Teaching character, grit and resilience in schools is valuable to children but is unlikely to play a major part in eradicating the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier peers, according to research.
In recent years, policymakers in England and elsewhere in the world have focused on social and emotional learning, and the importance of developing character, determination and self-belief as a way of improving learning, particularly among children from lower income backgrounds.
A study by academics from the universities of Cambridge, Zürich and Tübingen, however, has found that the relative underperformance of disadvantaged pupils has little to do with them lacking the character, attitude or mindset of their wealthier peers.
Researchers analysed data collected by the 2018 programme for international student assessment (Pisa) from more than 240,000 15-year-olds across 74 countries and found the average difference in science results between the top and bottom 25% of pupils in terms of wealth was a huge 70.5 points, equivalent to almost three years of schooling.
Although children from wealthier backgrounds were found to have higher levels of socio-emotional skills on average, the impact of the discrepancy on the overall achievement gap was modest. Researchers calculated that if disadvantaged pupils had the same social and emotional skills as their wealthier peers and the academic effects were exactly the same, the gap would close by just 9%, probably less.
