The importance of being “gritty”

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am collecting data now in 3 different areas to support my research into the effects of using Participatory Action Research to conduct curriculum design that focuses on the experiences of faculty and students to drive the selection of topics, and the content of lessons that are satisfying to them, as opposed to the traditional method of awaiting fro policy guidance from Dept of the Army and then conducting pilots programs.

i am examining the effects in 3 dimensions:
1. comparing the PAR generated curriculum to traditional curriculum as measured on degrees of satisfaction in quant and qual surveys of students and faculty

2. comparing the cognitive maps produced by analyzing the policy pronouncements and white papers from DA, and the aggregate of collected faculty and student comments about what “ought” to be covered in the curriculum to identify areas of overlap and underlap

3. the effect of the PAR process on my own teaching practice by examining my learning journal notes, blog entries, email exchanges with trusted others

my challenge is the variety of mixed methods and protocols, and will ultimately involve an attempt at integration of insights from 3 varied perspectives

am just grinding it out, chunk by chunk

Dr Anders Ericcson’s life work offers insights into the importance of “grit” on getting things done: it appears to be much more important than natural talent or brilliance

This post is part of my effort to keep generating the psychic energy it takes to take the last few steps of a long journey, by committing in public to completing the task of my dissertation.

Ihate finishing things: i am much more prone to start something new to keep the inspiring energy of entreprenuerial activity going

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