CHARACTER MATTERS!

I was reading Paul Tough's book 'How Children Succeed'. In this great read he highlights the qualities most likely to ensure a better job, a better degree and a better and more fulfilling life... grit, curiosity and character. 

And of course these qualities lie at the heart of the work I am doing in Sheffield with the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield" programme. 

Grit is a positive trait that involves perseverance of effort to accomplish a long term goal no matter what challenges lie in the way. Research by Angela Duckworth, working with Martin Seligman and referred to in Seligman's book 'Flourish' defines grit as perseverance and passion for long-term goals and found that as a trait, people who had grit were more likely to be successful than those with high IQ or those who were simply conscientious. We need to ensure that our children and young people develop skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism and self-control. These qualities are known to economists as 'non-cognitive', to psychologists as 'personality traits'  but to the rest of us as character.