CLASSROOM CLIMATE, CULTURE, PARENTING SKILLS, AND STUDENT GRIT

The education system has noted that student motivation and perseverance are lacking, yet the focus on standardized testing over the last decade has increased the rigor and expectations in the classroom. As such, educational researchers are always looking for new and inventive ways to enhance student achievement without increasing the financial burden on the schools. Grit is the non-cognitive skill that a person processes that enable them to work hard, endure, and persevere through challenging times. A person who exhibits grit often succeeds over those who have the cognitive ability but do not have grit. Children in countries with collectivist cultures often display grit, as well as children whose parents are authoritative parents. Thus, if the cultural philosophies or parenting skills could be mimicked in a classroom, the classroom climate could increase grit in a school setting. This quantitative study was implemented to explore the relationships between culture, parenting skills, classroom climate, and grit with the hopes that a predictor of grit could be identified. Results did not find a significant relationship between culture, parenting skills, and grit, but they did find a significant relationship between classroom climate and grit, specifically student academic competence and grit. Further research is needed to examine the connection between discipline and behavior in the classroom and how that affects the grit and classroom climate