I left a very demanding job in management consulting

剛辭掉高要求的管理顧問一職

for a job that was even more demanding: teaching.

卻投入另一份要求更高的工作─教學

I went to teach seventh graders math in the New York City public schools.

我在紐約公立學校教授七年級的數學

And like any teacher, I made quizzes and tests.

就像一般老師一樣，我設計考試、測驗題

I gave out homework assignments.

我派回家作業給學生

When the work came back, I calculated grades.

收回學生的作業後，我打成績

What struck me was that I.Q. was not the only difference

批改過程中，令我感到驚訝的是，智力並非

between my best and my worst students.

我最好和最差的學生間的唯一差異

Some of my strongest performers

有些學習高成就學生

did not have stratospheric I.Q. scores.

並沒有在智力測驗獲得較高的成績

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

而有些我認定聰明的孩子也沒有考好

And that got me thinking.

這讓我思考

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

學生所要學的七年級數學概念

sure, they're hard: ratios, decimals,

無庸置疑，是有難度的：比率、小數

the area of a parallelogram.

計算平行四邊形的面積

But these concepts are not impossible,

但這些觀念並未困難到學不起來

and I was firmly convinced that every one of my students

而我深信，我教的每一位學生

could learn the material

都可以學會這些內容

if they worked hard and long enough.

只要他們肯下苦功、願意花夠多的時間學習

After several more years of teaching,

經過了多年的任教經驗

I came to the conclusion that what we need in education

我得到一個結論：我們所需要的教育模式

is a much better understanding of students and learning from a motivational perspective,

是要更了解學生以及如何秉持高動機學習

from a psychological perspective.

從心理學層面來探討學習

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

在教育的範疇中，我們最容易取得的數據就是智力

but what if doing well in school and in life

但，要是在學校或生活中的的良好表現

depends on much more

不僅僅取決於

than your ability to learn quickly and easily?

你是否能夠學得又快又輕鬆呢？

So I left the classroom,

於是我離開了教學領域

and I went to graduate school to become a psychologist.

我去念了研究所，以期能成為心理學家

I started studying kids and adults

我開始研究孩童與成人

in all kinds of super challenging settings,

在面對巨大挑戰情況下的表現

and in every study my question was,

在每次研究中，我關注的問題是：

who is successful here and why?

誰會成功？以及他們為什麼成功？

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

我和研究團隊步入西點軍校

We tried to predict which cadets

我們試著預測軍校學生

would stay in military training and which would drop out.

哪些人可以挺過軍事訓練，哪些人中途離開

We went to the National Spelling Bee

我們步入全國拼字大賽

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

試著預測哪些小孩在比賽中闖過較多關

We studied rookie teachers working in really tough neighborhoods,

我們研究在艱困環境中的菜鳥老師

asking which teachers are still going to be here in teaching by the end of the school year,

並猜測哪些老師可以教到學期末

and of those, who will be the most effective

而在這其中，又有哪些老師能夠有效率

at improving learning outcomes for their students?

幫助學生增進學習成果呢？

We partnered with private companies, asking,

我們與坊間公司合作，並詢問公司

which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs?

想知道哪修銷售員可以堅持下去

And who's going to earn the most money?

哪些可以賺得最多

In all those very different contexts,

在差異如此大的環境中

one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success.

一項特質清楚浮現是成功的重要前兆

And it wasn't social intelligence.

關鍵要素與社交技能無關

It wasn't good looks, physical health, and it wasn't I.Q.

不是出眾的外貌、健康的身體，也不是智力

It was grit.

而是恆毅力

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

恆毅力是能在長久目標追求中，擁有堅持下去的熱情

Grit is having stamina.

恆毅力是擁有源源活力

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

恆毅力不斷往自己的未來邁進，一天又一天地堅持下去

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

不是只有一周的熱度，不是只有一個月的熱度

but for years, and working really hard

而是歷時多年，辛苦走過每一哩路

to make that future a reality.

把想像的未來變成現實

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

恆毅力是把生命當作是場馬拉松，而不是場短跑

A few years ago, I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools.

幾年前，我在芝加哥公立學校開始研究恆毅力

I asked thousands of high school juniors

我請上千位高中年級較高的學生

to take grit questionnaires,

填一份恆毅力的問卷

and then waited around more than a year

並花超過一年的時間靜待結果

to see who would graduate.

看看誰會順利畢業

Turns out that grittier kids

結果顯示，毅力維持較久的小孩

were significantly more likely to graduate,

有比較能順利畢業的傾向

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

即便我已用可以實際測量的各種特質跑相關性數據

things like family income,

像是家庭收入

standardized achievement test scores,

標準化測驗成績

even how safe kids felt when they were at school.

甚至還有學生在校所感受的安全感

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

所以並不只有在西點軍校與全國拼字測驗

that grit matters. It's also in school,

才會展現出恆毅力的重要，在校內學習也同等重要

especially for kids at risk for dropping out.

尤其是那些在輟學危險邊緣的學生

To me, the most shocking thing about grit

恆毅力所帶給我最大的震撼莫過於

is how little we know,

我們知道的是如此地少

how little science knows, about building it.

科學研究也不夠多，極少探究如何培養學生的恆毅力

Every day, parents and teachers ask me,

家長與老師每天都會問我：

"How do I build grit in kids?

「究竟該如何培養孩子的恆毅力呢？」

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

「要如何教孩子工作道德規範？」

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

「我如何讓學生長期維持高學習動機？」

The honest answer is, I don't know. (Laughter)

在此必須誠實地告訴大家：「我並不知道。」(笑)

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

我只明白，天賦並不會帶給你恆毅力

Our data show very clearly

我們得出的數據清楚顯示

that there are many talented individuals

有許多天才

who simply do not follow through on their commitments.

根本沒有遵循他們該謹守的原則

In fact, in our data, grit is usually unrelated or even inversely related to measures of talent.

事實上，從得出的數據指出，恆毅力通常與之無關，甚至根本與天賦背道而馳

So far, the best idea I've heard about building grit in kids is something called "growth mindset."

目前為止，我所聽到關於培養孩子恆毅力的最佳方法是稱作「增長型心態」的理念

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

這是由史丹佛大學卡蘿．德威特博士所提出的概念

and it is the belief that the ability to learn is not fixed, that it can change with your effort.

「增長型心態」也是相信學習能力並非受到侷限，而是可以根據學習者自身的努力而改變

Dr. Dweck has shown that when kids read and learn

杜威特博士的研究顯示，在孩童閱讀與學習時

about the brain and how it changes and grows in response to challenge,

的大腦狀態，以及在面臨挑戰時的變化與增長

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

在挫敗時，孩童傾向不輕言放棄，繼續堅持下去的動力

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

因為孩童不相信自己會永遠失敗

So growth mindset is a great idea for building grit.

所以增長型心態是建構恆毅力的好方法

But we need more.

但我們不能僅止於此

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

而目前我的分享也只能駐足在此

because that's where we are.

因為這是我們目前最新的研究近況了

That's the work that stands before us.

在我們眼前的研究還有一段路要走

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

我們必須帶著最好的主意、最強的直覺

and we need to test them.

不斷接受測試

We need to measure whether we've been successful,

我們必須檢測自己是否算是成功

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

我們樂於迎接挫敗、面對犯錯

to start over again with lessons learned.

並能帶著學會的教訓，捲土重來

In other words, we need to be gritty

換句話說，我們自己要有持之以恆的毅力

about getting our kids grittier.

以培養我們的小孩這樣的毅力

Thank you.

感謝你的聆聽

(Applause)

(掌聲)