Teaching Hope, Not Grit

Abstract

This chapter locates teaching hope as a central task of schools, especially within social studies classes and citizenship education. It exposes worrisome problems with one seemingly hope-aligned educational approach that has gained some traction in schools: developing grit. That approach is problematically individualist and perpetuates injustices and inequities in our society, which may perpetuate despair. To depict a better alternative to grit, this chapter describes quality approaches to citizenship education and locates cultivating habits of hope within them. More than teaching grit, teaching hope provides an approach that is more flexible, social, and political, all the while promoting action that improves one’s life and those of other people.