Beyond Inner Grit

Our favorite researcher of grit, Angela Duckworth, is back with a new book going beyond ourselves and our grit.

During a recent podcast Angela Duckworth shared that after she wrote the book Grit it was brought to her attention that we should look beyond ourselves for success. A sociologist pointed out that environment can shape our grit or the lack there of. 

Angela's new book; Situated, goes beyond ourselves and explores our environment and experiences. She shares that our grit can be shaped by our environment. She also shares that we can shape or change the environment to help with our grit.

In her book Angela talks about going beyond grit, the three box theory by James Gross, and shaping our surroundings. 

As I listened to the podcast I began to think about our students. Their home lives may or may not foster grit, but we have the opportunity to shape the school environment to help increase the likelihood of grit. 

In her book Angela talks about a swimmer from France who moved to America to swim at the same place Michael Phelps swam. He wanted to change his environment to increase his grit. He knew he could swim, but he also knew that to be better he needed the idea of the right place and the right people.

Dr. Roger Barker, who is credited as the founder of Environmental Psychology, spent time during his career researching how situations shape behaviors. Barker's theory was that we are always changing behavior based on environment. He shared that if one is in church, they exhibit church behavior, if one is at a golf course they exhibit golf course behavior, and so on. We adapt to fit the expectations of the environment. 

Earlier it was mentioned that Duckworth included research in her book by psychologist James Gross. Gross created a three box system that can help us when thinking about our grit in specific situations. 

Gross said the three boxes are: Situation, Thoughts, and Responses.

A situation is the objective circumstances.

The thoughts are our mental appraisal of the situation.

Then the response is our actions as well as our emotions.

Our surrounds can shape our behaviors and our emotions. We can also use self nudges to help us shape the environment into what we need for our grit.

We can help shape the environment by choosing the supportive peers and right mentors who will help build the grit we need to be successful.

So, now lets take some time to think about our school and our classrooms.

Can your class be the better place to bring out the better self of your students?

Is the environment in your class one in which students are propelled forward and encouraged to find and utilize grit?

When thinking about the environment in your class, is it an environment that is healthy to adapt to and shift personalities and behaviors? Is the culture in your class shaping your students for the better? 

How are you helping shape beahvior?