It's not about grit

For years we have been inundated by the idea of grit. Angela Duckworth's idea of grit has been percolating trough schools and businesses. Her 2013 TED talk has over 22 million views. There is an online grit test. Grit is the skill of perseverance in the face of challenge. Gritty people are more successful.

In this era of social unrest over social injustice, many books have been published about what makes people of color more "disadvantaged" than others. What is at the root of the generational lower performance in school? Some have suggested that these children, do not have grit; that their dropout rate proves it. Well, I believe that the drop out rate proves little. Some studies have suggested that up to 30% of drop outs are gifted- they do not lack the ability to persevere in the face of academic challenge.

Steven Goodman's book, It's Not About Grit: Trauma, Inequity, and the Power of Transformative Teaching, highlights the challenges that many poor students of color have that interfere with their ability to be successful in school. Goodman is the executive director of New York's Educational Video Center. For decades he has taught courses in documentary film making to students in New York City who are old for their grade and statistically unlikely to graduate. Every semester they produce a documentary about a social issue the students are interested in. Themes have emerged over the years- health and housing, police and justice, immigration, gender and identity, and foster care are the ones that are featured in this book. His intermingling of students' quotes with facts about what his students experience presents often disturbing insights. He strongly challenges the notion that his students are unsuccessful in school because they lack grit. He proposes that they are gritty about survival and school does not play a role in their day to day getting through.

The book is accompanied by video clips that showcase students sharing their lives. Public housing that contributes to severe health concerns, poverty that leads to parents working long hours often at odds with school schedules, fear of ICE taking them or their families, police brutality that saps their sense of safety, harassment due to gender identity issues or sexism, and a broken foster care system all play a role in undermine the ability of these students to be successful because they are overwhelmed with a lack of safety and security. These children endure countless challenges that we struggle to grasp. It causes chronically elevated cortisol levels which interfere with cognitive development and thinking. They do, however, persevere in often unimaginable circumstances. They do poorly in school or drop out, not because they cannot engage in perseverance in the face of challenge, but because they choose different challenges to fight through- often those related to survival.

The bleak picture is flanked by a message of hope. Students who endure multiple traumas become more likely to succeed when they encounter two things: an adult touchstone who believes in them, encourages them and helps them find solutions to the multitude of challenges they face, and a sense of agency. Goodman hopes that his course teaches students to examine issues and learn about ways to seek solutions. This agency, the idea that something can be done about their situation, can lead them to escape a cycle of poverty that engulfs so many.

Goodman believes that if we understand the traumas that our students experience, we can better engage them. Not with more of what we traditionally do, but with something different. Education focused on transforming lives through improving our circumstances. Taking stances, fighting for justice, working to reduce inequity. The Civil Rights movement had a huge cadre of kids; college students engaged in civil disobedience and acts of assembly as a way to work toward change. We can encourage students to tackle the injustices of their lives and work to improve society. When our schools empower them to engage in social justice, we also empower them to learn more about everything.

A book that shows a window into the lives of children who experience repeated trauma and yet have the resilience to go on. They work tirelessly at the things they perceive necessary to survival. Understanding from teachers is essential if we are to connect and build with these students.