This entire article is completely relevant to the research I am studying in regards to grit and looking past content to get to skills and strategies for learning.

In my research, as well as working with a student teacher, I am seeing this question of effective practice become more and more important. Later on in the article, Conley (2008) questions whether these cognitive strategies will hold true as tasks and texts become more challenging, and whether learners can still identify the need and apply these strategies at all when complexities arise. This persistence needed by learners is what my grit studies are looking at.

I do believe that teachers need preservice in order to fully understand and empathize with these strategies. To help develop learners who cannot only utilize cognitive strategies, but stay persistent as new challenges occur and grow through it.

Harvard Educational Review Spring 2008. Adolescent Literacy ISSN #0017-8055