Grit Happens in PBL

 

This year’s trendy new term in education is “grit.” Love it or hate it, it’s being talked about on blogs and other social media, and Edutopia created an excellent video about it. No doubt there are people presenting staff development workshops about grit in schools around the nation, and companies are quickly producing curriculum materials to sell. Here at PBLWorks, we are seeing grit show up in our PBL 101 Workshops, when we ask educators to list the qualities of an “ideal graduate.” For sure, grit is happening these days!

Much of the sudden prominence of grit is due to the work of Angela Duckworth who, among many useful resources, has a “Get Your Grit Score” tool. Recent books related to the topic include Mindset: How You Can Fulfill Your Potential (2012) by Carol Dweck of Stanford University, and How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character (2012) by journalist Paul Tough. All the above offer much food for thought for teachers, parents, and education leaders. 

What I see missing from the discussions of grit is, guess what… Project Based Learning.  

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