Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka och skapa djupare förståelse för hur begreppet grit framställs som motiv i klassisk barnlitteratur. Grit kan definieras som "the disposition to pursue long-term goals with sustained interest and effort over time" (Duckworth et al, 2014, s. 2). Analysens utgångspunkt är bland annat Angela Duckworths teorier om grit och Ethan Ris diskursanalys av grit. Undersökningen har ett litteratursociologiskt perspektiv och begagnar sig av speglingsteorin, som handlar om hur litteraturen speglar samhället. Det här är ett examensarbete som skrivs inom lärarprogrammet, därför studeras också vilken koppling grit har till studier i litteraturen. De frågor som ställs är hur grit framställs i persongestaltningen av karaktärerna, samt vilka samband som finns mellan grit, social klass och genus i texterna. De klassiska barnböcker som analyseras är Huckleberry Finns äventyr, Huset vid Plommonån, En liten prinsessa och Kulla-Gulla. Resultatet av analysen är att klassikerna har didaktisk användbarhet, både i skolans värdegrundsarbete och för att inspirera till grit. Motivet grit tycks dyka upp som mest när karaktärerna brottas med fattigdom och gestaltas ofta som ett utövande av självkontroll. Skönlitteraturen innehåller även oväntade och intressanta skildringar av strategier för grit. / The purpose of this study is to investigate and create a deeper understanding of how the concept of grit is portrayed as a motif in classical children's literature. Grit can be defined as "the disposition to pursue long-term goals with sustained interest and effort over time" (Duckworth et al, 2014, p. 2). The analysis is, among other things, based on Angela Duckworths theories on grit and Ethan Ris' analysis of the discourse of grit. The study has a perspective of literary sociology and applies the mirror theory, which describes how literature mirrors society. This is a thesis written within the teacher's education and therefore the literary connection between grit and academic studies will be investigated as well. The questions asked are how grit is portrayed in the forming of the characters, and what the connections are between grit, social class and gender in the texts. The classical children's books analyzed are the following: Huckleberry Finn, On the Banks of Plum Creek, A Little Princess and Anna All Alone. The result of the analysis is that the classics have didactic usefulness, both in the school's work with core ethical values and in order to inspire grit. The motif grit seems to appear the most when the characters struggle with poverty and is often portrayed as an exercise of self-control. The fiction also contains unexpected and interesting depictions of strategies for grit.

This research study explored the predictive value of psychological grit in determining student retention among postgraduates in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) institution in South Africa. Working from within a quantitative framework (and adopting a correlational research design), an online version of the Grit-S scale was utilised to gauge participants’ levels of grit (n = 837), followed by one-year lagged secondary data which sought to ascertain retention among the sample. Seeking to explore the psychometric rigour of the Grit-S scale, exploratory and partial confirmatory factor analyses were employed to investigate the validity of the instrument, followed by the assessment of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. Thereafter, correlations and binary logistic regressions were employed to investigate the relationship between the constructs and explore grit’s ability to predict retention from one academic period to the next. Results from the analyses indicated that, while the Grit-S scale demonstrates sound validity and reliability for use within ODL settings, grit was neither related to retention nor could it significantly predict retention among the current sample. Although these results do not negate grit’s reported role in determining successful student outcomes in traditional higher education settings, they bring to the fore a need to critically re-examine grit’s contribution to understanding retention, not only among ODL students, but among those whose socio-economic circumstances remain a crucial barrier. As such, pre- emptive strategies aimed at retaining students should rather focus on mitigating the immediate, and often negative, socio-economic circumstances faced by students, rather than intervening based on their levels of psychological grit. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Forskning har länge försökt hjälpa organisationer att bli bättre och förstå vad som gör en organisation eller en person att nå sina mål eller inte. Under Angela Duckworth forskning fann hon att personer som hade förmågan att hålla sig motiverad under längre perioder klarade av en av den svårare officersutbildningen i USA. Det var inte den starkaste, smartaste eller snabbaste kandidaten som klara sig genom alla motgångar. Förmågan att vara motiverad trots motgångar och längre prövningar kallar Duckworth för ”grit”. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur ledare med grit kan motivera sina medarbetare under längre perioder. Via kvalitativa intervjuer, intervjuades ledare med grit om hur de motiverar sina medarbetare. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. Resultatet av studien visade att det var svårt att avgöra utifrån ett test ifall en person hade hög eller låg grit. Ledare med grit försöker motivera sina medarbetare genom att nå ut till de på ett personligt plan och motivera andra så som ledaren själv blir motiverad. Slutsatser som dragits är att nivån på grit är svår att avgöra med hjälp av ett test, framtida studier hade kunnat undersöka närmare på hur grit testet stämmer överens med hur ledaren agerar i praktiken. / Research has long sought to help organizations get better and understand what makes an organization or person achieve their goals and not. During Angela Duckworth's research, she found that people who could stay motivated for extended periods managed one of the more difficult officer training in the United States. It was not the strongest, smartest, or fastest candidate who managed through all the adversity. Duckworth calls the ability to be motivated despite adversity and prolonged trials "grit". The purpose of the study is to investigate how leaders with grit can motivate their employees. Through qualitative interviews, leaders were interviewed with grit about how they motivate their employees. The material was analyzed using content analysis. The results of the study showed that it was difficult to determine from a test whether a person had high or low grit. Leaders with grit try to motivate their employees by reaching out to them on a personal level and motivating others as the leader himself is motivated. Conclusions drawn are that the level of grit is difficult to determine with the help of a test, future studies could have examined in more detail how the grit test corresponds to how the leader acts in practice.

Syftet med denna studie är att synliggöra och skapa en större förståelse för de faktorer som kan påverka yrkeselevers måluppfyllelse och slutförande av sin utbildning i gymnasieskolan. Studien har fokuserat på att undersöka vad yrkeselever anser om svenskämnets innehåll och dess relation till deras programinriktning och framtid. Insamlandet av data och empiri har skett via en enkätundersökning och uppföljande semistrukturerade fokusgruppsintervjuer. Totalt ingick 130 elever i enkätundersökningen och 20 elever i intervjuundersökningen från en skola i norra Sverige. Underlag till enkäterna och analys av data och empiri har gjorts utifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk bestående av grit och Self Determination Theory. Resultaten visar att yttre faktorer i form av låsta dataplattformar som reglerar elevernas lärande till lektionstiden är en faktor som bidrar till lägre motivation. Det framkommer även att eleverna inte är medvetna om vad självständigt arbete innebär, vilket resulterar i mindre motivation till att nå högre betyg. Elevernas kontinuitet i svenskundervisningen blir även påverkad av arbetsplatsförlagd utbildning och kan resultera i en lägre grad av måluppfyllelse. Det har även framkommit att det finns ett flertal faktorer som stärker elevernas motivation och på sikt kan ge en ökad måluppfyllelse. Dessa är programanpassning, elevanpassning, elevinflytande och kontinuerlig feedback. / The purpose of this study is to visualize and create a greater understanding of the factors that can affect vocational students' goal fulfillment and completion of their education in upper secondary school. The study has focused on investigating what vocational students think about the content of the Swedish subject and its relationship to their program direction and future. The collection of data and empirical data has taken place via a survey and follow-up semi-structured focus group interviews. A total of 130 students were included in the survey and 20 students in the interview survey from a school in northern Sweden. Basis for the questionnaires and analysis of data and empirical data have been made based on a theoretical framework consisting of grit and Self Determination Theory. The results show that external factors in the form of locked data platforms that regulate students' learning during class time are a factor that contributes to lower motivation. It also appears that the students are not aware of what independent work entails, which results in less motivation to achieve higher grades. Students' continuity in Swedish education is also affected by workplace-based education and can result in a lower degree of goal achievement. It has also emerged that there are several factors that strengthen the students' motivation and in the long run can lead to increased goal achievement. These are program adaptation, student adaptation, student influence and continuous feedback.

Motivation är en förutsättning för lärande och utveckling. Utan framgångar vad gäller studieresultat hotas elevernas inlärning och deras måluppfyllelse, och sålunda i förlängningen deras möjligheter att välja sin framtid – till exempel möjligheterna att studera vidare eller att välja ett önskat arbete. Motivation påverkar därmed indirekt elevers livschanser och framtid. Syftet med studien är att undersöka attityderna bakom motivationen att lära sig svenska hos några elever som studerar svenska som andraspråk på Språkintroduktionsprogrammet med betygsmål åk 9 på en gymnasieskola i en större stad i Sverige. Attityder som undersöktes var inställningen till målspråket svenska, målspråkstalarna och målspråkskulturen, såväl som elevernas syn på sig själva som målspråkstalare i framtiden. Slutligen studeras också elevernas uppfattning om sin arbetsinsats och ihärdighet att utsätta sig för svenskspråkigt inflöde. Samtliga 14 elever fyllde skriftligt i en enkät utifrån syftet med studien och med fyra elever fördes därefter fördjupande intervjuer. Resultatet sammanställdes utifrån studiens fyra frågeställningar. Som slutsats drogs att eleverna hyste till största delen positiva attityder till målspråket svenska, målspråkstalarna och målspråkskulturen. Eleverna drevs framåt av både en önskad och en fruktad framtida bild av sig själva som målspråkstalare. Avslutningsvis upptäcktes även en diskrepans mellan hur motiverade eleverna upplevde sig vara och den ihärdighet som de faktiskt lade ner på att lära sig svenska och att utsätta sig för svenskspråkigt inflöde.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-09-12T13:12:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristina de Lima Cardoso.pdf: 1096751 bytes, checksum: d046a6eee357e1e8f2c0aceedfc61b59 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-12T13:12:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cristina de Lima Cardoso.pdf: 1096751 bytes, checksum: d046a6eee357e1e8f2c0aceedfc61b59 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-31 / This research aims to analyze the ways of being, acting and thinking of the heirs of traditions hillbillies that live in the rural area of Itapetininga, a municipality located in the southwest of the State of São Paulo. The contact with these guys, the story of stories, religious practices and to music party, own this every day, manifested individually and collectively, discussed in interviews and analysis of literary productions of authors from the region, show the continuities and changes in hillbillies traditions that are in constant interaction with the manners and customs of the city. Thus, wrapped in the process of "cultural hybridity", remains represented the rustic legacy. The city arouses the interest of man from the countryside, he inhabits and interacts both in the field and in the city, assimilates traditions, fits but does not despise the origins of the field, the ways of the site and the peculiar taste for things of nature / Essa pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar os modos de ser, agir e pensar dos herdeiros das tradições caipiras que habitam a zona rural de Itapetininga, município localizado no Sudoeste do Estado de São Paulo. O convívio com esses sujeitos, o relato de causos, as práticas religiosas e o festejar musicado, próprios desse cotidiano, manifestados de forma individual e coletiva, abordados nas entrevistas e analises de produções literárias de autores da região, evidenciam as permanências e as mudanças nas tradições caipiras que estão em constante interação com os modos e costumes da cidade. Dessa forma, envolto no processo de “hibridismo cultural”, permanece representado o legado caipira. O urbano desperta o interesse do homem da zona rural, ele habita e interage tanto no campo quanto na cidade, assimila tradições, as adapta mas não despreza as origens do campo, as maneiras do sítio e o gosto peculiar pelas coisas da natureza

A qualitative case study was conducted to document 12 employees’ perceptions of thriving in a Fortune 500 Company. The case study enabled the researcher to explore the perceptions of thriving among employees with varying levels of grit and resilience using maximum variation sampling strategy. The grit and resilience of these employees had been previously measured through a 14-item Adversity Quotient (AQ) Profile and a 10-item Grit Gauge (GG) assessment. Through analysis of interviews, concept maps, and a ranking exercise the researcher was able to identify the most critical factors that lead to thriving in the Fortune 500 Company. The factors include: positive connections, support of family, support of co-workers and others, shared passion, a sense of resolve and determination, and time for self and others. Additional findings from the research were documented and recommendations were made for leaders of corporate organizations and for further research.

This ontologically qualitative research study was conducted at Central China University (CCU, pseudonym). The purpose of this research was to (a) explore student narratives regarding their educational experiences in the CCU Business School's at-home internationalization programs; (b) provide an in-depth narrative analysis of student learning challenges and achievements; and (c) add valuable research-based knowledge of student-described experiences at CCU for use by program administrators. The findings focused on student-identified links between the challenges they encounter and their achievements. Additionally, student performance level and sex were closely associated with the challenges and achievements that students reported. In understanding the results, the concepts of student learning found in the approaches of learned optimism, growth mindset, and grit provide potentially fruitful insights. The findings of this research have powerful, instructive implications for administrators at CCU for determining how student challenges should be strategically chosen and shaped to generate specific, positive student achievements.

Virtual reality (VR), an emergent technology, affords experiential content delivery in education by evoking emotive responses in users, which can be prohibitive via traditional media. This thesis explores VR for the development of grit – passion and perseverance, which are essential characteristics in education and long-term success. The research proposes design strategies to stimulate senses for emotional engagement and a physiological response. In the project, two interactive environments position the user in emotional states to build passion and perseverance. To develop passion, the virtual world is designed to engage in creativity using 3D-spatial audio and visual effects. In contrast, to build perseverance users are exposed to a challenging environment that requires them to overcome and positively associate frustration with growth. This thesis demonstrates the potential of design for higher sense-stimulation applied through VR in education.

Integrated primary care has been incorporated into a variety of healthcare settings. The benefits of these services are empirically supported by a plethora of studies, which highlight the integration of behavioral and physical healthcare to be beneficial for both patient and healthcare providers. Integrated care models are typically incorporated in Veterans Affairs hospitals, general primary care facilities, and community clinics. Community-based clinics, such as safety-net clinics, typically serve underrepresented populations, and research has shown several mental and physical health disparities to exist among minority populations. Further, the minority stress model posits that distal and proximal minority-based stress processes can result in a cascade of negative health outcomes, such as increased symptomology or poor health-management behaviors. Although minority stressors can lead to this series of consequences, several community and personal strengths may serve as protective factors for marginalized individuals. These processes may occur within safety-net primary care, considering that the populations of interest are underserved. Black patient populations face numerous barriers to healthcare, such as racism, discrimination, and provider bias. Prior literature has shown that prior experiences of racism result in poorer mental and physical health outcomes for Black patient populations. Further, these outcomes have been shown to negatively impact healthcare attitudes and behaviors. The current study aimed to examine how aspects of the minority stress model may operate within safety-net primary care services for Black patient populations. It was hypothesized that racism would predict poorer mental health, which would negatively impact provider trust, and therefore predict lower medication adherence. Using a strengths-based approach, grit and social support were hypothesized to serve as personal and collective buffers to this series of relationship. A path analysis showed that racism significantly predicted mental health, which predicted poorer provider trust; however, the last path of this model, provider trust to medication adherence, was not found to be statistically significant. Thus, the path analysis was broken up into a series of mediations, which explored the relationship between racism and both provider trust and medication adherence through mental health. Mental health was found to mediate the relationship from racism to provider trust and from racism to medication adherence. The moderated mediation effect of social support was found to be non-significant for all mediations, except that grit was moderated the mediation between racism to medication adherence through mental health. These results showed grit served as a personal strength to dampen the associated effects of racism, which may suggest improving intrinsic attitudes and motivation towards long-term health related goals may increase treatment adherence behaviors. Results from this study also confirm the importance of integrated primary care services, as the data suggested high rates of mental health problems, which typically go underreported among Black patients in healthcare settings.