How Children Succeed in 30 Minutes by The 30 Minute Expert Series

Author:The 30 Minute Expert Series
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Callisto Media

III. CULTIVATING CHARACTER

According to Paul Tough, the research he conducted reveals a promising piece of news for future generations: character can be cultivated. Tough says that helping children build optimism, grit, and self-control can be the determining factor in whether they drop out of high school or eventually graduate from college.

Tough describes how students at a KIPP school are learning to “CBT themselves,” which means using skills and insights drawn from cognitive-behavioral therapy to recognize and challenge their own negative or self-destructive thoughts in order to gain a more positive perspective or make room for more optimistic interpretations of circumstances. In broader terms, this means using metacognition, or thinking about thinking, to learn ways of talking about their character, thinking about their character, and evaluating their character. As a result of these efforts, Tough says, the KIPP students learn to recognize when it’s time to control impulses and emotional outbursts that can interfere with their learning and with their ability to form positive relationships. In addition, through mental contrasting—the practice of concentrating on a desired outcome and simultaneously concentrating on obstacles to that outcome so that creative ways of overcoming the obstacles can be devised—the students develop tools for achieving self-control and demonstrating grit.

Tough cites studies showing that students who believe it’s possible for them to increase their intelligence do better academically than students who see intelligence as an inborn, unchanging quality. It’s a question of mind-set, Tough says, and he stresses the importance of developing a growth mind-set in students because the message that intelligence can be increased with mental work is one that carries incredible power. Students who are able to internalize this message come to believe in their ability to grow, Tough says, and they show noticeable academic improvement. Similarly, he says, if students see character traits as susceptible to constant development, they also become inspired to improve in that area. Tough sees these messages as particularly beneficial for students who have not been brought up to believe that they’re smart or that their futures hold the promise of success.

At the same time, Tough says, students who have grown up with confidence in their abilities and with feelings of security about their futures aren’t necessarily guaranteed successful outcomes, and they face their own challenges. For instance, he notes that affluent students seem particularly lacking in grit, a quality that comes with the experience of overcoming obstacles and disappointments and climbing mountains to attain a goal. On this point, Tough cites Dominic Randolph, headmaster at Riverdale Country School. Randolph says his students—who achieve high scores on the SAT, are told that everything they do is wonderful, and believe that their wealth and connections will automatically bring them a life of affluence and success—do not know how to pick themselves up after a failure and have trouble recovering from setbacks. Among low-income students, however, strong character traits become a safety net when family members, schools, and the culture in general can’t offer the built-in protection from failure that affluent kids enjoy.

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