Grit: the power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Michelle Ho Reviewer: Bighead Ge

When I was 27 years old,

當我 27 歲嘅時候

I left a very demanding job in management consulting

我離開咗要求好高嘅管理顧問工作崗位

for a job that was even more demanding: teaching.

轉去做一份要求更高嘅工作：教書

我去咗紐約市嘅公立學校

I went to teach seventh graders math

in the New York City public schools.

教七年級學生數學

同任何老師一樣，我會出測驗同考試卷

And like any teacher, I made quizzes and tests.

I gave out homework assignments.

我會畀功課同作業

當作業返嚟嘅時候，我就會計分

When the work came back, I calculated grades.

What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference

我發現智商並非唯一一個能分辨出 我最好同最差嘅學生

between my best and my worst students.

我其中一啲成績最好嘅學生 並唔係智商爆膨

Some of my strongest performers did not have stratospheric IQ scores.

同樣，我一啲最聰明嘅學生 反而唔係做得咁好

Some of my smartest kids weren't doing so well.

And that got me thinking.

呢樣令我反思七年級數學科的確係難嘅

The kinds of things you need to learn in seventh grade math,

sure, they're hard: ratios, decimals, the area of a parallelogram.

好似要學︰比例、小數點 平行四邊形嘅面積等

But these concepts are not impossible,

但係要學識呢啲概念唔係冇可能

and I was firmly convinced that every one of my students

我相信我每個學生只要付出時間同努力

could learn the material

就能夠學識科目嘅內容

if they worked hard and long enough.

After several more years of teaching,

教多幾年書之後

I came to the conclusion that what we need in education

我得出嘅結論係我哋嘅教育 需要更加了解學生

is a much better understanding of students and learning

from a motivational perspective,

同埋從學習動機同心理角度考慮事情

from a psychological perspective.

In education, the one thing we know how to measure best is IQ.

喺教育系統之中

我哋最識得量度嘅就係智商

但係如果學習能力並唔係最能夠決定

But what if doing well in school and in life

depends on much more

一個人喺學校同人生中嘅成就？

than your ability to learn quickly and easily?

So I left the classroom,

所以我離開咗課室

and I went to graduate school to become a psychologist.

我去咗研究生院讀書，出嚟做心理學家

I started studying kids and adults

我開始觀察喺唔同困難情況下 嘅孩子同成年人

in all kinds of super challenging settings,

and in every study my question was,

而喺每次嘅觀察過程中我問嘅問題係

who is successful here and why?

呢度邊個係成功，同點解？

My research team and I went to West Point Military Academy.

我同我嘅研究隊伍去咗西點軍校

We tried to predict which cadets

我哋嘗試預測邊位受訓者 會留得喺軍隊裏面

would stay in military training and which would drop out.

同埋邊位會退出

We went to the National Spelling Bee

我哋去咗全國串字比賽

and tried to predict which children would advance farthest in competition.

喺嗰度嘗試推測邊個小朋友會晉級

We studied rookie teachers working in really tough neighborhoods,

我觀察咗喺比較多問題嘅社區 任教嘅新老師

asking which teachers are still going to be here in teaching

問下嗰啲老師學期尾 會唔會仍然喺度工作

by the end of the school year,

and of those, who will be the most effective

而留得低嘅教師裡邊

at improving learning outcomes for their students?

邊個能夠最有效提高學生嘅學習成果？

We partnered with private companies, asking,

我哋同私人公司合作

which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs?

問下公司入面邊個推銷人員仲做緊？

And who's going to earn the most money?

邊個會賺最多佣？

In all those very different contexts,

睇返唔同人嘅情況下

one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success.

我哋搵到一樣嘢嚟預測一個人嘅成功

And it wasn't social intelligence.

佢唔係人際關係

It wasn't good looks, physical health,

唔係外貌、健康、智商

and it wasn't IQ.

It was grit.

而係意志

Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.

意志係熱情加恆心

Grit is having stamina.

意志等如耐力

Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out,

意志就係日日跟隨自己嘅未來路向發展

not just for the week, not just for the month,

唔係講緊一個禮拜或者一個月

but for years,

而係經過好多年嘅無數努力

and working really hard to make that future a reality.

去將心中嘅未來變成現實

Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.

意志好似跑馬拉松一樣，長時間陪住你

幾年前，我開始 喺芝加哥公立學校研究意志

A few years ago,

I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools.

I asked thousands of high school juniors

我請咗幾千個初中生做問卷調查

to take grit questionnaires,

and then waited around more than a year

然後等咗多過一年，睇下邊個會畢到業

to see who would graduate.

Turns out that grittier kids

結果顯示有多啲意志嘅學生 畢業可能都高好多

were significantly more likely to graduate,

even when I matched them on every characteristic I could measure,

重要係講緊我攞差唔多背景嘅學生比較

things like family income,

例如家庭收入、標準化成就測驗嘅分數

standardized achievement test scores,

even how safe kids felt when they were at school.

同埋學生喺學校覺得係咪安全

So it's not just at West Point or the National Spelling Bee

所以，意志唔單只喺西點 或者全國串字比賽之中重要

that grit matters.

It's also in school,

佢亦喺學校裡邊都好重要

especially for kids at risk for dropping out.

尤其對於有輟學可能嘅學生更加重要

To me, the most shocking thing about grit

對我嚟講，最震驚嘅係

原來我哋對意志嘅認知係咁細

is how little we know,

how little science knows, about building it.

科學亦唔係好了解佢

無人知道點樣培養佢

Every day, parents and teachers ask me,

每日，家長同老師會問我

"How do I build grit in kids?

「我點樣可以 喺小朋友身上培養意志呢？

What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic?

我點樣做至能夠教識孩子做事嘅恆心？

How do I keep them motivated for the long run?"

我點樣做可以令佢哋 毅力地堅持到底？」

The honest answer is,

講真，我唔知道。（笑聲）

I don't know.

(Laughter)

What I do know is that talent doesn't make you gritty.

我剩係知道才幹唔會令你有意志

Our data show very clearly

我嘅數據顯示得好清楚

that there are many talented individuals

有好多才能十足嘅人 根本就冇做到訂落嘅目標

who simply do not follow through on their commitments.

In fact, in our data, grit is usually unrelated

其實，喺我哋嘅數據裡面

意志通常係同才能 完全冇關甚至負相關

or even inversely related to measures of talent.

So far, the best idea I've heard about building grit in kids

到目前為止

我聽過喺小朋友當中 培養意志嘅最好提議

is something called "growth mindset."

就係一樣叫做「成長心態」嘅理念

This is an idea developed at Stanford University by Carol Dweck,

呢個理念係由史丹福大學嘅 Carol Dweck 提出

and it is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed,

就係話，學習能力並非固定嘅

that it can change with your effort.

係可以隨著你嘅努力而改變

Dr. Dweck has shown

佢又指，當小朋友讀到

that when kids read and learn about the brain

腦部點樣因應挑戰而變化同成熟嘅時候

and how it changes and grows in response to challenge,

they're much more likely to persevere when they fail,

佢哋會更加喺失敗嘅時候堅持

because they don't believe that failure is a permanent condition.

因為佢哋唔相信失敗係永久嘅

所以成長心態係一個培養意志嘅好方法

So growth mindset is a great idea for building grit.

But we need more.

但我哋需要更多

And that's where I'm going to end my remarks,

我亦都喺呢度總結我嘅說話

because that's where we are.

因為我哋而家就係停留喺呢一步

That's the work that stands before us.

我哋要做嘅工作就喺我哋眼前

We need to take our best ideas, our strongest intuitions,

我哋需要將我哋最好嘅諗法 最強烈嘅直覺攞去測試

and we need to test them.

We need to measure whether we've been successful,

我哋大家都要評估我哋自己有冇成功過

and we have to be willing to fail, to be wrong,

我哋都要唔避忌失敗、犯錯

to start over again with lessons learned.

而且要從錯誤中學習

換句話講，我哋需要意志 令我哋嘅孩子更加有意志

In other words, we need to be gritty

about getting our kids grittier.

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（鼓掌）