option exists. Courage has qualities that include patience, as in the ability to believe the unbelievable, and the guts to say “no”. 

I then remembered a great article on grit that was recommended by a fellow peer who is using GRIT in their dissertation. This article would make an amazing contradiction as well as a similarity. On the other side of the GRIT grass is greener, Paul C. Gorski, a school administrator states that if you come from poverty there is less likelihood of success, because that is a statistical fact (Gorski, 2016). In Principal Gorski’s eyes, to help the poverty stricken, there is a need to recognize four main aspects: recognize inequity, respond to inequity, redress inequity, and sustaining equity (Gorski, 2016). The one size fits all of the mythical “culture” or “mindset” of poverty’s typical stereotypes of the poor are in need to be eradicated (Gorski, 2016). He feels that there is a need to opt for initiatives designed to cultivate their grit so the students can overcome their environment and succeed. Moreover, Principal Gorski is telling his readers to not be afraid to take an unpopular stand, nor of asking for help while doing so. He sees that the ones who are in poverty are the grittiest individuals, owing to the fact, they will do what it takes to get what they need done and doing it over again until it is done correctly. As in, working multiple jobs, being a single parent, and etcetera’s. 

Angela and Paul see what is needed in education, no matter what the socioeconomic status is, teach grit. Grit will help anyone succeed in life. Cultivating grit in students will help them learn vision. The student’s ability to follow a vision, no matter where it leads will give them the git to succeed. If they do not succeed the first time, do it again until success. “Do or do not there is no try,” Yoda’s famous line stated. Yet, Einstein's famous line states that, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If you fail at something it means you can do it all repeatedly until you succeed or become insane. Think of the most iconic picture of Einstein, just sayin’ and Yoda had a long life to build grit, "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not." 

References 

Duckworth, A. L. (2019, March 6). The Research Behind the TED Talk: Angela Duckworth on Grit. Digital Promise.  www.ted.com/talks/the_ted_interview_how_to_turn_grit_into_a_lifelong_habit_angela_duckworth

Gorski, P. C. (2016). Re-examining Beliefs About Students in Poverty. AASA, The School Superintendents Association. https://youtu.be/OjAcKl5GB_4