Investigation Of The Status Quo Of Perseverance Of Junior High School Students And Research On Promotion Strategies

Credit for coining the current usage of the word “Grit” in education circles goes to Angela Lee Duckworth,an Asian-American psychologist of University of Pennsylvania,who defines it as perseverance and passion for long-term goals.During the long-term researches,Duckworth found that the person who is grittier than others of equal intelligence is more likely to succeed.Grit has incremental predictive validity for achievement over and beyond other traits such as intelligence or talent.In the practice of incorporating grit into the academic curriculum,some American schools find that grit improves students' academic achievement,promotes equity of education and reduces immoral acts such as cheating and bullying.The current study centers on grit,observing relevant studies at home and abroad as well as discussing the connotation and the influences of grit and its impact on the individual development.Besides,the study uses the Chinese version of Grit Scale to observe the current status of grit among Chinese junior high school students.The grit promotion strategies which suit our junior high school students will be given based on the literature and experiments,thus helping students win equal educational opportunities and realize individual achievement in the competitive society of the twenty-first century.The literature review shows that “grit” is not just efforts or self-discipline for a short-term goal,not ability to set goals or fixed personality traits.Grit is developing one's inborn talents into proficient skills through perseverance,maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure,adversity and high pressure.Grit is believing that working strenuously toward challenges,year in and year out,will eventually bring you success.The investigation in the study indicates that the current status of grit among Chinese junior high school students is at a medium level,but their scores on perseverance of effort are higher than that on consistency of interests.Both genders have an intermediate grit and the gender differences are not significant.There are significant grade differences in grit and they are mainly showed in perseverance of effort.Grit declines with grade and that trend is more significant among girl students.The differences in grit for levels of age indicate that grit declines with age,which is consistent with the differences in grit for levels of grade.There is positive association between grit and students' academic achievement.The grittier junior high students earn better grades,show higher levels of self-discipline and spend less time on entertainment while more time on learning.According to the research findings,the study concludes four corresponding grit promotion strategies for junior high school students.First,situation modification strategies and response modulation entailed in cognitive strategies can lead to higher self-control,thus promoting the increase of grit,and strategies deployed at the early stage of working towards a goal are more effective than later-deployed strategies.Besides,teachers should encourage students to deepen and maintain their passion.Finally,deliberate practice and growth mindset development are also effective strategies for grit promotion.