Cultivating a Culture of Grit

When I was three years old, my family immigrated to Canada from Mexico. My parents had hoped this would be a chance to give their children new opportunities and for us to move out of financial hardship. As a non-English speaking poorer family, we had to learn how to adapt to a new culture, a new language and the hurdles that came along with prejudice towards people like us living in Canada. My parents encouraged us to put priority on our education and to be industrious and hard-working. Already as a four-year-old, I spent my summers doing fieldwork like picking tomatoes with my family; although I must admit I spent more of my time playing and building forts at that age than working in the field. As I grew older, I understood that I would take on and carry greater responsibility for our family. I also had to wrestle with not being like the other kids and at times being bullied or excluded from recess activities. These were hard things to navigate, but the values my parents taught me were to keep going and to make my way through. Coming to faith as a teen was transformational in how I looked at the world around me and how God began to change my thinking about it. Verses from the Bible began affirming those values and gave me words for what I thought and believed. Still today I have fond memories of my early years and am thankful for the things they taught me, including the perseverance to work through adversity.

A more recent buzz word in education has been grit. Angela Duckworth[1] defines grit as passion for a purpose and perseverance to overcome obstacles. A number of books have been written on how to build this quality into students, and as educators we recognize that doing so is part of what helps our students succeed and move towards well-being. While we should not be looking to create difficult situations for our students, we should consider how to help them develop a sense of purpose and be successful even when things are hard.

To readers of the Bible these ideas are not new at all. Hope is one of the most important and foundational ideas that we as believers in the Gospel message hold to.[2]  Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (ESV). The very name Immanuel means “God with us” – how incredible to think that the God of the universe cares for us and will help us in and through the difficulties of life. Placing our hope in our Creator is an integral part of what we believe in when we talk about transformational education. It needs to be more than just passion for purpose, but rather to live out what it says in 1 Peter 3:15: “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (NIV).

Similarly, perseverance is a core teaching in the Bible,[3] something that is best learned and deepened through adversity. Romans 12:12 says “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (ESV). James 1:2-4 encourages us to approach trials with joy. It says “you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (ESV). Perseverance as an approach to life is more than just overcoming obstacles. It is a matter of perspective. It is not just a resolve to stick with it but is also an understanding that our joy comes from giving glory to God and recognizing that our heart needs to be guarded because “it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23, NIV).

Here are three ways to start building grit into your classroom culture:

1. Pass on your faith values. As you are on a faith journey, so are your students. Make sure that in all areas of your life you share your faith openly, the reason you have hope. This is done in how you plan your lessons from a Biblical worldview, how you treat students in the class, how you relate to them in the hallway, out on the street or even in taking time to attend student events outside of school (Deuteronomy 6:6-8). A heart change is the most important piece of what we want our students to learn in their school experience.[4]
2. Helps students believe “I can...” As part of the work in creating a safe and caring learning environment, it is important for the teacher to ensure that all students have agency. Developing a sense of agency helps all students to feel that they have some level of control over their own lives. Feeling a lack of agency can be a common trait among TCKs and students who have experienced bullying.[5] You can build up your students’ belief in “I can” by providing appropriate opportunities for them to express themselves and be able to give input with assignments, topics, discussions, etc. It is important for them to develop a sense of ownership for their learning and for life decisions.
3. Develop a growth mindset in students. Too often expectations for students are either too low (where students are not sufficiently challenged) or too high, (where students are given difficult challenges without proper support). Such expectation imbalances can foster apathy or fixed mindsets where students too easily give up. Rather, ensure that students are given reasonable but clear expectations and adequate support to tackle their work. Couple this with growth mindset communication,[6] and students will see and approach their work with greater confidence and resolve.

By encouraging this sense of grit within our students, we encourage them to faithfully pursue all that God intends for them in all areas of life.

Jacob Dyck
Jacob serves with TeachBeyond in School Services and as the Associate National Director in Canada. He has been a middle years teacher for 15 years and a head of school for five. He enjoys coaching his daughter’s volleyball team and traveling to new places.