Abstract:

This paper explores the literature and research on Resilience, Grit, and Growth Mindset as critical elements of pre-service teaching and learning. The authors examine the self-reported lifestyle habits of 190 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a Canadian university faculty of education. Using qualitative research, individuals participated in an online survey to determine their own habits of mind related to Resilience, Grit and Growth Mindset. Followed by focus groups and semi-structured interviews, the perceptions of PSTs on the role of Resilience, Grit and Growth Mindset were assessed.

Pre-service teacher education is an ideal setting in which to provide real world opportunities to nurture these ideal characteristics that are needed, especially by new teachers, or those early in their careers, given the challenging socio-educational environments within which new teachers find themselves. Research indicates that attrition rates for new teachers are an issue for both administrators and policy-makers, as well as District School Boards. Several authors concur that new teachers are extremely vulnerable to leaving the profession in the first five years, and that over 40 per cent decide to quit during this important foundational segment of their careers (Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014; Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Ingersoll, 2001; Henry, Bastian, & Fortner, 2011).

We argue that “the rigors of teaching suggest that positive traits that buffer against adversity might contribute to teacher effectiveness” (Stanford, 2001, in Duckworth, Quinn, & Seligman, 2009, p. 540). Further to this, “research has demonstrated that some teachers are dramatically more effective than others, and further, that teacher effectiveness is the most important in-school factor affecting student learning” (Robertson-Kraft & Duckworth, 2014, p. 1.). By preparing new teachers to strengthen their Resilience, Grit, and Growth Mindset before they move to the challenges of real world teaching, we aim to better prepare them to be effective and successful in schools.

Keywords:

Grit, Reslience, Growth Mindset, Pre-service Teachers.