Achievement
The people I interviewed ranged in age from early 30s to 70s, both genders, from both professional and non-professional careers. Their achievements focused on family and occupational successes, such as raising children or completing a difficult project, as well as personal achievement--such as receiving the Eagle Scout award. The skills they believed helped them achieve their goals included hard work, collaboration skills, flexibility, knowing their own limits, determination and having a joyful attitude toward life. They admired those attributes in others, and achievements in others that reflected their honesty, sense of duty and overcoming weakness.
From these interviews, I think some important conceptions of achievement are: 1) it requires determination to finish tasks and follow through, 2) success means collaborating with others with flexibility and honesty, 3) overcoming obstacles is more important than receiving recognition, 4) achievement requires recognizing the skills and gifts of others.
I think it is amazing how much we emphasize grades, GPA and test scores for young people and yet, these are not achievements a lot of adults consider when reflecting on their lives. I really liked the important ideas of achievement that you drew from your interviews. How do you think you will incorporate these in your classes? Will you try to convey these to your students? If so, how will you try?
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