Teaching Respect, Responsibiity and RESTRAINT

As a long-time teacher and school administrator, my three R’s were respect, responsibility and restraint.  Most people understand, even accept, the first two easily but often stumble over the third.  We used those criteria to evaluate the behavior of students and adults, and most often included teachers and parents in the conversations about our values, our expectations and agreed upon standards of behavior.  In some schools we had students and parents sign contracts. Those agreements spelled out our responsibilities to one another to provide a safe environment where people followed the “rules” and helped build a community of trust and mutual respect.

At every turn in the road it’s important to help people understand what it means to take responsibility for their behavior.  We and they must come to know that with every choice there is a consequence and that result can be either desirable and good or undesirable and not so good. The lessons learned reveal whether or not the choice was positive and constructive or whether the choice was negative and possibly destructive.  Choice and consequence are inextricably linked together.  

Restraint was perhaps the most difficult to implement.  Getting people to think before they speak, wait before they act or react, pause before they make an important decision seemed like a challenge in these times of speed as a virtue, acceleration, instant and constant. Pico Iyer said it best:  “In an age of acceleration, there is nothing quite so exhilarating as slowing down.”

When parents and schools work together in the best interests of students, whether in academic, athletic, artistic or social endeavors, we have the best chance of success for all.  When we are at odds with one another, in conflict about our values and priorities, and disagree with what unacceptable and inappropriate behavior is and how it should be dealt with, the end result can be frustration, disappointment and even anger.  Emotions get in the way of rational decisions and then we have to spend precious time and energy cleaning up the residue in order to move forward.

The foundation for many patterns of behavior are laid down in the first six years and kids bring those behaviors with them to school from the beginning.  What they may have to learn is that there are expectations at school that might be different from those at home, and vice-versa.  

I know it was in a previous century, but when we went to school, we were afraid of getting into trouble there because we would be in even more trouble when we got home.  It’s just the way it was.  It was not an atmosphere of fear.  Rather it was about places that were clear about what would happen if you got too far out of line.  We had to test it from time to time and sure enough, they meant exactly what they said and erased all doubt about who was in charge.

I agree that raising children takes a village and that the village has become more complex. We now have to deal with social media, a greater division between income groups, an atmosphere of conspicuous consumption, and broken systems in politics, health care and education.  In spite of the challenges, families and schools have tremendous opportunities to prepare children for an unknown future by helping them to distinguish between what is important and what is trivial and non-essential.

Much will depend on your values and how you demonstrate those every day. Kids need limits and they need consistency.   They are watching and listening and they will eventually figure out which path they wish to follow. It is a cumulative process over time and one event can teach an important lesson but it does not need to determine the final outcome.   Respect, responsibility AND restraint.  These are among the most desirable characteristics of a healthy and safe school environment.

BACKWARDS and WRONG

The “Education Equation” has it wrong and change comes slowly.  A study conducted by the U. S. Department of Education in collaboration with Germany. perhaps Japan as well, concluded that we have it all wrong.  If you look at the education equation, we tend to hold time constant and make education the variable.  If we truly valued education, we would hold education constant and make time the variable.  However, our schools are generally not organized that way, nor have they been for the past century.

Schools in the United States still tend to run on schedules, daily schedules, semesters, years according to grade levels and so on.  And within that larger context there are so many minutes allocated to class periods, so much time for a test and a student either gets it or he/she doesn’t.  Schools in the United States, for the most part, still operate on an academic year rather than a calendar year and many have a several month hiatus in the summer, left over in part by an agrarian culture that no longer exists.  Our students are not working in the fields on the family farm!  And, it takes younger students several weeks to go back and pick up where they left off in the Spring.

If the goal of learning is mastery of a subject, what if it takes some students longer than others to reach the desired goal?  Does it matter in the long run?  It does if you want to encourage and support student learning.  Provide the time needed and for heaven’s sakes create an optimum environment without clocks on every wall or bells and buzzers.  If one can become absorbed in meaningful learning experiences, time all but disappears.

There must be some compelling reasons why the systems have been so slow to adapt to change that is obviously in the best interests of students.  Learning doesn’t stop with the ringing of a bell or by dismissal from school and there are many ways to capitalize on learning beyond the walls of any classroom or school.  In fact, some of the most transformative learning experiences for students have taken place in other than school environments.

There have been some shifting of schedules to allow fewer subjects and classes in an allotted time with more variations in the weekly and quarterly calendars.  Variety adds interest and the emphasis on depth over breadth has some advantages as indicated by block scheduling. 

A few of the promising signs on the horizon are things like PBL (Project Based Learning)  Experiential Education, Expeditionary Learning, Maker Spaces and organized groups such as RethinkingSchools.org    I leave you with these three questions for the coming year

1.    What one or two things might you do to facilitate genuine reform where you are?

2.    Who are the key people who are willing to work together for a common purpose of  changing the structure dramatically?

3.    What are a few realistic, measurable objectives for the coming year?

SPEAKING (in 55 words)

 Be sure your brain is engaged before putting mouth in gear.

Once the words are out, you cannot take them back.

You have power to threaten or comfort, to express anger or love.

Choose carefully when you speak.

The words are yours and you own them.

Use words not to hurt but help and heal.

TOP TEN AFFLICTIONS AFFECTING EDUCATORS

I wrote this originally a few years ago and people seemed to enjoy it.  It's good for a laugh at the end of another academic year so herewith a reprise. 

10. MABS - Myopic, Apathetic, Blame Syndrome - This disease is characterized by lack of vision, indifference and the attempt to shift responsibility to other people. (see following ailment).

9. PEST - Plasmapheretic Educational System Transference - A condition recognized in those who drain the organism and then because of inactivity offer bureacracy as a reason for the illness.

8. CRUD - Cholangitis Reoccurence Under Duress - Inflammation of bile ducts marked by pain in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen and caused by infection or obstruction, it is often treated by drugs or surgery.  Obstruction is a condition often occurring when progress is blocked or when one wishes to block progress.

7. DEAD - Deeply Entrenched Atrophic Dementia - Often seen in those who mistake the edge of the rut for the horizon, this condition is a progressive state of mental decline, especially in memory and judgment, often accompanied by disorientation and disintegration of the personality.  If caused by a metabolic diseases, it may be reversed.  If due to brain injury or degeneration due to aging, change may be irreversible.   This is often not recognized by those who have it.

6. PAIN - Psychogenic Aphakic Intestinal Nonsense - Persons afflicted with this cannot swallow pride or much else but is mostly a mental condition accompanied by blurred vision and there is no biological basis for the condition.  Those suffering from this disease are very uncomfortable with change and often fearful, insecure and have a weak stomach.  May be heard to whine to colleagues.  Radical and aggressive treatment often consists of removal to a new location and job.

5. BORE - Big Opthalmic Rectal Enteritis - Sometimes a crossing of certain ocular and rectal functions cause diarrhea, verbal or otherwise and this can adversely affect one's outlook; in extreme cases it can lead to fecal impaction; the reverse condition renders one filled to capacity.  Treatment is most often accompanied by a change in attitude.

4. LAME - Loud Aching Martyred Epicondylitis - This characterizes those who complain about carrying a heavy load while wishing others would work as hard as they do.  This can be very contagious so caution is recommended for those in proximity.

3. GRIPE - Glottic Repetition Instead of Pitching in Energetically - This is self-explanatory and recognizable because those so afflicted would rather talk about the problem than do something creative to solve it.  They also seem to enjoy hearing themselves more than listening to others.

2. ARUMP - Arteriosclerosis Revealing Union Mentality Proliferation - A condition that reflects a hardening of the institutional arteries which in turn prevents the open flow of communication and it can spread if not kept in check through a healthy exercise of mental and physical renewal.  (This is sometimes used as a prefix to meetings)

1. SOSOB - Same Old Same Old Beliefs or in medical terminology Systemic Osteolysis/Schizophrenic Obsessive Burnout -  Those fearing change become stuck, hard and fast in their way of acting and refuse to consider new paradigms. The result if finally just giving up and giving in rather than trying to learn something new and improve both self and system.

The Seven C's (and more) of Competent Leadershp *

1. Communication that is clear, concise, compelling and timely.  Stay in touch with customers'  information that keeps them connected

2. Collaboration that is supportive and encouraging.  It takes time, effort and energy,  but the results are compelling.

3. Confidence that inspires mutual trust, mutual respect and the open sharing of information, otherwise known as transparency that provides clarity.

4. Courage to take on the difficult challenges and find workable solutions, solve a problem and move forward.

5. Compassion that illustrates and demonstrates care for the well-being of individuals and the environment in which they all work.

6.  Commitment to agreed upon goals and plans and to the enduring completion of tasks and projects affecting all constituencies.

7. Character that reflets integrity, honesty, empathy, genuineness and warmth, indications of  concern for the common good.

* In addition to the C word at the beginning in each of the seven, find another C word or more in every one.  If you had to choose, which one would you put at the very top?  These are not in any necessary order or priority as that depends on your own particular needs.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME"

This phrase, “taking time off” is interesting because time is never off.  Like it says in the old ad for Timex, it just keeps on ticking and one day, we will run out of time, or walk out, or lie down and check out.  Think of some amusing ways people speak about time.  “I didn’t have time to do it.”  What they mean is they did not choose to take the time to do it, whatever “it” was, but who is going to say that they chose something else?    How about this? “It’s time to eat.”  That was mother calling from the kitchen.  Whether you were actually hungry or not didn’t matter.  It was “time” for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  One family I knew quite well, not my own, sat down precisely at 5:30 PM every evening for dinner and everyone was expected to be there and be on time.  Being “on time” is highly important to many people but different cultures regard that behavior with more or less value. 

Personal priorities about being “on time” may vary.  We are often like Pavlov’s dog.  The bell rings and we respond whether by changing activities, answering a call, looking at a text or checking something in the oven.  We are conditioned and regulated by time.  It’s “time” to go to bed.  It’s “time” to get up.  It’s “time” to go to work.  It’s “time out” and “time” to start again.  It’s “time” for the meeting.  It’s “time” to leave in order to get there in a reasonable amount of time.  It’s all about time and yet time is an invention, a construct for our convenience and we are bound by it.  How we measure time and how we use it reveals an enormous amount about who we are as individuals and who we are as a culture.

Here’s a phrase that amuses me because of the double entendre. “It’s about time” we say, meaning in one way that we have waited for some time for something or other to happen and finally, it has taken place. Whether that expresses gratitude, relief or annoyance depends upon the context.  A long-awaited package arrives at the door and we say, “It’s about time!”   And really, it is simply that it has taken longer than was expected or desired for the delivery to be accomplished.  Big deal!  Get over it!  At least we got the package.

In order to get more done in the same amount of time the phenomenon of multi-tasking has appeared and it seems to have arrived in conjunction with computers that are able to perform several functions at the same time.   Recent research at Stanford on multi-tasking shows that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time.

High-tech jugglers are everywhere – keeping up several e-mail and instant message conversations at once, text messaging while watching television or even driving a car, and jumping from one website to another while plowing through homework assignments.  But after putting about 100 students through a series of three tests, the researchers realized those heavy media multi-taskers are paying a big mental price.

When it comes to our brain’s ability to pay attention, the brain focuses on concepts sequentially and not on two things at once. In fact, the brain must disengage from one activity in order to engage in another. And it takes several tenths of a second for the brain to make this switch. As John Medina, author of “Brain Rules” says: “To put it bluntly, research shows that we can’t multitask. We are biologically incapable of processing attention-rich inputs simultaneously.” ( http://brainrules.blogspot.com/2008/03/brain-cannot-multitask_16.html)

When we are in situations where there are multiple sources of information coming from the external world or emerging out of memory, we are apparently not able to filter out what's not relevant to our current goal.  That failure to filter means we are slowed down by that irrelevant information."

However, that said, there may be some exceptions and here is one illustration.  The song, “The Time of My Life”  was the music and lyrics used in the final scene of the movie Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, and was written by Frankie Previte.   Previte said: "I received a call from Jimmy Ienner who asked me to write a song for this little movie.  I told him I didn't have the time and he said, 'Make time. This could change your life.'"  Frankie's former bandmate John DeNicola and his friend Don Marowitz came up with the music for the song. Says Previte, "I received a track from John and Donny and I wrote the lyric and melody for the chorus in the car while I was driving along the Garden State Parkway, going to a studio session for another song."

Here’s the message:  Making or taking time to do what is really important can change your life. The question is, what is really important?  And if you’re driving, be careful!

YOUR BEST WORK

Andrew approached me with his paper in hand, presented it to me and said, “Here, is this what you want?”   I was teaching an elective in "creative writing" for juniors and seniors in high school and Andrew was one of those edgy students who often seemed unhappy with an assignment but worked hard to fulfill it.

I said to Andrew, “Is this what you want to give me?”  And he replied, “You made the assignment.”  I said that I did but that this was his work and I wondered if he was satisfied that this was his best work or that if I gave him another 24 hours to revise it and make it better, would he like to do that?

Andrew looked at me with a suspicious kind of smirk, probably wondering if I was trying to trick him somehow, and he said, “Are you serious?”  I said yes, that I was serious because this was serious work and what I wanted was the best he had to offer and if another revision could make it better, then I would be glad to give him a little more time to make it among his best work.

I held out the paper and said, “Andrew, your writing is important and you’re getting better each week so if you want to polish this further, have a go at it.”   He took the paper, smiled, turned and walked away.  His revised draft was significantly improved.

As I have related this story to hundreds of teachers, I asked them the question if that’s what they want from their students, their best work, regardless of the grade level or subject they teach?  They usually nod their heads in agreement or say yes although “best work” may mean something slightly different to different people.

I then said to the teachers, that is exactly what we want from you, your best work, and if it takes a little more time, that’s all right.  If you need more time to make it better, then it’s up to all of us to find that time, carve it out of an already busy schedule, and have the opportunity to make your work as a teacher the best that it can be. Dedicated, talented teachers are not satisfied with anything less than their best. 

THE IMPACT OF ONE TEACHER

When we were starting a new school, in 1994, one of my first tasks was to hire the teachers who would join us in this adventure of a lifetime.  We projected how many students we would have, the subject areas we would focus on and then worried later about where it would be.  I put out the word that I was looking for creative, innovative, bright, spirited teachers, and the kind who would relish spending their days with 6^th and 7^th graders.   We were very big on creativity and innovation 21 years ago.

We advertised widely, described the vision for our school, a place that was ready “to prepare young men and women to become lifelong learners with the highest character values and academic goals in a natural New Mexico setting with strong family and community involvement.”  We wanted our teachers to be role models and we wanted a curriculum that was comprehensive, integrated, developmentally appropriate and performance-based.

The applications started coming in and I began interviewing people whom I believed had the potential to join this team of pioneers working collaboratively to provide an exceptional educational experience.  I talked with almost 100 of these people and ended up hiring 8 talented and dedicated teachers – one each for Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, Spanish, Art, Music and Physical Education.   Each one of these people made distinguished contributions to our early growth and success with precious few resources and a makeshift environment for those first 60 students.

All of those teachers had a can-do attitude, were confident and courageous in their use of original sources with few textbooks and hardly any technology in those early days.   The story of the school is interesting in itself and today it is a thriving community of some 550 students, grades 6-12, where the graduates continue to make their contributions to the world at large.  (www.bosqueschool.org)

One teacher in particular, the science teacher who is still there after 20 years and going strong, used the local outdoor surroundings as his primary classroom, teaching the students how to conduct field studies in a thoughtful, systematic and meaningful way.  One parent, coming into the school where students were organizing and interpreting their findings asked this teacher what text he was using and his response was: “Mrs. X, we are writing the books that other students will read to learn about science.”  As a university professor she was both amazed and favorably impressed.

This teacher’s work, and that of his students, fed data into several local, state and federal agencies making multimillion dollar decisions about how to allocate their resources.  Students had the opportunity to not only learn but also to experience first-hand how their work made significant contributions to the community where they lived and beyond.  That program expanded into the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP)  that now involves over 5,500 students up and down 300 miles of the Rio Grande, far exceeding the water that flows in the river.

The point of this story is that there are few limits to what you can do if you have the right people in the right seats on the bus, a la Jim Collins.    It’s also important that the bus has a capable, competent driver who knows where he or she is going and what it will take to get there.  Equally important is that the bus is in good operating condition and adequately fueled for the journey.

The impact of one teacher influences his or her students to consider how they want to contribute to the world to make it better.  The power of that teacher extends far beyond the classroom and laboratory to the farthest reaches of the globe.  My response is enormous gratitude for the talents, skills and commitments of these kinds of teachers, doing what they do every day, year after year. 

APPRECIATING & CELEBRATING THE ELEMENTS

 

These elements we accept without thinking, without a deep sense of appreciation and yet they sustain life as we know it.

Fire - It keeps us warm and we can’t live without it whether body temperature or the proverbial fire in the belly; the furnace that both digests what we consume and drives us to do what we do.  When you are “on fire” with a project, there is no holding back.  Fire can cook and it can destroy.  We depend on the sun and ever more so with solar power as a renewable energy source.  “A day without sunshine, is you know, night.”  Steve Martin 

Earth - Live close to the land, listen to its heartbeat, commune with nature and you will never be lost.  The earth, as fragile and precious as it is, constantly renews itself, and it is our home in space and time.  We must work in concert with the forces of nature rather than trying to harness and control them.  We have taken so much from the earth and it might behoove us to see what we can give back.  “Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.”    Rainer Maria Rilke

Air - We cannot see the wind, we do not know from whence it comes nor where it goes but we can see the effects, in trees, flags, smoke and even on top of the water.  We need air to breathe, cleaner air, pure and crystal clear, unpolluted whenever possible.  A clean air act won’t do anything by itself.  Clean air needs living, breathing people to insure the future   “Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are, in fact, plans to protect mankind.”  Stuart Udall

Water - The universal solvent, covering two-thirds of the earth’s surface, water comes in many forms whether in the oceans, or treated and potable water from wells and aquifers.  Rain, rivers, lakes and streams, water is all around us. Floods and tides can destroy and when there is not enough water there is drought.  Too much or not enough, either can be disastrous and the right amount is a blessing for people, plants and animals and the earth itself.  “Water is the driving force of all nature.”  Leonardo da Vinci

Spirit - In almost all world languages and cultures there is a word for spirit.  The meaning from the Greek psyche, is “spirit” that gives life to all animate beings.  Sometimes translated “soul” it can be understood as a force that mediates between mind and body, between the physical world and that which cannot be seen.  Spirit transcends worldly matter and some world religions assign a deity as the creative force that brings into being that which is not.  In Latin creatio ex nihilio, creating from nothing to bring into being that which is.  

“Changing is not just changing the things outside of us…we need the right view…of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit.... crucial for transformation and healing.”  Thich Nhat Hanh

SCHOOLS AND THE "REAL" WORLD

It has been confirmed that schools, K-16 and beyond, are part of the real world.  They are not isolated in a bubble of protection, separated from the rest of society while these young ones grow in an environment sheltered from the world’s harsh realities.  The internet of instant news has only exacerbated the downside of that issue.  One might wonder, in the day of lockdowns and stepped up security, what children are learning coincidentally along with the rest of the curriculum.

Schools help shape children’s beliefs of how the world works; at their very best, schools, and the good teachers in them, empower moral imagination to envision how the world could work better. In other words, schools could mediate between the ideal and the real by cultivating the right balance of critical thinking and hope.

What does it say to kids about priorities when the United States allocates 20% of its budget, or about $720 billion on defense and 4% or $11 billion on education?  One of the arguments is that we have to remain safe, well defended from our enemies, in order to have a free and open society.   Perhaps the question is about equity in education, not trying to take anything away but rather to consider the essentials.

Here is another example from the real world.  At the “power conferences” — the Southeastern, Big 12, Pac-10, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten and Big East — median athletic spending per athlete topped $100,000 in 2010, and each conference spent at least six times more on athletics than academics, per capita.  Many college presidents would like to pull back on athletic spending but because the constituencies for increasing spending are numerous and powerful, and the counter pressures are few and relatively powerless, guess what?  It’s unlikely to happen.

The hopeful signs are that real world problems are now much more part of good schools’ programs. Issues such as hunger, poverty, disease, the environment, violence, politics, health care and education itself are now being examined in schools using history, science, mathematics, literature and the arts, through project based learning, experiential education and great teaching.

Students today have an opportunity to do better than their predecessors with making the world a better, safer, healthier, more just and peaceful planet.  Our children deserve the best that we have to offer them in schools that are part of the real world where laboratories and studios are alive with critical thinking problem solving, and tangible results.

For related articles: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs184/1102752268498/archive/1120741074222.html