Grit and Montessori’s pedagogy: keys to success

What are the keys to be successful for children? Every parent may define success for their young ones differently. Some of them may want their children to have a high score of Intellectual Quotient (IQ) since they believe that is a path for a child's success. While we might have many research and studies to look at as of these days regarding a child’s success, one of the well recognized research from Angela Duckworth (2007) suggests that the keys to success are Grit that astonishingly align well with Montessori philosophy. 

Grit was defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”. It is the new term in the psychology field, created by a psychologist Angela Duckworth herself. Her studies have shown that people who have high grit are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods of time, in spite of some adversities or failures. In her study, Angela concluded that Grit is a better predictor of success than intellectual quotient (IQ). The study was based on early studies in GPA among Ivy League undergraduates, dropout rate of cadets at West Point US Military Academy, and ranking in the National Spelling Bee. Moreover, it is utterly possible for parents to raise their young ones up with grit. Hence, the children who have grit tend to be successful in the future. 

In addition, teaching grit in children can start from home or in early childhood education. Parents or educators can help children build grit by being supportive and praising their process. Moreover, raising gritty children can also be found in the Montessori Method as well. Montessori philosophy is a child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children, developed by Italian physician Maria Montessori. Montessori’s pedagogy views each child who is naturally eager for knowledge and has the ability to initiate his or her own learning in a supportive, prepared, thoughtfully environment. It will thoroughly assist and enhance children’s development in their physical, social, emotional and cognitive skills. Students work with intrinsic motivation to learn and learn to be patient. The Montessori method will assist students to develop a desire to become competent and independent. Moreover, this method of education will be able to build grit in children. It will also build character traits that enhance the children to reach their highest academic potential, and are significant to children’s competency to succeed and able to accomplish their long- term goals, according to the study (Dahbour, 2013). 

In the scientific paper of Dahbour (2013), she studied the relationship between grit and Montessori method. The purpose of her research is to comprehend whether the Montessori method elaborates grit and patience in children or not. This research was taken at the 

children’s classroom located in an urban Montessori school. It comprised 53 students, averaged age is 5-6 years old. 13 of them were new students who did not have any background in Montessori school. The experiment asked students to play with the puzzle that they had 2 choices. The first option is if the children decided to put the last piece of the puzzle right away, the kid will be allowed to work on the puzzle only once. The following option is if the children decided to wait until the following day to place the last piece of the puzzle, they will be allowed to play with the puzzles more than 10 times again. Noticeably, the children who have chosen the second option tend to have more grit. Furthermore, the outcome has shown that students who got Montessori education did have more grit and patience toward their long-term goals. 

Last but not least, raising children up with grit is achievable. Parents are able to develop their grit by supporting them when they are doing their activities outside of their comfort zone, despite the hardship and failure. Parents can brainstorm with them and discuss the effort needed in order to achieve their goal and encourage them to have a growth mindset. Parenting grit in children at home will ultimately align with the Montessori school system that will bring the best out of their children to grow up being a gritty adult. As a result, they will be able to go through hardship in their life and will possibly be successful in the future. 

P. Ratnajarn M.A.

Reference 

Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1087- 1101. Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals 

Dahbour, A. N. (2013). The Relationship Between Grit and Montessori: An Educational System. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: http://sphia.stkate.edu/maed/28