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A Look Back: Zootopia Movie Highlights Importance Of Grit, But Also Its LimitationsFor the next several months, each week I’ll be republishing posts from the past that I think readers might still find useful. This post first appeared in 2016.
I just came back from taking my grandkids to see the new Disney movie “Zootopia.” Though I agree with other reviewers who say the movie’s message on race and prejudice is a bit muddled, I also have to say that I think it provides an excellent perspective on “grit.” At the beginning, he movie’s star, Judy the rabbit, exemplifies the sterotypical belief in grit – she will try, try, try and succeed, and won’t let anything stop her. As the film goes on, however, she finds that her individual grit isn’t enough — she has to deal with additional challenges she faces from the attitudes and prejudices of society at large, and needs advice and assistance from others to ultimately succeed. This story reflects what I wrote in my Education Week Teacher column titled ‘It’s Time to Change the Conversation About Grit’: researchers David Yeager, Gregory Walton and Geoffrey L. Cohen have defined [it] as “the fuller formula for success: effort + strategies + help from others.” The movie’s message is particularly timely in light of very recent cautions from Carol Dweck (Carol Dweck Makes Strongest Statement Yet On Growth Mindset Misuse) and Angela Duckworth (NY Times Reports On Social Emotional Learning Run Amok) about the dangers of viewing Social Emotional Learning as panaceas. Even with those concerns, I have to admit I also did like the Shakira theme song for the movie, “Try Everything,” and see how that could be used as part of an SEL lesson. Here are the lyrics to the song, along with four videos: * The official music video to the movie * A “lyrics video” of the song * Two official trailers to the movie You might also be interested in: Video: “Better Call Saul” Scene Illustrates The Limitations Of Grit The Best Video Clips Demonstrating “Grit” – Help Me Find More         “The Best and Worst Education News of 2025”
The Best and Worst Education News of 2025 is the headline of one of my recent Education Week columns. It’s my annual “round-up” of what happened in education during the year.  Groups Of Students Can Create Music Together At “Make-A-Beat”
Users can create a virtual room and make a beat together at Make-A-Beat. It seems as simple as that. I’m adding it to The Best Online Sites For Creating Music  Small Slights Matter – This Workplace Research Has SO Much Relevance To The Classroom
The Lower Boundary of Workplace Mistreatment: Do Small Slights Matter? is such an interesting research paper (and it’s not behind a paywall)! A big retailer has a tradition of giving every employee a small gift card and a card on their birthday. Sometimes, though, people received that recognition a day-or-two late. The researchers found, as you can see from the textbox above, that those who received this small “slight” subsequently chose to work less. If this occurs with adults, it seems to me it’s a safe assumption that small slights could have an even greater impact with younger people. It’s something for all teachers to keep in mind…..  Research Studies Of The Week Mohamed_hassan / Pixabay I often write about research studies from various fields and how they can be applied to the classroom. I write individual posts about ones that I think are especially significant, and will continue to do so. However, so many studies are published that it’s hard to keep up. So I’ve started writing a “round-up” of some of them each week or every other week as a regular feature. You can see all my “Best” lists related to education research here. Here are some new useful studies (and related resources): Situational Motivation in Academic Learning: A Systematic Review is a new study I’m adding to Best Posts On “Motivating” Students.
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