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

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anxiety. Optimal challenge occurs in the “flow channel” in which the individual’s level of skill
matches the challenge of the activity. According to flow theory, individuals are intrinsically
motivated to seek out such optimal challenges and are most productive and motivated in the face
of them.
Exhibit 5. Csikszentmihalyi’s illustration of flow in the range of optimal challenge
Source: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
Importantly, when goals are focused on content learning, this theory suggests that perseverance
can be evoked when students need to wrestle with new concepts. Even the lowest achieving
students can potentially be “hooked” into perseverance when they are given a conceptually
difficult problem that matches their skill level.
Alignment with specific interests or established values and goals. A second important
principle is that students are likely see goals as “worthy” when they engage their interest and
enthusiasm through alignment with specific interests or established values and goals. When
students have opportunities to work toward goals that are meaningfully connected to their future
success, cultural values, lives outside of school, and/or topics that are personally interesting and
relevant, they are more likely to persevere when faced with challenge. In many cases,
particularly with unfamiliar material, educators need to engage students in activities that bridge
from their interests and familiar experiences to the learning objectives to help students attain
more complex learning goals. Another related factor can be choice in the courses they take, the
material they study, and the strategies they use to complete tasks, provided within the structure
of limits and clear expectations.
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