Don't Grade Schools on Grit

So again it was night time and Kiki was bored.

She asked if she could do some newspaper cutting. (we just bought a new tube of glue for art & craft class).

I said - Sure, cut  & paste whatever you want.

So she happily took some newspaper, short while later she showed me this-
"Don't Grade Schools on Grit".

Hum..... what's that about? I thought.
So I read the rest of the article.

The article was written by -Angela Duckworth - the founder and scientific director of CharacterLab. She is also a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. 

She was saying how she might have "invented a monster" now that schools' are even graded for "Character" of its students. She said that a decade ago, some academics approached her to draw up a kind of feedback chart so that schools could measure student's character development. The idea was that we can't improve on what we can't measure, so they needed a kind of structure / chart so that teachers could grade the character developments of the students. The professor is saying that even as we help children to develop character, we mustn't grade schools on their characters of its students. Especially when some cultures are stricter to themselves and often grade themselves lower when in fact their moral standards are higher. For instance a question like "Were you well prepared before class" could mean different things to different students / schools / teachers/ culture. To some, it's just by showing up. To others, it includes having an early night's rest, completing homework, reading in advance, preparing questions to participate in class, etc. 

So anyway, Intelligence + Character = Education.

We get caught up with grades, we forgot about character.
Plus I feel that sometimes, people with good character is at the loosing end. 

What makes up good character?

Generally, there are Three Clusters of Character Strengths.

First- Grit, Self-control, and Optimism. 

Second- Social Intelligence, and Gratitude. 

Third Cluster- Curiosity, Growth Mindset (Open Mindedness), and Zest.

Lastly, this one is not under Character cluster but by itself.

The learning outcome for all schools is to develop Purposeful Citizens of Planet Earth.
(This one I say one har.... not in news article, I plucked from website and wrote my conclusion)

The website says- When students have a larger purpose, they have more academic motivation, life satisfaction, identity formation, and vocational success.

Please bookmark their website https://characterlab.org/ for more resources.

Whether students or adults alike, these little pointers go a long way.