Promoting Grit, Tenacity, and Perseverance - U.S. Department of ...

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Exhibit 2. Contrasting definitions of key terms
Term and
Reference
Grit
(Duckworth et al.,
2007, pp. 1087-
1088)
Academic Tenacity
(Dweck et al., 2011,
p. 5)
Agency
(The Raikes
Foundation, 2012)
Academic
Perseverance
(Farringon et al.,
2012, p. 9)
Persistence and
Perseverance
(Peterson &
Seligman, 2004,
p. 229-230)
Conscientiousness
as a 21st Century
Competency
(NRC, 2012,
pp. 2-13)
Conscientiousness
as a Personality
Factor (Poropat,
2009, p. 322)
Engagement
(Fredricks et al.,
2004, p. 60)
Resilience
(Masten et al., 2009,
p. 117)
Definition
Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest
over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The gritty
individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is
stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to
change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course.
Academic tenacity is about the mindsets and skills that allow students:
• To look beyond short-term concerns to longer-term or higher-order goals, and
• To withstand challenges and setbacks to persevere toward these goals.
By building agency, young people utilize effective learning strategies and
demonstrate a positive mindset that not only helps them drive their own learning
to do better in school, but also helps them to navigate the typical barriers to
success, both inside and outside the classroom.
Academic perseverance refers to a student’s tendency to complete school
assignments in a timely and thorough manner, to the best of one’s ability, despite
distractions, obstacles, or level of challenge…To persevere academically requires
that students stay focused on a goal despite obstacles (grit or persistence) and
forego distractions or temptations to prioritize higher pursuits over lower pleasures
(delayed gratification, self-discipline, self-control).
We define persistence as voluntary continuation of a goal-directed action in spite
of obstacles, difficulties, or discouragement. Simply measuring how long someone
works at a task does not adequately capture the essence of perseverance
because continuing to perform something that is fun or rewarding does not require
one to endure and overcome setbacks. We use the terms perseverance and
persistence interchangeably.
Initiative, self-direction, responsibility, perseverance, productivity, grit, Type I selfregulation
(metacognitive skills, including forethought, performance, and selfreflection).
Dependability and will to achieve.
The multifaceted nature of engagement is also reflected in the research literature,
which defines engagement in three ways. Behavioral engagement draws on the
idea of participation; it includes involvement in academic and social or
extracurricular activities and is considered crucial for achieving positive academic
outcomes and preventing dropping out. Emotional engagement encompasses
positive and negative reactions to teachers, classmates, academics, and school
and is presumed to create ties to an institution and influence willingness to do the
work. Finally, cognitive engagement draws on the idea of investment; it
incorporates thoughtfulness and willingness to exert the effort necessary to
comprehend complex ideas and master difficult skills.
Positive adaptation in the context of significant challenges, variously referring to
the capacity for, process of, or outcomes of successful life-course development
during or following exposure to potentially life-altering experiences
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