How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

I so appreciate what Paul Tough does here to talk about the physical and psychological effects of growing up in poverty and around trauma, but he consistently fails to connect those effects with a cause. He mentions the "savage inequalities" of school funding, neighborhood resources and systemic racism only in passing, which is quite hard for me to swallow in a book that claims to be entirely about what poor kids need to succeed.

There's also a lot that made me feel icky about "character" generally -- the values he lists are ones that make for a good worker, but do they make for a better community, a fuller life? I wish he'd investigated whether curricula around social justice could help kids understand the world around them in a more show more complete way and perhaps also empower them to make changes they want to see. Is the KIPP model of discipline and testing just replicating the extrinsic motivation he claims has so ill-served better-off kids?

When affluent kids can screw up, drop out, and still succeed, or when they ride a greased chute from $40k/yr preschool to Riverdale to McKinsey & Company, is character really what leads kids to succeed?

What really needs to change: Kids or schools? Schools or culture? Is "no excuses" asking kids to take on the weight of systemic racism and oppression? Are we allowing the elite to skip the responsibility of addressing poverty by saying kids can get themselves out?



Smaller notes:
Youngest kids did have character assessments on report cards for parents when I was a kid ("plays well with others"). Is social/emotional learning a new concept?

If it's something we can't or don't yet test for, does the argument that the "power of character" contributes more to a child's success than tests results might indicate undermine the argument for an intense testing regime, like the one many charter schools he celebrates have? Could Tough have addressed testing itself? show less

Success in education and in life involves a great deal more than having quality teachers and successfully completing schoolwork. Paul Tough compiles some fascinating research on the -- often invisible -- variables that affect how and how well children learn. From the permanent scar that numerous traumatic experiences in childhood potentially inscribe on our brains for the rest of our lives, to the ways in which challenges and failures build both character and long-term resilience. As a student who skated through K-12 with few challenges or failures and with little effort, only to find myself stumbling in a university setting, Tough's work evoked in me a number of "Aha!" moments, as well as considerations to bear in mind as I raise my show more own daughter. show less

I really enjoyed the first couple of chapters of HCS. As someone who taught in a high-poverty school for 15 years, struggling to understand the challenges that kept students from success, I appreciated Tough's explanation of how early-life stress and non-attachment with a parent impedes character development. I found the second half of the book less rewarding, though. Having identified why so many attempts at school reform (i.e. those focused on remediating cognitive deficits) fail, Tough never presents a satisfying explanation of what does work to develop the character traits that lead to school success, when those traits aren't developed "naturally" in childhood. There's a lot about KIPP and a highly successful inner-city chess show more program, but the examples seem cobbled together and anecdotal, rather than systematic or convincing. So while this books brings me a little closer to an understanding of why kids fail, it doesn't really tell me why kids succeed, or rather, doesn't tell me how kids can succeed when they've been raised in the conditions that tend to lead to failure. show less

Character matters to children’s success (and adults) and can be taught in school, but not in the sense of the moral virtues. Rather, the character that education should aim for involves performance virtues—sticking to something even when it’s hard, learning from failure, believing that one will eventually succeed. Character matters, but this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse for inaction until somehow poor-performing children magically develop character. To the contrary, character traits are profoundly affected by circumstances, especially trauma that increases stress; compensating for the many harms and uncertainties associated with poverty requires deliberate and targeted intervention. Tough offers some examples of programs with show more high success rates that focus on teaching perserverance and related skills; the problem is that they involve long-term commitment to the well-being of poor people, which isn’t currently as popular as firing teachers. show less

I had high hopes for How Children Succeed by Paul Tough and it proved to be thought-provoking, especially in the first half of the book. Tough challenges the assumption that success is highly correlated with acquired knowledge and IQ, pointing out, in a very measured way, that character is far more important than IQ even though character strengths such as perserverance, grit, determination and curiosity are both harder to teach and to measure. The author also scored points for pointing out that although poor students from troubled homes experience severe setbacks to building resiliance, and most of his emphasis is rightly on lasting effects of childhood insecurity, he also points out that this problem affects the affluent as well, show more accurately pointing out that many afffluent young people in private schools are succesfully sheltered from failure, the result being that many are afraid to take risks. The second half of the book does not live up to the premise of the opening chapters though, The young people he profiles are fascinating, but in the end the book is far better at telling us why children fail than it is at offering suggestions for helping them to succeed. show less

Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter most have more to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control.

How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories and the stories of the children they are trying to help. Tough traces the links between childhood stress and life success. He show more uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do (and do not) prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to help children growing up in poverty.

Early adversity, scientists have come to understand, not only affects the conditions of children’s lives, it can also alter the physical development of their brains. But innovative thinkers around the country are now using this knowledge to help children overcome the constraints of poverty. With the right support, as Tough’s extraordinary reporting makes clear, children who grow up in the most painful circumstances can go on to achieve amazing things.

This provocative and profoundly hopeful book has the potential to change how we raise our children, how we run our schools, and how we construct our social safety net. It will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself. Selected Reading Questionnaire. show less

While I sometimes felt the book jumped from topic to topic or tried to cover a little too much in its 200 pages, it was engagingly written and incredibly interesting. I've been talking to everyone I meet about its thesis and its various suggestions for educational reform. It has definitely given me a lot to think about, as an educator, a mentor to younger family members, and just a person trying to be an adult.

And, two years on, I continue to reference the book regularly, which is a sign that parts of it must have really resonated.