STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IS AN ECOLOGICAL AFFAIR: EVERY PIECE MATTERS

This article reviews the current literature on grit as a term trending in the world of education, and is depicted as an unrelenting, hardworking approach to academic, personal, or professional goals. Although grit is a personal trait that many schools have begun to teach as part of its character education program, this author suggests that there are unseen emotional and physical risks for historically-marginalized students to be gritty. In the article, she will define the terms grit and historically-marginalized students, describe how there is a possible relationship between grit and anxiety for historically-marginalized students that are considered gritty, and offer possible supports that can be put in place for those students.