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    How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
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    How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
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    How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
    Audiobook8 hours

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

    Written by Paul Tough

    Narrated by Dan John Miller

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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 for a very different understanding of what makes a successful child. Drawing on groundbreaking research in neuroscience, economics, and psychology, Tough shows that the qualities that matter most have less to do with IQ and more to do with character: skills like grit, curiosity, conscientiousness, and optimism.

    How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of scientists and educators who are radically changing our understanding of how children develop character, how they learn to think, and how they overcome adversity. It tells the personal stories of young people struggling to say on the right side of the line between success and failure. And it argues for a new way of thinking about how best to steer an individual child-or a whole generation of children-toward a successful future.

    This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage listeners; it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Audio
    Release dateSep 4, 2012
    ISBN9781452678146
    Author

    Paul Tough

    PAUL TOUGH is the author of Helping Children Succeed and How Children Succeed, which spent more than a year on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists and was translated into twenty-eight languages. He is also the author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. He is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to the public radio program This American Life. You can learn more about his work at paultough.com and follow him on Twitter: @paultough.

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    Reviews for How Children Succeed

    4/5

    174 ratings24 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. Sometimes I though the author was on point and other times I was frustrated with his interpretation of well known research in the education world. This book is worth reading because it gets you thinking. Just be skeptical of what you read and don't automatically agree with all of it.
    • 4/5
      How Children Succeed offers substantial evidence to support the growing school of thought (har har) that certain non-cognitive traits, loosely labeled character, are stronger predictors of life satisfaction and achievement than academic performance. Tough shows that these traits, far from being fixed and unchanging, can be engendered in children starting in infancy. I loved the research but was hoping for more information about how exactly to go about nurturing those traits. Other than discussing a few select programs across the country that are utilizing some of these character theories, and a section on infant attachment, there was little in the way of application. I would actually recommend this book to those interested in education systems more so than parents. But I still found it fascinating, and full of tidbits you can discuss over dinner.
    • 3/5
      Narrated by Dan John Miller. Thought-provoking and commonsense, this should urge adults working with youth, and adults who have children of their own, to look at how they can help all kids develop cognitively and non-cognitively with the aim of their becoming productive and successful adults. Reader Miller uses a straight and scholarly tone that took me a bit to settle in with. Unfortunately he chose to use a soft southern accent when voicing the black youth. It seems a tepid effort so it comes off awkwardly.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      A book about education in America. Quite nice a portrayal also.
    • 4/5
      I listened to the audio version of this book and was able to take in the information in several different capacities. As an educator I was able to look at the technical aspects of teaching, as someone who never really went to college, I enjoyed listening to what was said about the higher education system, and as someone who hopes to one day become a parent, I was able to look forward to what I may or may not do to help encourage my child in their learning.This was a very wordy book, as most books on education and social status are. Some things might have been talked a little bit to death, but overall I honestly enjoyed listening to the various stories of students and schools that were presented. I think it progresses well and covers as many facts and cases as is possible in the amount of time allotted to it. You simply can't cover every aspect of education without having a thousand page book. Everyone has their own opinions and I think this book makes its point very well. Basically, we focus so much on making children succeed, we forget that we need to allow them to learn from their failures.This book came to me through my library's monthly book group and I wouldn't necessarily have picked it up otherwise, but I am glad that I did. I think more people, be they parents or teachers, should read this in order to broaden their ideas of how to help children accomplish goals and acquire the skills necessary for learning.
    • 3/5
      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, 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.
    • 5/5
      Grit - gotta have it. As a case study, I myself prove that grit beats IQ :)
    • 4/5
      Overall, I found this book fascinating. I think I can now better understand the important role of character in our lives. In the end, I wanted better solutions but the takeaway lesson of the call for a positive mentor and role model is empowering to teachers.
    • 4/5
      Really obvious premise (character, hard work, etc count for more than raw IQ) but some good explanations, etc. Very nicely written.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      Drawing from a combination of research findings and real-world examples, Paul Tough develops the thesis that success is associated more with character - grit, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness - and less with scores on intelligence tests. He shows how stressors experienced by children growing up in low-income neighborhoods can negatively impact success, unless they have parents or other adults who provide them with a secure base in the midst of the stressors. Most interestingly, he provide in-depth reporting on a number of programs that have helped children in difficult situations to develop the grit, self-control, and perseverance they need to succeed. I bought this book expecting a more psychological approach. I was actually looking for ideas about how I could help my own children succeed. To that end, Tough makes that point that developing grit and perseverance may be difficult if children aren't allowed to fail. It did make me think about giving my children a little more space, letting them make their own mistakes, so that they are willing to take risks and deal with challenges. But for the most part, the book takes a sociological/public policy approach, considering interventions at a societal level with the goal of closing the achievement gap. After reading it, I feel much more informed about the challenges and possibilities facing the education system.
    • 3/5
      Rating: 3.5 of 5Numerous real world examples and case studies. Heavy emphasis on the school system. Strong focus on parenting. Long list of notes to sort through for a proper "review."
    • 3/5
      I think this was a 3.5** book.

      The first two chapters really popped and I had high hopes for the rest of his book. The impact of adverse childhood experiences and poverty felt right on point. I also really believe in attachment theory; without a solid beginning most individuals will struggle in life. The idea that a solid attachment can be a protective factor when it comes to poverty and adversity is also a theory that makes a lot of sense. Tough did a great job laying this foundation for the book.

      Unfortunately he veers off into the KIPP charter schools and character education. These chapters have some positives and negatives. I did appreciate how Tough focused on kids living in affluence and in poverty. Both populations do benefit from persistence and perseverance as would anyone. However, most public schools don't have the resources or the longer days for extra support that a KIPP school can allow. For me, KIPP is a poor example for a program that can work in any public school setting.

      Personally, I don't like the word 'grit'; for me it is a spin-off of the Protestant Work Ethic- pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Most people in today's educational reform movement believe that all kids can succeed in our current educational system. And after we test them some more, we will be able to prove just that!

      It is much easier to pull yourself up when the structural inequalities in our country are in your favor. It is much more difficult to suceed facing obstacles such as unemployment, discrimination and being in a school that isn't clean or safe. I think Tough and I can agree on that.

      The last few chapters on college success were sobering. Even if kids make it to this point, very few can remain for the four years and walk away with a degree. A book by Tough on just this topic would definitely be interesting.
    • 4/5
      An important, provocative look at essential but overlooked and underappreciated dimensions of educational success.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating, and possibly even useful. Whilst there are a few too many anecdotes and not quite enough rigour, Tough (nominative determinism at work?) extols a non-cognitive child development theory with some conviction. Many of his ideas seem to be grounded in reality, and at least worth a try, though there does need to be more research in this area.
    • 5/5
      The strength of this book is the evenhanded way in which Tough addresses a topic which is so often presented with breathless hyperbole, righteous accusation, or straight-up ranting. While Paul lauds many of the approaches he profiles, he does not shy from pointing out what they might be missing. I agree with other reviewers that the book did not have a strong finish, hence the missing 1/2 star. But Tough's accessible and skillful synthesis of academic and scientific research with journalistic profiles is great. One of the most thought-provoking books I've read.
    • 4/5
      I really liked how this book used all of the avaliable science to really look at what before now had been thought to be imposible: teaching character. The need for my students to not only know about stuff, but also to have the skills to survive in this world is important to me as a teacher. I particularly liked Tough's discussion of how so many school "reformers" are quick to jump on the bandwagon of the next best band-aid for "fixing" our schools. Right now it is beating up teachers, and I, for one, feel that it is an unproductive turn in trying to help our students learn.
    • 3/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      Paul Tough's How Children Succeed challenges the conventional wisdom of educational success being significantly correlated with acquired knowledge and IQ. Character, he argues, is a much better measure even if it's not easily measurable.I agree with Tough's assertion, and he presents a number of impressive case studies to make his point. A child raised in poverty will have many more obstacles to overcome before successfully reaching adulthood, but we must not discount the character-building worth a difficult upbringing will cause, stressful though it is. There's a value that comes from hardships of this kind, and, if channeled properly, this school-of-hard-knocks is perhaps the greatest teacher.
    • 5/5
      Very nice review of recent developments in neuropsychology and the implications for education.
    • 3/5
      Paul Tough is a journalist specializing in the education of the poor. In his second book, he explores the relationship between affluence, poverty, and character and how that relationship can affect a student’s educational trajectory. Using case studies and anecdotes, Tough sets out to explain the most recent research on what makes for success. He concludes that the single biggest determinant for success is grit, i.e., persistence and resilience in the pursuit of a goal. Grit includes the ability to learn from and bounce back from setbacks and mistakes.Written for a general audience and incorporating material from articles in the New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker, Tough’s book is suitable for high school and adult audiences, and even for professional development among educators. Although his concluding chapter is weak, his point is valid: early, effective intervention can prevent ills that all the good teachers in the world can’t cure.
    • 4/5
      Why are we always so quick to reject the wisdom of older people as outdated? Don't we always come back around and take another look and find they were right after all?Paul Tough takes a look at new research on children who grow up to find success in their adult lives and shares with us the New Version of an Old Truth: hard work means a lot. My grandfather is quietly nodding his head.
    • 5/5
      I read this book a few months ago so am hazy on details but it is one I recommend to all my teaching and school administrator friends and to all who have children in school and remember what school was like for him/her. The basic premise is that it is character--grit, determination, curiosity, and good habits that lead to academic and post-academic success, not mere IQ/brainpower. Without the character traits, all the intelligence can be wasted. Tough uses many studies and writes in a way that is engaging and persuasive. Do read it!