Fostering Academic Diligence in K-­‐12 Education “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence. ” -­‐-­‐ Abigail Adams “The expectations of life depend on diligence; the mechanic that woudld perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” -­‐-­‐ Confucious “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” -­‐-­‐ Benjamin Franklin What is diligence? There is not a unanimous contemporary definition of the term “diligence.” However, diligence may be described as the effort expended by students to achieve1. The construct of diligence was studied in an attempt to determine the contribution of effort to student success and was initially defined as an expression or reflection of effort extended by students toward a balanced or holistic development of their mental, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions of life2. Diligence is also related to the psychological constructs of conscientiousness3, effort4, grit5, and persistence6. Some of the underlying psychological mechanisms involve executive control7 (e.g., planning, keeping track of time, evaluating ideas). The theoretical foundations of diligence include attribution theory8, self-­‐efficacy9. This review is mainly focused on academic diligence (includes conscientiousness, effort, grit, and persistence). It contains a brief summary of useful strategies and resources, dedicated to those K-­‐12 educators (teachers, counselors and administrators) who want to deepen their knowledge about how to promote diligence in schools. 1
See Bernard & Thayer, 1993 See Bernard, 1991 3
See Colquitt & Simmering, 1998; Richardson & Abraham, 2009; Roberts et al., 2004; Roberts et al., 2005; Roberts et al., 2009 4
Trautwein, 2007; Trautwein & Lüdtke, 2006; Trautwein & Lüdtke, 2009 5
Duckworth, 2006; Duckworth, 2007; Duckworth 2011 6
See Ryans, 1939; Feather, 1962; Eisenberger, 1992 7
Diamond & Lee, 2011 8
Hunter & Baker, 1987 9
Bandura, 1986 2
What is academic diligence? Academic diligence refers to the effort put forth by students to achieve and includes an important group of behaviors (e.g., time spent on homework, task completion, etc.) necessary for students to attain a high level of academic achievement. Influencing factors of academic diligence Research in primary, secondary, and higher education settings has shown that academic diligence may be associated with diverse factors, such as: The school and its environment •
o
Educators’ shaping students’ attitudes toward their academic responsibilities o
Engagement in purposeful activities o
Teacher quality improvement (e.g., increasing confidence and self-­‐esteem) o
Including all students in its efforts to succeed (paying close attention to minorities) The home and family: •
o
Parental affective support (i.e., praise and encouragement) o
Parents’ expectations o
Socioeconomic status Students’ beliefs and actions •
o
Self-­‐efficacy o
Locus of control How can we promote academic diligence? An effort in promoting academic diligence must include strategies that address contextual factors in the learning environment and fundamental psychological resources within the student. These are some strategies that K-­‐12 educators can implement in order to promote academic diligence in schools10: 10
See Shechtman et al., 2013 •
Implement school readiness programs that address executive functions: This approach includes training with games, aerobic exercise and sports, martial arts and mindfulness practices, and classroom curricula and teacher professional development. •
Implement interventions that address mindsets, learning strategies, and resilience: Academic mindsets are the psycho-­‐social attitudes or beliefs one has about oneself in relation to academic work. Positive mindsets motivate students to persist at schoolwork, which manifests itself through better academic behaviors, which lead to improved performance. Effective learning strategies allow students to leverage academic behaviors to maximize learning. These include strategies to help students recall facts; strategies for monitoring one’s own comprehension; and, strategies to self-­‐
correct when one detects confusion or errors in one’s thinking. They can also include goal-­‐setting and time management. •
Consider alternative school models and school-­‐level reform approaches: Character education models include explicit articulation of learning goals for targeted competencies, clear and regular assessment and feedback of student progress, and intensive teacher professional development. Project-­‐based learning and design thinking models help students develop competencies through engagement in long-­‐term, challenging, and/or real world problems. Organizations may also be able to provide support for schoolwide improvement (e.g., teacher professional development, networks of school communities, and strategies to improve school organizational structure). •
Explore informal learning programs: These programs provide various kinds of support for diligence (e.g., academic support, community involvement, college guidance, etc.) •
Utilize digital learning environments, online resources, and tools for educators: Digital learning environments can provide optimal challenges, help teachers promote a rigorous and supportive classroom climate, teach about academic mindsets, and promote learning strategies. Recommended Web-­‐Sites / Blogs http://www.edutopia.org/blog/true-­‐grit-­‐measure-­‐teach-­‐success-­‐vicki-­‐davis http://www.edutopia.org/blog/growth-­‐mindset-­‐driving-­‐philosophy-­‐david-­‐hochheiser http://www.edutopia.org/blog/focus-­‐process-­‐results-­‐will-­‐follow-­‐nathan-­‐barber Recommended Books Tough, P. (2012). How children succeed. London, UK: Harper Collins Publishers. Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Random House Inc. Ricci, M. C., & Stephens, J.M. (2013). Mindsets in the classroom: Building a culture of success and student achievement in schools. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press Inc. Hoerr, T. R. (2013). Fostering grit: How do I prepare my students for the real world? Danvers, MA: ASCD. References Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bernard, H. . (1991). Development and application of a diligence-­‐ability regression model for explaining and predicting competence among juniors and seniors in selected Michigan high schools. Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI. Bernard, Hinsdale, Thayer, Jerome D., & Streeter, Edward A. (1993). Diligence and Academic Performance. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 2(2), 213-­‐234. Colquitt, Jason A., & Simmering, Marcia J. (1998). Conscientiousness, goal orientation, and motivation to learn during the learning process: A longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(4), 654-­‐665. doi: 10.1037/0021-­‐9010.83.4.654 Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M., & Kelly, D. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-­‐Term Goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087 -­‐ 1101. Duckworth, Angela Lee. (2006). Intelligence is not enough: Non-­‐IQ predictors of achievement. (67), ProQuest Information & Learning, US. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2006-­‐99018-­‐
025&site=ehost-­‐live Available from EBSCOhost psyh database. Duckworth, Angela Lee, Kirby, Teri A., Tsukayama, Eli, Berstein, Heather, & Ericsson, K. Anders. (2011). Deliberate practice spells success: Why grittier competitors triumph at the National Spelling Bee. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(2), 174-­‐181. doi: 10.1177/1948550610385872 Eisenberger, Robert. (1992). Learned industriousness. Psychological Review, 99, 248-­‐267. doi: 10.1037/0033-­‐295X.99.2.248 Feather, N. T. (1962). The Study of Persistence. Psychological Bulletin, 59, 84-­‐115. Hunter, Madeline, & Barker, George. (1987). If at first...: Attribution theory in the classroom. Educational Leadership, 45(2), 50-­‐53. Richardson, Michelle, & Abraham, Charles. (2009). Conscientiousness and achievement motivation predict performance. European Journal of Personality, 23(7), 589-­‐605. doi: 10.1002/per.732 Roberts, Brent W., Bogg, Tim, Walton, Kate E., Chernyshenko, Oleksandr S., & Stark, Stephen E. (2004). A lexical investigation of the lower-­‐order structure of conscientiousness. Journal of Research in Personality, 38(2), 164-­‐178. doi: 10.1016/S0092-­‐6566(03)00065-­‐5 Roberts, Brent W., Chernyshenko, Oleksandr S., Stark, Stephen, & Goldberg, Lewis R. (2005). The Structure of Conscientiousness: An Empirical Investigation Based on Seven Major Personality Questionnaires. Personnel Psychology, 58(1), 103-­‐139. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-­‐6570.2005.00301.x Roberts, Brent W., Jackson, Joshua J., Fayard, Jennifer V., Edmonds, Grant, & Meints, Jenna. (2009). Conscientiousness. In M. R. Leary & R. H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior. (pp. 369-­‐381). New York, NY US: Guilford Press. Ryans, David G. (1939). The measurement of persistence: an historical review. Psychological Bulletin, 36(9), 715. Shechtman, N., DeBarger, A., Dornsife, C., Rosier, S., & Yarnall, L. (2013). Promoting grit, tenacity,
and perseverance: Critical factors for success in the 21st century. Washington, DC: US
Department of Education, Department of Educational Technology (pp. 1–107). San Francisco,
CA. Trautwein, Ulrich. (2007). The Homework-­‐Achievement Relation Reconsidered: Differentiating Homework Time, Homework Frequency, and Homework Effort. Learning and Instruction, 17(3), 372-­‐388. Trautwein, Ulrich, Lüdtke, Oliver, Kastens, Claudia, & Köller, Olaf. (2006). Effort on homework in grades 5-­‐9: development, motivational antecedents, and the association with effort on classwork. Child Development, 77(4), 1094-­‐1111. Trautwein, Ulrich, Lüdtke, Oliver, Roberts, Brent W., Schnyder, Inge, & Niggli, Alois. (2009). Different forces, same consequence: Conscientiousness and competence beliefs are independent predictors of academic effort and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1115-­‐1128. doi: 10.1037/a0017048