How children succeed

I started backwards and read Tough's follow-up book to this first, [b:Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why|29434476|Helping Children Succeed What Works and Why|Paul Tough|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459328081s/29434476.jpg|49700907], which I didn't find very rich. This book, however, is a strong and important addition to our understanding of education, and I highly recommend it. As in [b:Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America|3245249|Whatever It Takes Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America|Paul Tough|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1349086342s/3245249.jpg|3280003], Tough does a nice job of synthesizing bodies of research and personalizing it with descriptive stories of students and educators.

I'm on board with character education and believe it needs to be purposely cultivated in public schools, so everything in this book falls right into line with what I've been trying to do in my own work with kids -- I've been following what KIPP and Riverdale Country School are doing and pulling from Oettingen and Duckworth's work. But as always, the difficulty is in translating this effectively into practice. I'm coming around to the view that character is best built through intellectual engagement in academically rigorous work and through the environment and social relationships one works within, as well as through small group and individual conversations with children when they experience crisis, rather than through some set curriculum.