Date of Award
Fall 2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Committee Chair
Jennifer Putnam
Abstract
Previous grit research has not yet studied how the performing arts may have an impact on student grit scores and perceptions of grit. Grit is defined by two main characteristics: consistency of interest and perseverance of effort. Continued participation in an extracurricular theatre production requires students to maintain interest and sustain effort throughout the rehearsal and performance period. This mixed methods interpretivist research study examined how high school students from three groups (performing arts, non-performing arts, and non-arts) measured on Duckworth and Quinn’s (2009) Grit-S scale, as well as how performing arts students perceived their own grit after participation in a semester-long extracurricular theatre rehearsal and performance period. Findings of the study show that performing arts students who participated in extracurricular performance perceived that their grit increased due to lessons and experiences learned through the process. The mean grit scores of performing arts students place them below non-arts students and above non-performing arts students on the Grit-S scale.
Recommended Citation
Gibson, Kelsey, "Grit in the Performing Arts: A Mixed-Methods Study of High School Theatre Student Perceptions of Grit" (2021). Doctor of Education Dissertations. 70.
https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/education-dissertations/70
Creative Commons License
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Included in
Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Theatre and Performance Studies Commons