LESSON 4
BUILDING GRIT
FAILING FORWARD
DEBRIEF: THIS ACTIVITY IS ABOUT FAILING FORWARD- HOW DID IT FEEL TO MAKE A MISTAKE? WHY SHOULD WE GET COMFORTABLE MAKING MISTAKES WITH DIFFICULT THINGS. REFLECT: “MISTAKES ARE NOT FAILURES. THEY ARE PROOF THAT WE ARE MAKING AN EFFORT”. JOHN C MAXWELL. WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE TO MAKING A MISTAKE IN A GAME LIKE THIS?
PART 1- 5 MINUTES
Rationale
Prodigious talent and grit seem to have no correlation, or even are inversely related. One possible explanation is that highly talented individuals have had less opportunity to develop a resilient approach to failure and setbacks, due to their success (Duckworth, 2013).
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly". Robert F Kennedy
Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson, learners should:
identify the high probability of obstacles and setbacks throughout our own lives
recognise the demonstration of grit in a high achiever
communicate the need for grit to other students
CONVERSATION STARTER- FAILING FORWARD VIDEO- WATCH AND DISCUSS- 5 MINS
UPP Founder Luke McKenna shares about failure and success, and uses examples of many successful people who have experienced that the road to success has many challenges and setbacks along the way.
PART 2- INVESTIGATING A HIGH ACHIEVER- 20 MINUTES
Think of someone you admire who has achieved a great deal in their life.
This may be someone you know (a family member or a friend) or someone you have heard or read about (eg J.K. Rowling, Ed Sheeran, Helen Keller, Richard Branson, Michael Jordan, Laura Geitz, Jonathon Thurston, John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, Colonel Sanders).
Investigate and record the following things about this person (in workbooks):
a. What obstacles did they have on their journey?
b. How did they demonstrate grit?
c. Where would they have ended up if they were not “gritty”?
PART 3- SHARING FINDINGS- 5 MINUTES
Form small groups of 4-5. Share your findings (responses to Part 2) with other people in your group.
PART 4- ROLE PLAY- 15-20 MINUTES
As a group, choose one of these people. You are to choose a realistic situation from their life that demonstrated grit and create a role play to demonstrate this. All group members should be involved in the role play. If there is time, groups will present their role play to the rest of the class. One group member should explain the person chosen and the situation being acted out.
TEACHER CONCLUDING REMARKS- Success doesn't come easily. Most successful people have worked through their fair share of obstacles. Most successful people have learned from their mistakes and demonstrated grit, in order to keep improving over a long period of time. Obstacles and setbacks it seems are almost inevitable. If we are to be gritty- showing perseverance and passion for our long-term goals- we should set goals for ourselves that we are passionate about, identify possible obstacles and plan to keep moving forward. That's what we will cover in our next THRIVE lesson.