A Gritty Genius: Angela Duckworth by Courtney Nicholas https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui MacArthur Fellow, Class of 2013 en-us 2020-02-08 20:45:10 UTC 2026-02-24 06:37:05 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f4a1.png How She Got To This Point ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442589514 A management consultant who became a classroom teacher , she noticed a gap in education-- strong performers who were only moderately intelligent, and highly intelligent students who struggled. So Angela became a psychologist and researcher to try to fill that void. Her work resulted in the book Grit, The Power of Passion and Perseverance.  ]]> 2020-02-08 20:50:58 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442589514 Welcome to Her TED Talk ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442589957 Here, Angela explains the theory of "grit" which she says can predict success in schools (and has been extrapolated to business and other areas of life). I first learned about her work from watching this video after a Gifted Education conference.]]> 2020-02-08 20:54:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442589957 Gritty the Flyers Mascot ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442591319 While this bizarre-looking creature has nothing to do with her work, it is a Philadelphia mascot and she works at the University of Pennsylvania in that wonderful city, so I feel like they are still inextricably linked.]]> 2020-02-08 21:05:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442591319 The Link Goes Deeper ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442591761 Philadelphians are known for their grit. A city of neighborhoods, largely built by poor immigrants, they are passionate about many topics. Though largely blue-collar, they do not let the lack of resources or prestige get in their way-- they keep striving, they take risks, they never stop looking for the next opportunity, and in so have found tremendous success as a city (and, occasionally, in sports).  This lines up with her central theory-- maybe this city has an unconscious (subconscious) effect on her thinking, or influenced her behavior, per several of our theorists!  ]]> 2020-02-08 21:09:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442591761 Assertion: Creativity Requires Persistence ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442593110 "Duckworth theorized that talent and potential must be multiplied by effort to transform into skill, and skill multiplied by effort then equals achievement. In both equations, effort is the driving factor."
"The insight is that excellence is not magical, instantaneous or talent. It’s this mundane cycle: set a goal, focus 100 percent, get feedback, make variations and then do it again.”

Article: 

"Talent Counts, But Effort Counts Twice"


Article URL, since it won't attach right:
https://www.hamilton.edu/news/story/university-pennsylvania-psychology-professor-grit-author-macarthur-genius-angela-duckworth-lectures-on-grit-perseverance-references-dan-chambliss-research-on-passion-and-perseverance-in-mundanity-of-excellence-book-1
]]> 2020-02-08 21:22:51 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442593110 Assertion: Creativity Requires Risk Taking ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442593278 Her work has also created a lot of push back, especially in how it is being used to try to boost standardized test scores. She has responded by saying that there may be flaws in her work-- science is only as good as the evidence we have until newer, better science trumps it. 

'“As a human, the criticism doesn’t feel good,” Duckworth said. “I wish I had gotten everything right. But I’m also a scientist and this is what science is. A field can never be one person’s work and scientists should disagree.”'-- see article below

This does not dissuade her from her research; rather, she is delving deeper into the interrelated topic of passion.]]> 2020-02-08 21:24:18 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442593278 Assertion: Creativity Requires Persistence ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442594084 Not only does Duckworth preach persistence, she exhibits it herself, after a lifetime of put downs. In her own words:

"For example, because I know the psychology of failure, and I’m able to quickly recognize when I fall victim to the unproductive self-talk people engage in after something doesn’t work out. When I find myself saying things like, 'Oh my god, I’m never going to be able to do that, no one will ever give us money for our nonprofit,' it’s very helpful to have the metacognitive understanding that this self-talk is normal to experience, and that it’s not going to last forever.
[...]
My father would literally say things like 'you’re no genius,' to me. (There was, in fact, a great irony and redemption to the MacArthur Fellowship.)" -- see article below

"The hope of discovering something useful is only one of the many possible impulses that might cause a person to seize upon a set of issues intriguing enough to occupy his or her attention for a sustained period of time. [...] It almost doesn't matter what the impetus is as long as the context one chooses gives wings to one's particular talent." (Shekerjian, 1991, p. 10-11)]]> 2020-02-08 21:31:31 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442594084 Assertion: Creativity Requires Persistence ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442594664 "Endurance counts for a lot in cultivating talent to the point of being able to do creative things with it-- endurance and a concentration of effort to a specific sphere of activity." (Shekerjian, 1991, p. 7)

From her website:
"What is Grit?
Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals.
One way to think about grit is to consider what grit isn’t.
Grit isn’t talent. Grit isn’t luck. Grit isn’t how intensely, for the moment, you want something.
Instead, grit is about having what some researchers call an”ultimate concern”–a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do. And grit is holding steadfast to that goal. Even when you fall down. Even when you screw up. Even when progress toward that goal is halting or slow.
Talent and luck matter to success. But talent and luck are no guarantee of grit. And in the very long run, I think grit may matter as least as much, if not more."
]]> 2020-02-08 21:37:19 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442594664 Meet Angela Duckworth, Ph.D. ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442618635 She is considered the world's foremost expert on grit. In fact, she wrote an entire book about it. 


]]> 2020-02-09 01:50:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442618635 Assertion: Creativity Requires Growth Mindset ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442619022 Her work has become so important that it has spawned further researchers. One chose to do his Ph.D. work attempting to dismantle some of her findings. Instead of lashing out, she "offered to serve on the student’s dissertation committee, to gain a deeper understanding of his criticisms."]]> 2020-02-09 01:54:04 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442619022 Embodying the Elements of Creativity ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442621435 Angela studies core concepts that apply to creativity: persistence, risk taking, and growth mindset. Not only does she study these interrelated topics; she embodies them.]]> 2020-02-09 02:16:57 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442621435 Assertion: Creativity Requires Risk Taking ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442625770 Getting to where she ended up meant accepting professional risk.
"Having original ideas is, by definition, going against convention and opening oneself up to rejection or ridicule." (Starko, 2018, p.112)

 As opportunities arose, she needed to choose to embrace them. Angela "kept reminding herself, 'If you give a TED talk, write a book, do an interview—then you have signed a contract to take the good with the bad, and take the bad with as much grace as you can.'"-- see article below

As risk taker Debbie Meier points out, "'I'm willing to take on risk because I'm invested in the project and because I believe in what we are doing here and want to succeed. The drive is toward that, toward the goal, not the problems. Of course I don't like to fail. I don't like to make mistakes. I'm afraid of looking foolish. I'm afraid of dying. But I'm not afraid of risk because risk is a part of change, and change is what new ideas are all about.'" (Shekerjian, 1991, p. 24). ]]> 2020-02-09 02:58:54 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442625770 Assertion: Creativity Requires Growth Mindset ceb3yt https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442627644 Angela acknowledges that she does not have all the answers, but is always willing to learn. In fact, she cites this willingness to learn as a key factor in grit-- that in brain plasticity and the ability to grow, we "rise to the occasion" which leads to longer-term achievement. In her TED Talk, she acknowledges that she is building on the research of the guru of growth mindset, Carol Dweck. Others in psychology and education continue to build on their research (see "5+ Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset Using Grit and Resilience" at https://positivepsychology.com/5-ways-develop-grit-resilience/). ]]> 2020-02-09 03:16:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ceb3yt/pxmj6hkx0jui/wish/442627644