OWHL Guides: I Can't Do That Yet...Cultivating a Learning Disposition: Project Overview

Why Study Learning Dispositions?

Growing interest and research on the importance of “self-control, curiosity, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, zest, and grit” as predictors of school achievement and other meaningful life outcomes have led some educators to think critically about opportunities to measure and teach these essential skills. The Phillips Academy community has begun to develop research, practice, and thinking around the role of these skills in the Andover curriculum.

Project Framework

Learning Mindsets Project Community

Character Lab
Non-profit project that aims to promote pedagogical practices in support of the idea that individual character is malleable and also highly predictive of student success.
Character & Opportunity Project/Brookings
Examines the connection between non-cognitive skills and inter-generational social mobility.
Duckworth Lab at The University of Pennsylvania
Research focuses on self-control and grit as predictors of academic success.
PERTS-Project for Education Research That Scales
An applied research lab at Stanford working to understand the connection between student motivation and achievement.
Transforming Education
a nonprofit supporting educators and education systems in equipping students with the Mindsets, Essential Skills, and Habits (“MESH”) they need to succeed in college, career, and life.
VIA Institute on Character
World Bank Step Skill Measurement Program
The first ever initiative to measure skills in low and middle-income countries. Includes a direct assessment of reading proficiency and a self-report scale measuring personality and behavior traits such as grit and decision making.