To See the World in a Child

Not for the first time as an educator, I find occasion to appreciate and savor the profound levels of care and nurturing that unfold all around me through teachers in their excellent and I think, loving work with students.  It is a gift to value and, as many of my peers reflect, a unique and genuine aspect of a good teacher – rooted in character and personal integrity.  Not I sense, something that can be imparted in a teacher training process and more perhaps, the palpable surfacing of a vocation for teaching. I am aware of the striking joy, impressive certainty, unremitting faith and high standards for the self and compassion toward others that is lovingly practiced on a daily basis.  Most beautiful to me is the sense that teachers are inspired by a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to fulfill their own human and spiritual potential.

As I listen to teachers, and as I watch them in action with learners, I notice a true spirit of respect and companionship in the learning process that gently holds and furthers the promise of each child.  The potency of seeing the world in a child and the value of contributing to our world through our most precious resource – our children – once again emerges and moves to the forefront of our collective consciousness.  Of course, we endeavor to imbue all we do with a profound respect born of this awareness of the difference each of us makes in this world.

Authentic teaching opens us to truth - whatever it is, however we find it, wherever it may take us. Teaching in this way does not mandate where the learner goes, but rather encourages a student to welcome the new and unknown, to accept differneces, to tolerate ambiguity, and to embrace paradox.  It is about reflecting and elucidating the inner sources of both teaching and learning, opening our hearts and minds as teacher and student to find ourselves in and with each other. It originates in knowledge as compassion and as love. Teachers live into a commitment to care for learners. They teach minds, touch hearts and transform lives by encouraging an authentic and spontaneous experience with the world.

Under the tutelage of those who care, school becomes a joyous learning community.  I feel a sense of wonder in the face of this prevailing sense of promise all around me. I recognize human simplicity, human love and I embrace the humility we share in being our authentic selves.

Mission: The Heartbeat Of The School

‘Not What A School Does, But The Difference A School Makes’

The Mission Statement of an independent school provides the ‘why’ an organization exists, and is the basis for the long-range strategic process or architectural plan for implementing the school business. Strategic process evolves out of mission and provides the scaffolding for direction. An organizational development plan emerges next with steps to take the school toward its intended direction. Specific fund-raising campaigns are launched in support of it all.

The strategic process needs to be clearly articulated and needs to define defensible programmatic initiatives and their respective costs.  This well defined process allows for the creation of overarching fund-raising plans from which specific fund-raising campaigns are organized and implemented.  In this way, a school secures annual giving, endowment, and major gifts/capital funds.  However, an organization’s mission statement is the HEART of the process and defines it all.

So developing an understanding of how to establish an effective mission statement is vital.  The priority is ensuring that your school has a lucid mission statement and that it is revisited and reviewed regularly.

The mission of each independent school should come from its core competitive advantages. Therefore, it must be clearly articulated, fully understood, and completely embraced by the school’s diverse constituencies. It must elucidate the difference the school community will make for all those it serves, rather than simply providing a description of what the school’s function. Finally, it needs to convey all of this as succinctly as possible.

1. Establish limits “What is our reason for existence?”
2. Motivational to constituents.
3.  Succinct enough to remember and easily share.
4. Strong enough to inspire.
5. Helpful in measuring the school's success —The mission statement helps in the process of organizational effectiveness- a school’s mission statement becomes a measure against which results and benefits of the services provided are assessed.
         

“Ends, not means

Does your mission statement address what difference your organization will make for those you serve, or does it merely describe what your organization does? Remember, your mission statement doesn’t relate how, but rather why. It should focus on the results your organization accomplishes through its programs and services.”  Center for Not For Profit Organizations

A Personal Effort Toward an Attitude of Gratitude

I am hardly a Thanksgiving expert—though I may know how to make a tasty turkey and savory stuffing, but as I mature, I have become more aligned with what I shall call an attitude of gratitude.  And, I do believe that acts of appreciation and thanksgiving beget other good acts in our society. I guess it is a bit like the pay it forward mentality.

Medical professionals seem to agree that there are great social, psychological, and physical health benefits associated with giving thanks. So, it seems only logical that developing regular habits around being grateful would help one enjoy those benefits.

I endeavor to think of all I am grateful for often and to write down the good things that I am grateful for regularly.  This was a simple step I started when I became concerned as a parent, with raising my children to be hopeful, contributing members of our community.

Along the way, I learned about studies, where people were asked to record a few things they experienced recently for which they were grateful.  The idea was simple and brief -  a single thought – a recent good moment – something you love in this world – a book, a friend – music.  The results were positive. The research suggests that many discover a lighter, happier attitude toward life in the process.

I think what makes this click for me is that I have made a conscious decision to be happier and more grateful.  A new frame of reference to use even in life’s difficult moments. Keeping it personal allows me to hone in on people to whom I am grateful, which in turn seems to give me more patience where I used to dismiss people. This helps me consider what my life would be like without certain experiences – even ones I find trying – there are gifts in all of it.  And living it all with as much appreciation as is possible, empowers me to put things in perspective thereby, finding new ways to be grateful for the sources of goodness in my life.

Anger Gives You a Creative Boost

One of the more compelling aspects of schools as a workplace, is how conflict avoidant school cultures tend to be.  As a female administrator, I have mulled this phenomenon a lot.  I have seen women in the workplace treated poorly for expressing anger and men less so.  I have come to think of this as a gender issue. So, I have witnessed and personally experienced other's anger and my own anger in all of my jobs.  Schools are people intensive, and therefore, chock full of opportunities to encounter and to feel anger. 

When I came accross this article in the Scientific American, I was intrigued by new notions and new ways of thinking about my own frustrations at work, and a possible new approach to handling all too familiar scenarios.

A bit of fury helps you think outside of the box

We all know anger is bad… right? Generally, it’s unpleasant to feel and it often leads to undesirable outcomes. After all, when was the last time you lost your temper with your boss and was pleased with the outcome?

However, perhaps you can also think of times when anger wasn’t so bad. Perhaps, in some contexts, feeling angry was actually beneficial. This counterintuitive idea was pursued by researchers Matthijs Baas, Carsten De Dreu, and Bernard Nijstad in a series of studies  recently published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. They found that angry people were more likely to be creative – though this advantage didn’t last for long, as the taxing nature of anger eventually leveled out creativity. This study joins several recent lines of research exploring the relative upside to anger – the ways in which anger is not only less harmful than typically assumed, but may even be helpful (though perhaps in small doses).

In an initial study, the researchers found that feeling angry was indeed associated with brainstorming in a more unstructured manner, consistent with “creative” problem solving. In a second study, the researchers first elicited anger from the study participants (or sadness, or a non-emotional state) and then asked them to engage in a brainstorming session in which they generated ideas to preserve and improve the environment. In the beginning of this task, angry participants generated more ideas (by volume) and generated more original ideas (those thought of by less than 1 percent or less of the other participants), compared to the other sad or non-emotional participants. However, this benefit was only present in the beginning of the task, and eventually, the angry participants generated only as many ideas as the other participants.

These findings reported by Baas and colleagues make sense, given what we already know about anger. Though anger may be unpleasant to feel, it is associated with a variety of attributes that may facilitate creativity. First, anger is an energizing feeling, important for the sustained attention needed to solve problems creatively. Second, anger leads to more flexible, unstructured thought processes. This flexibility involves the use of broad and inclusive categories and the increased ability to find new connections between categories. People who feel angry (vs. sad, for example) are less likely to think in systematic ways, and are more likely to rely on broad, global cues when judging information. This kind of global processing tends to be associated with literally seeing the “bigger picture.”

These findings join the growing body of work showing that negative emotions, like anger, may have beneficial effects in our daily lives. This work, however, is usually accompanied by caveats – anger is not likely to be beneficial in any and all contexts. Rather, anger is likely to be beneficial only in certain situations, or for certain people. Supporting the situation-sensitive nature of the benefits of anger, research I was involved in found that angry people were more likely to perform better in a negotiation, but only when that negotiation was confrontational in nature. Indeed, in these studies, we found that in situations in which anger is likely to be useful – like a confrontational negotiation – participants actually wanted to feel angry and took steps to foster this emotion within themselves.

Supporting the person-sensitive nature of the benefits of anger, another paper  recently published in Psychological Science reported that angry people were actually perceived as better leaders, but only when leading people who were less sensitive to conflict. This finding suggests that successful relationships may depend on the alignment between the emotional natures of the partners, even if this alignment involves the experience of anger. Overall, these lines of research demonstrate that anger isn’t all bad news. Rather, feeling angry may be downright beneficial, depending on what one is trying to achieve or whom one is trying to impress.

Brett Q. Ford

Five Dysfunctions of a Team

In his groundbreaking book - The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable - best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, identifies 5 dysfunctions of teams that consistently hold them back from reaching their full potential. The book is written in a very engaging manner - Lencioni describes The Five Dysfunctions of a Team as a "leadership fable". Lencioni not only identifies the five common dysfunctions of teams, but also shares a powerful team building model to overcome the Five Dysfunctions of a Team.

The story is about a high tech startup company.  They have more talented people, more money, and a better connected board than their competitors, but still, they are third in sales.  Morale is quickly eroding. The CEO steps down and a retired manager, Kathryn, is hired as CEO. And so begins the story of Kathryn working to build teamwork among her staff.

The last 40 pages contain a model for teamwork, including suggestions for improvement in each component of the model, and suggestions for the leader.  There’s also a 15-question assessment for evaluating each component of the model for your team.

The Model

Description of each component of the model

Trust

Trust is the foundation. 

One type of trust is credibility, the trust that one will meet her commitments. 

Another type of trust, the type at the foundation of this model, is for one to trust the team enough that he feels he can say what he really thinks in difficult conversations. He feels he can be vulnerable to the team without undue concern for ramifications or perceptions to others or to himself.  This type of trust is important because it enables constructive conflict to thrive.  

Constructive conflict 

Constructive conflict is the passionate and unfiltered debate of ideas.  Constructive conflict is important because it enables the team to come to a good solution more quickly. This is especially true for difficult problems.  If trust isn’t there and people hold back, then certain critical information and perspectives may not be included.

Constructive conflict is also needed to build commitment within the team.  Until each team member has had a chance to be heard, and issues considered, she will not make a deep commitment. She may give passive commitment, but that commitment will dwindle when the going gets tough.

Commitment

Commitment is important because it drives accountability. If there is a deep commitment, team members will tend to hold each other accountable. Also, team members will tend not to dodge individual or team accountability. 

Accountability

Accountability is important because it drives attention to results. Failure to hold one another accountable creates an environment where inattention to results can thrive.

Attention to results

Attention to results drives attainment of the team’s goals. The morale of the team members will tend to rise or fall with the results, which is healthy for the team. The morale of the team members will tend to be less affected by needs that aren’t connected to success of the team (such as individual ego.)

The leader’s role 

The leader’s role in each of these functions is two fold; to model the behavior, and to set up a structure to facilitate the behavior. An example of modeling a behavior would be to show one’s willingness to be vulnerable, to model Trust. An example of setting up a structure to facilitate a behavior would be to go around the table in a meeting to give each person a chance to state concerns, to facilitate Commitment.

Priorities in the hierarchy of teams 

If you are a manager, you have a role in at least two teams. You lead a team of your staff (level 1 team), and you are a member of a team of your peers in your boss’s staff (level 2 team).  There can be a tendency to have a higher allegiance to your level 1 team than to your level 2 team. In cases where you must prioritize between the needs of the level 2 team and the needs of the level 1 team, you should chose the priorities of the level 2 team, and conform the priorities of the level 1 team to meet those higher needs. 

source: therainmakergroup.com

Managing the Torrent of the New

It often feels to me that things around me are moving fast.  It also seems as though the current mantra is: keep going, just try it, but that sometimes my efforts to live into that feel more like: failing forward and then succeeding and then failing anew.   As I navigate, I sometimes feel that I am being pushed beyond my limits as I exert effort to “keep up” and respond to the constant waves of the new.

I know that if I can slow down and think of my own learning curve in the face of this torrent as grounded in my capacity to adapt to changes in the environment rather than control them, then I might steward myself through this all more effectively.

As an educator, I know that living is learning and learning is changing, adapting, evolving, transforming and allowing myself to be transformed. This suggests to me that I need to take in my failure and success as information or data. Perhaps from there, I can use that data to establish footing that empowers me by providing me with a little balance.  A balance that comes from filtering what I use in the face of ‘all of  it’; and some self-discipline in setting boundaries.  To achieve this, I need to use some sound critical thinking skills:  How does this new concept/technology/idea connect with what I already know?  Can I use that to engage with it?  Is this relevant? On the other side of this – what skill or disposition will I have that I want or need?

If I can live into this myself than maybe I can help children know that simple truth and then maybe I have conferred something of lasting value and significance that they can use in life as they face their own unforeseen torrents of the new.

A New Way of Working

In my efforts to think through the role of schools and educators in preparing learners for the world they will be operating in very soon, I read a lot. I came accross this piece through a website on diversity in the twenty first century -a passion of mine as 'globlized' is here.  The students we teach today will be working in new ways that we are just beginning to glimpse.

Communities of the Future 

by Howard Ross

Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization healthy or unhealthy.

Systems Thinking has been defined as an approach to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. I is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. Wikepedia

• Collective Stress – created by both the prolonged economic crisis and tension in the world about security.

• Technology – now allows us to transmit information faster, broader, and deeper than ever before. Across our current technology tens of millions of people can be mobilized within days, hours or even minutes. Now in one push of the button, a viral message can be transmitted to the world (“Rally at Tahrir Square at noon!!”) over the Internet, through Facebook, by Twitter or by whatever new communication technology will be invented and be in use by the time this blog is two days old!

• Information – which supported by technology, is disseminated faster and broader, and deeper and, as in the case of WikiLeaks, respecting very few boundaries of privacy or secrecy.

• Globalism – An increasingly greater sense of ourselves as interconnected world citizens, impacted by what’s going on in other places that used to feel much farther away. The whole world is watching. In some cases we welcome that connection, in some cases we try to resist it (as when we attempt to “wall off” our country to immigrants), but either way it looms large in our consciousness.

• Media and Communication – which now constantly blares at us, and, even more significantly pre-sorts the news we see.

• Generational Shifts – that have produced younger people, who are inherently more diverse, more informed, more connected, more independent in their thinking, and more prone to think of themselves as global citizens.

At the nexus of all of these trends we find a world in which people are increasingly less likely to defer to the power of authority figures to tell them what to do. Today people are more likely to instantly react and respond, more likely to find like-minded souls to respond with, and less likely to be “patient” about waiting for change.

What does this say about the organizations and communities of the future? The same energy that can inspire us when it coalesces to create positive change can also create anarchy. Imagine, if we were to shift –- as some have suggested and as is now technologically possible –- to a system in which citizens directly vote on legislation, rather than go through elected officials. An exciting prospect if one believes in “government by the people.” Yet, how informed might they be? How susceptible to the kind of demagoguery we have consistently been seeing? How likely for a majority to dominate a minority?

For those of us in leadership positions, it calls for a significant reinvention of how we go about leading. It requires constantly giving up control and encouraging autonomy. It requires recognizing that the people we are leading may know more, more often, about more things than we ever have experienced. It means that the “command and control” structures of leadership we have been mostly raised to admire must be replaced with more inclusive forms of stewardship, in which the role of the leader is one of facilitation even more than directing.

We have an opportunity to learn to create a greater sense of Organizational Community within our businesses, schools, community structures, and governmental institutions. A true appreciation of the interconnectedness of the various stakeholder groups that we interact with, and a greater sense of inclusiveness so that all people can contribute to the greater good. More and more people, including some of the clients we’re working with, are proving that these kinds of organizations can thrive, even while others are struggling.

The world will not be “quieting down.” In fact, it is likely to continue to become more chaotic. Those of us who lead organizations and governments will have a hard time letting go of our habitual ways of leading and interacting. Some of us may fall to the wayside. Some of our organizations and governments may do the same.

But those who survive will have to decide how we manage that chaos. Do we fight against it and create upheaval and more conflict, or do we take more of an Aikido approach, creating “chaordic” structures that provide just enough order around the chaos to keep us focused on the needs of the future. How well will we be able to internalize the revolution that is happening outside of us?

It is not too grandiose to say that the fate of humanity may rest in the answer to that question.

Anything Is Possible website

Feeling Safe

The other day I was spending time with my grandson per our usual family routine.  In these moments we often talk about how kindergarten is going and his new friends.  This particular time, we began exploring how we know if someone is a friend.  We decided that a friend likes to spend time together and likes to play cooperatively.  Together, we acknowledged that sometimes it can be hard to figure out and that it is good to play with everybody and see how friendship grows.

The exchange reminded me of a piece I read about a conversation with a four or five year old about how you know if somebody loves you.  People can say that they care for you but how do you really know?  Apparently, this child mulled that over and revealed that he could tell that he was loved by someone from the way they said his name.  When asked to say more about what he meant.  He said there is a feeling he gets when someone who loves him speaks his name that he just feels inside.  He described it as a feeling of warmth.  Then he paused and added that when someone who loves you says your name out loud your name is safe in their mouth.  

I have to confess that I was awed by that notion. My thoughts as an educator have returned to our conversation more than a few times as I weigh community building in schools. For children to be able to trust in their community is not a small thing – it is a deep and important thing. I believe most of us as adults recognize that when this is not present in community, one might hesitate before venturing somewhere one needs to go, accomplish less than one is destined to create. ‘We do our learning and our business at the speed of our … distrust.’

I hope that students who interact with me feel at all times comfortable in my presence and that their name is ‘safe in my mouth’.

Essential Adolescent Needs

The elementary experience in a progressive school is never more vital than when students reach the culminating years 5-8.  This is an amazing period of growth and development punctuated by what is important to these learners developmentally:

Relationship: To connect with others.

Autonomy: To be independent.

Competence: To do well in school, and to feel like a worthwhile, significant person.

Engagment: To have a good time and to feel learning is fun.

Fifth to Eighth grade years are a period of dynamic physical change in the life of a student. They are also the threshold to a greater capacity to think conceptually, which is indelibly linked to an abundant curiosity about life, the world, and peers. Students are preoccupied with ‘the self’ and wrestling with self-doubt.  Students at this stage of their development are more connected to what is happening ‘out there’ than at home but also critically need familial support. It is crucial that the learning environment encompass the academic and social needs of these learners. Teaching the whole child remains essential to academic growth.  Learning is enhanced by social and emotional realities.  Active and interactive learning needs to be relevant to student interests and needs.

In their classes, students get to know each other, have the chance to do meaningful work, and to share and to reflect on that work afterwards. Students ask and answer open-ended questions. Students regularly help to design and to make choices in their work. There is a balance between teacher-orchestrated lessons and independent and group work on skills and projects. This strategy results in a rigorous work day designed to optimize opportunities for growth and success.

In their social interactions at school, these students are exploring new freedoms. It is important that the school environment creates space for mistakes as a natural and healthy part of learning. Mistakes are an intentional part of our learning curve and should be navigated in a respectful way that teaches children from 'their' place of experience. The aim is to clarify what is expected, provide a chance to repair, safeguard safety and relationship, practice new habits, and nurture the integrity of the mistake maker.

When these essential components of what a fifth to eighth grader needs are woven into their daily school experience, middle school students have the opportunity to thrive.

A Recent Good Read

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion

John Hagel III (Author), John Seely Brown (Author), Lang Davison (Author

“The Power of Pull,” suggests that we are at the start of a “Big Shift,” precipitated by the meshing of globalization and the Information Digital Revolution. At this stage, we experience this Big Shift as expanding pressure, weakening performance and increasing stress because the systems and practices we function with are progressively more dysfunctional.

At the same time, the Big Shift also permits a exponential global flow of ideas, innovations, new collaborative potential and new market prospects. This surge is rich and fast. Today, this book argues, ‘tapping the global flow becomes the key to productivity, growth and prosperity. But to tap this flow effectively, every country, company and individual needs to be constantly growing their talents.’

“We are living in a world where flow will prevail and topple any obstacles in its way,” says Hagel. “As flow gains momentum, it undermines the precious knowledge stocks that in the past gave us security and wealth. It calls on us to learn faster by working together and to pull out of ourselves more of our true potential, both individually and collectively. It excites us with the possibilities that can only be realized by participating in a broader range of flows. That is the essence of the Big Shift.”

So once again we read and consider the need to constantly upgrade education and as educators, we are left to ponder how effectively we are preparing our students for 'cutting it' or thriving in this new world of opportunity. How do we help them learn faster and work with others to achieve their true potential? How do we enhance the student’s learning experience for a world where ‘skills and dispositions’ will be more important than “knowledge stocks”?

Passion and Purpose

It happened again the other day.  I had an exchange with a middle school student about a new idea and found the student initially challenging the concept simply as it represented a departure from what used to be.  The encounter left me pondering how we meet students where they are developmentally and stretch their understanding through open dialogue. How do we move a student deeper into the learning process in these teachable – learnable moments connecting them to real passion as it informs true purpose?

There are real learning experiences that truly shift the way we think and innovate. The drive to think independently certainly requires that from the earliest years we instill the attitudes of confidence and imaginative thinking in our students.  The development of personal confidence allows a student to identify, nurture and develop the inner voice so necessary to pursuing one’s true passions.  It also creates the space needed to prevent the outside opinions of  ‘others’ or’ the status quo’ from squelching one’s vision and creative inspiration for a new way of approaching things.

Progressive schools encourage students to enjoy living in the world of ideas, to be curious and to think independently.   Conversations unfold repeatedly throughout the day  in cooperative groups or larger class discussions where teachers and students commonly inquire, "What do you think?" or interject, "But, I have another idea." ,or ask,  "What are other ways to solve this problem?" ,"Why did you choose to solve the problem this way?",  "Perhaps there is not only one right answer to this question.".  These exercises in exploring and considering what we know and how we know it generate habits of mind that support creativity and allow students to evolve beyond the walls of any classroom intellectually.

This is the essence of critical thinking.  Examining and incorporating diverse perspectives and pushing the limits of our ability to hold alternative viewpoints.  As we listen carefully to other ideas and stories, we are more fascinated by the world around us, and that attitude of engagement supports confidence in distinctive points of view and encourages us to do the hard work requisite to our best thinking, best editing, or best searching for the depths of our learning.

Returning to my moment with the middle school student, I extended opportunity for deeper dialogue inviting the student to take pride in the formation of ideas and joy and passion in expressing them.   Together we work to ensure that imaginative thinking, ripe with ingenuity and the problem-solving skills critical to our world, takes precedence over the simple adolescent behavior of questioning others on superficial levels.

Old Guard – Can’t Live with Them; Can’t Live without Them

I recently spent some time with friends from other independent schools.  As we compared and contrasted our stories from the field, we noticed that as a whole we saw drawbacks and advantages to the teachers in our schools who have been there for more than ten years.  We reckoned that ten years was the turning point for staff in assuming the title and role of old guard.  

So, exactly what are the advantages of the old guard?  Well, most schools view the presence of teachers with tenure as a reflection of stability and excellence.  They have clout with parents and alumni, and the years of experience in the school and education that provide and lend credibility to the school’s mission and forward momentum. Part of the stability they offer seems to include protecting the school from too much unbidden change. 

The drawbacks turn out to be the flip side of the same coin. In other words, tenure and stability can be the pillars of resistance to change and intentionally or inadvertently, impede the progress of less tenured teachers, in some cases, driving them away.  We all agreed that the tone this usually takes is best summarized by – “we tried that before” – sometimes followed by it did not work – most times, just offered as a good reason not to innovate.  This tone, while intended to be protective of the status quo, actually can lead to new blood in the school feeling rejected and alienated.  

The stories from the field that we shared all included painful exchanges between one of us as a newcomer and someone tenured in the school.  In most instances we agreed that this felt a bit like receiving free advice or instruction on who we need to be to acclimate and fit into the culture of the school. 

As we concluded our exchange about this, we recognized that while tenured staff members are precious, without strong guidance from the school’s leadership, they can derail forward momentum.  We then went on to speculate about how a school climate or culture might evolve in ways that minimize these trends in school community by inviting all of us to be creative and innovative and to gently hold us accountable in collaborating to make education in our schools the best it can be.

Hold Each Other Up

I keep an 'ideas'  file among my many documents.  I like to sift through things I have read or that I have come accross, here and there, that inspire me.  Sometimes, I am able to attribute the origin of the thought to its actual author, sometimes, as on this occasion, not.  I came accross this reflection/recommendation about stewarding the young and resonated with it deeply and meaningfully.

As I prepare to do my daily work, I find this concept of cultivating our youth an inspiring notion.  I am uplifted to be reminded of the authentic, 'real value' added of philanthropic work in schools.  I am newly committed to cultivating and stewarding our youth as they grow and learn how to assume responsibility for the steward's role in society and indeed, the world.

Help the young learn to take care of themselves daily. Help them learn to harness their curiosity and creativity. Let them sleep each night. Let them eat healthy food. Let them explore the world, and the world of ideas, each day. Let them come to understand both the importance of and the immense challenge of balancing their individual lives with the broader needs of humanity. Let them know they are loved. Let them read. Let them play. Let them make mistakes and learn from them. Let them come to see that work can be deeply fulfilling at any age — if approached with the right understanding of work's purpose. And let them learn to stay in touch — to care for and support family and friends and to be engaged members of their communities with a deep appreciation for the myriad ways community members hold each other up and connect across the globe.

Reading Ideas To Begin "Unlearning"

I am currently probing what it means to a progressive educator to teach in the 21st century where the internet offers access to more knowledge than our predecessors could imagine and where helping astudent connect and collaborate will take precendence.  I know this means that I need to unlearn many things that were part of the network of assumptions that underpinned my own education. In this increasingly easy to access, quick to change world of knowledge, the ability to “unlearn” what we were taught was true and relearn it in the context of new information is a crucial skill, not only in a literacy sense but in a lifelong learning sense as well.  Here are some books that I have been engaged with as I endeavor to practice this concept as an educator.

 Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn

Cathy N. Davidson

 The major technological changes of the past decade and a half present an array of "exciting opportunities," Davidson argues -- opportunities to promote efficiency, satisfaction and success at every stage from kindergarten through career. If we are inclined to side with the Better-Nevers, worrying that our brains never evolved for shifts of such magnitude -- if kids attend to text messages and video games with alacrity, but fall behind in school, while adults feel swamped by information overload and spread too thin by multitasking -- the trouble, in Davidson's view, is not with all our new technologies, but rather with our failure thus far to adapt and restructure ourselves and our institutions.

A New Culture of Learning

Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

By exploring play, innovation, and the cultivation of the imagination as cornerstones of learning, the authors create a vision of learning for the future that is achievable, scalable and one that grows along with the technology that fosters it and the people who engage with it. The result is a new form of culture in which knowledge is seen as fluid and evolving, the personal is both enhanced and refined in relation to the collective, and the ability to manage, negotiate and participate in the world is governed by the play of the imagination.

Switch

Chip and Dan Heath

Switch asks the following question: Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle, say the Heaths, is a conflict that's built into our brains. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.

Source:  amazon.com

                                  

To Yield To Kindness

I read a story the other day and it started me pondering how often do we let others help us? We live in such an individualistic world in this twenty first century and we want to be empowered to do everything ourselves. It seems that we feel that accepting help is a sign of weakness.

I grew up with a parent who survived polio but lost the use of her left arm entirely. I watched her struggle to let herself be helped. As I grew older, I recognized through my own awareness as a parent, how difficult it is when you are the one who helps - the one who cares for others - to be unable to say what is too much or too little help, to keep silent and accept what is given. Sometimes, you have to practice being generous and accept kindness from another. I have come to appreciate how much generosity it takes to let people in that way.  How freeing it can be to surrender to one’s own vulnerability. To be cared for by others - to yield to kindness - is not easy.

Ironically, in life, the opposite is true—when we accept help we are showing we are strong enough to overcome our sense of separateness and embrace interconnectedness. When we truly realize that we are all connected, then we understand that to receive help is to give each person involved a chance to practice kindness. “When the right hand is hurt, the left hand holds it in compassion to ease the suffering of its brother/sister hand.”  The right hand helps because it is interconnected with the left hand through the whole of the body.

So it is, when we understand our inter-being we know that to accept help is indeed helping ourselves. Thus, when we do refuse help out of not wanting to inconvenience others we are actually rejecting ourselves.  And of course the opposite as well, when we help others we are helping ourselves. But, I am still learning.

Advancement: Bringing Resources to Bear on Good Teaching

Many school constituents recognize that advancement traditionally means fundraising. It is important to make the distinction that this work is in fact philanthropy:  that is, cultivating in the school community the desire to improve the material, social, and spiritual welfare of the school, its teachers, and most prominently, its students.  In short, fundraising is about gifts; philanthropy is about building community and building momentum.

While it is important that a school provide its constituents and stakeholders a long view – a strategic and thoughtful view - of how current aims at the school fit within the context of what's come before and what's next, it is equally important that the school’s efforts at cultivating philanthropy reflect the independent school way of life - friendship, service, energy and optimism. An inclusive atmosphere and welcoming learning environment make it easy for parents, friends, constituents and stakeholders to belong and to take a lead role in the community by giving to the school in a framework of forwarding the mission and organization.

So as teachers are hard at work making a difference in the classroom daily, advancement personnel are hard at work contacting, cultivating, reconnecting and stewarding donors, processes that, like teaching, are as much an art as a science.  In times of economic stress and uncertainty, it seems likely that in the advancement office, the art outweighs the science.  Consider that in recent years there has been a 10.7 percent drop nationally in giving by individuals. It is important to understand the true effects of the recession and how uncertainty in “the market” informs donor behaviors.  Even as the stream of resources may weaken, the needs of the school remain constant or grow.  Schools seek to thrive during these challenging times by continuing to appeal to donors’ interests and nurturing donor relationships, cultivating and stewarding their friends enthusiastically.

 

 

Advancement is vital in bringing resources to bear on good teaching.  Critical, in the small school especially, is support for really good people who are doing real good in the world and who are willing to put themselves on the line to do that good. Furthering those who seek out originality and imagination - the things that make a schools’ constituents say, "Wow!", of the school - and then leading others to support it.

The Discovery of Uniqueness

Each of us is a distinctive human being with our own unique potential to fulfill.  One of the most integral pieces of growing in life is discovering that uniqueness – identifying who you are in your own right and who you are in relation to those you encounter along the way. There is something essential about this aspect of being in the world.  And how you grow with your inimitable endowments will influence how those around you respond to and relate to you.  You become who you truly are over time and through life’s learning experiences.

At the heart of this personal and interpersonal journey is letting go of the notion that you are perfect or that others around you ought to be or are, perfect.  Being kind to yourself allows you to accept who you are and to extend that same acceptance to those you meet along the way.  “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."  Plato

What you are ultimately informs what you do.  People who have not learned about themselves as they grow are often caught up in the opposite idea that what you do determines who you are. When you are able to combine your inherent talent with the personal investment to bring it to fruition, you become an artist of being alive.  It can be a challenge, maybe even a struggle, to figure out who you actually are or, how in your own way, you can establish a life that means a lot to you and fulfill your identity.

There can be fissures in how you encounter the world around you and how you want the world around you to be.  Your effect/affect on the world is the personal way in your own life that you bridge those fissures.  If the world always came at you on your terms you might not uncover and develop the creative abilities to make your difference in the world.

Inner fulfillment requires integrating what you learn along the way with your own personality and harnessing that to become who you want to be.  This is central to creating yourself – there would be no beauty in life if you did not feel inspired to create. We each have different gifts, so we each have our own ways of sharing who we are with the world around us.

Respect, Tolerance and Courage in Our World

Today and in the past few weeks, we have all observed remembrances of September 11, 2001. We've seen how that tragic day has affected local communities, as well as communities across the country. We've watched news commentators look back on the events that unfolded that day and community organizations memorialize the victims even as they honor the memory of first responders.

As an educator the topic most appealing to reflect on during the 10th anniversary of September 11th,  is the essential role of education and schools in our ever shrinking global world, in developing the next generation as tolerant, globally aware and knowledgeable young adults. "How do we educate students to know that to love is better than to hate? How can we assure students that they can value their own beliefs while appreciating beliefs that are distinct from theirs?"  Schools do this by providing a peaceful environment of inquiry and openness that supports students in exploring their beliefs and in learning about others' beliefs. By encouraging knowledge and understanding in students, schools  foster an environment of tolerance and respect.

The ability to work respectfully and compassionately with others is an essential quality of the 21st century.  As our world grows and evolves, this quality will become increasingly important. School graduates need to know how to collaborate with classmates of any race, background, gender or culture.  They need to have the skills necessary to form positive, respectful and collaborative relationships - ready to become thriving members of our global community.

Resources:

www.casefoundation.org/projects/buxton-initiative
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../talking-to-your-child-abo_b_929572.h
www.9-11healingandremembrance.org

Delivering a 21st Century Education

While schools that want to thrive in this century may differ from each other in style, organization, structure, resources and of course, location, they share commonalities in the way they educate.  These themes fall along the following lines in the view of NAIS and the Commission of Accreditation: transformational leadership; participatory and engaging school culture; growth mindset in teachers and staff; actively engaged adults and students; continuous learning; academically demanding program focused on essential capacities; inquiry-based – project-oriented learning; beyond the wall classroom experiences in the real world; lively arts program promoting creativity and self-expression; global perspective woven throughout curriculum; digital technology and social media as learning tools.

Academically demanding programs emphasize conceptual, systems thinking over acquisition of factual knowledge. Project based learning promotes challenge, real issues, relevant problems, collaboration within a team and knowledge/skills integration. Technology provides a vehicle for students to collaborate across time, age and geography. Focus on the arts fosters discipline and teamwork.

All of these facets of learning and curriculum encourage empowerment, collaboration and engagement. Leading schools that approach learning this way demands both helping community members recognize the need for change (and to change) and introducing change in ways that don’t lead to feeling overwhelmed by said change.

The challenges we face as educators are many.  We need to ask ourselves some important questions:  Is there a balance between a renewed focus on skills and knowledge learning?; How are students today unique?; What are the implications of brain research and cognition for classroom learning?; Do we need new-format assessments and techniques to measure 21^st century capacities?; How do we best professionally develop faculty?; What are the drawbacks of a digitized classroom?

Perhaps the deepest shift taking place is in the often insular teacher-culture of schools.  The need for a teacher to have a greater interest for what is learned than what is taught is for some a profound pedagogical change. Teaching as part of a team brings new demands and expands the adaptive nature of teachers and curriculum.  Administrators and school leaders striving to create change must overcome powerful forces of resistance and inspire teachers to be current, re-inventive in their teaching, aware and collaborative. Indeed, to stay relevant in today’s rapidly shifting world, schools and the people who lead them need to figure out the best way to prepare students to maneuver in the future by embracing the complexities of our times, together.

The schools that achieve this will pursue, adopt and embrace the mindset: adapt-survive-thrive.

sources: Why Change? What Works?, James Tracy,ed., NAIS, 2010;

 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, Trilling and Fadel 2009

Edutopia, The Digital Generation Project

Triangulating Student Learning

Learning is a life-long process that is highlighted by experiences, successes, goal achievement and inquiry. Students learn how to learn best when they are able to collect evidence of their learning process through performance standards and triangulated data: products, conversations and observations. Only when all evidence of learning is collected over time and ‘triangulated’ can a valid and reliable evaluation be made. Most vital is that this strategy for collecting assessment evidence involves students in the process.

When we give a learner the gift of self-assessment, the ability to identify for his or herself how s/he is doing and where s/he needs to focus attention to improve, we empower learning. Students do not learn by being told they are an ‘A’ or ‘B’ student, nor by being told that their behavior is ‘poor’. Students learn from having the ability to self-monitor progress by engaging with basic questions: ‘Where am I presently?’, ‘Where am I heading?’, ‘What do I need to get there? ‘

In this approach to tracking one’s own learning, education evolves into something that you figure out for yourself rather than something that is handed down to you. As we teach children how to think en lieu of what to think, they develop confidence to make their own decisions and garner strong values that buoy them as they cope with performance demands, personal expectations, and even peer pressure in school.

Learners who understand how to target learning goals and track their progress grow more self-assured and better able to question and to make inquiry. Simple tasks of reflecting and expressing how they are progressing and questions that they have as they move through their work can become powerful tools for improving understanding. When we know we have done something well, we feel good about ourselves. We accept new challenges more readily, and learning becomes easier.

Educational Aims

Learners educated progressively continue to grow as people who have developed the talent, skill and commitment to make a difference in the world. They have the ability to represent themselves: they are resourceful and resilient: they are invested in the world.  This is the result of some very intentional aims and desired outcomes.  The best way to posit those aims and outcomes is in juxtaposition with traditional educational aims.

Traditional Aims

Pre-k thru 3^rd grade

• Emphasis on following directions

• Teacher gives information

• Learning is corrected by teacher

• Learning materials paper and pencil

• Student stays at pace with class

• Moving from group play to group instruction

3^rd thru 8^th grade and beyond

• Emphasis on compliance

• Emphasis on seat work and individual achievement

• Teacher gives daily bits of instruction followed up with homework and grades

• Teachers keep track of progress

• Learning material in workbooks, worksheets and individual work

• Emphasis on completion of classwork and homework assigned by teacher

• Teacher assists with preparation for testing

• Emphasis on grades

• Students grouped by ability

Progressive Aims

Prek-3rd

• Emphasis on free choice and initiative

• Teacher assists and guides

• Learning materials are self-correcting

• Learning materials are hands-on

• Student can go as far as capable

3^rd -8^th grade and beyond

• Moving from independent work to group work

• Emphasis on independence

• Emphasis on free choice and initiative as a working group

• Teacher gives comprehensive lesson and assigns long projects without grades

• Students keep individual work journals

• Learning materials hands-on and developed for groups

• Emphasis on self-responsibility to manage multiple work projects to completion

• Teacher assists with critiquing and student assessment of work

• Emphasis on continuous improvement

• Student can move beyond grade level individually

Time To Renew Our Joy In Learning

As progressive educators preparing for the start of another year, I think we need to renew our joy in learning and our confidence in possibilities.  This is when we reconnect with our school community as a dynamic, creative, and caring place.

Ours are spirited, happy, and hard-working learning communities where imaginative play and disciplined inquiry are an integral part of every student's experience.  We are committed to a strong academic program that engages students cognitively, physically, and creatively in meaningful learning experiences, while also engaging their emotions as they learn about themselves, their individual learning styles, and how to relate to others. Our students are empowered to make choices, to work hard to overcome challenges, and to engage deeply and meaningfully in curriculum in multi-aged classrooms.

Our student-centered mission is founded on the idea that mutual respect should inform our relationships, and that students are empowered by making decisions and exercising developmentally appropriate degrees of responsibility for their own learning and self-direction. This leads to students who are confident and compassionate, with an ability to advocate and lead. Such skills emerge from being able to think critically, to solve problems and to work both independently and collaboratively in multi-age groups. We not only prepare students with skills and knowledge, but also intentionally encourage stewards of our world, who can live happy, fulfilling lives. Our students learn about the complexity of a world where our interdependencies demand sensitivity to culture.

As school picnics and class pot lucks unfold, we also renew our commitment to our school-home partnership as a vital component in helping children to build a strong understanding of themselves as learners. This partnership also helps instill in students a sense of responsibility to themselves and to their community. Our aim is that children emerge from their educational experience seeing and valuing both the common threads which connect us to others and the breadth of differences in our larger world, through service with projects on campus, as well as local and global organizations. Our students will acquire the advocacy skills that contribute to a more peaceful world, respecting diversity and the environment.

So I renew my passion for our mission and philosophy and most important, collaborating with fellow educators and colleagues - the promise of being connected and sharing in  education and life paths.