Skills in action
How GripTape’s Learning Challenge boosts confidence and skill sets
GripTape’s Learning Challenge empowers teenagers to develop their skills and take action on their ideas. Driven by their passions, Challengers select diverse topics ranging from niche to complex, with 44% of participants choosing interdisciplinary approaches. This freedom of choice empowers Challengers to take the lead, fostering autonomy and collaboration. As a result, Challengers develop valuable skills and gain the confidence to overcome challenges and adapt more effectively.
Crucially, Challengers decide how to learn, with the flexibility to adjust their approach as they go. This freedom allows them to gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of their Challenge, making their learning journey more engaging and relevant.
By managing their own resources, whether it be money, time, or energy, Challengers pick up valuable project management skills. Impressively, 75% of GripTape’s alums go on to create new projects with clear goals and strategies.
Want to see Competence building in action? Hear Lily share her Learning Challenge experience exploring the molecular biology behind twinning rates in cattle:
Highlights
1..Purpose and progress: skills that reinforce each other
Our research finds that having a sense of purpose and making progress toward goals go hand in hand. When teens feel they’re making progress, they’re more motivated and have a stronger sense of purpose. This cycle of progress and purpose helps build self-energizing motivation and resilience which keeps them moving forward.
2. Champions in building skills and confidence
Learning on your own is not easy, it requires dedication and resilience. With the support of Champions, Challengers feel empowered to tackle tough tasks with confidence. Regular check-ins with their Champions reinforce their learning and provide valuable opportunities to reflect on their progress, helping them develop practical skills in planning, time management, and execution.
3. Falling and getting back up
Challengers are learning to see setbacks as part of the growth process. While they might feel like veering off the path is a sign of failure, it’s actually an opportunity for them to learn more about themselves and gain skills that are important to their future. They are in a state of dynamic growth, allowing their sense of identity to flex and evolve with them. Roadblocks give a young person the chance to build resilience and learn to pivot and re-allocate their resources for navigating life’s ups and downs.
4. Connecting with prosocial purposes
When given the chance to guide their own learning, Challengers often bring in topics that relate to their everyday lives. They like to take on problems that affect their communities, approaching them from different angles and blending various subjects in the process. This approach helps them see connections between ideas and use what they’ve learned in new ways, benefiting their own growth and the world around them.
5. Learning through self-expression
When young people engage in learning that reflects their personal interests and identities, it boosts motivation and deepens their understanding of themselves. Exploring topics that resonate with them fosters a clearer sense of self. By centering youth identity, agency, and purpose, this approach enables them to apply their knowledge to real-world problems and shape their sense of who they are and what they want to achieve.
References
3. Ratner, K., Gladstone, J. R., Zhu, G., Li, Q., Estevez, M., & Burrow, A. L. (2023). Purpose and goal pursuit as a self‐sustaining system: Evidence of daily within‐person reciprocity among adolescents in self‐driven learning. Journal of Personality. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12911
4. Ratner, K., Zhu, G., Li, Q., Estevez, M., & Burrow, A. L. (2023). Interacting with supportive adults predicts greater same‐day psychosocial functioning among adolescents in a self‐driven learning program. Journal of Adolescence, 95(4), 729–739. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12149
5. Ratner, K., Zhu, G., Li, Q., Rice, M., Estevez, M., & Burrow, A. L. (2024). Derailment in adolescence: Factor analytic structure and correlates. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(3), 1099–1106. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12954
6. Zhu, G. & Burrow, A.L. (2022). Youth Voice in Self-Driven Learning as a Context for Interdisciplinary Learning. Journal of Educational Studies and Multidisciplinary Approaches (JESMA), 2 (1), 131-154. https://doi.org/10.51383/jesma.2022.29
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Still curious about the impact of GripTape’s self-learning program? Explore how it empowers individuals to reach new heights in knowledge and skill mastery. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to see how our innovative approach is shaping the future of learning!
