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Education is the ability to think clearly, act well in the world of work and to appreciate life.
- Brigham Young
When I read that quotation I thought that’s it. That’s how I would’ve defined education if Brigham Young hadn’t beat me to it! The definition is short and to the point. What more is there than to be able to think clearly, act well in the world of work and to appreciate life?
At our Board, we talk in terms of the educational pathways students can take while in school. There’s the pathway to work, the pathway to apprenticeship, the pathway to university and the pathway to college. Each pathway has a set of compulsory and optional courses students take as they journey towards their post secondary destination of work, apprenticeship, university or college. Students can even change pathways along the way if they have changed their destination.
Many of the students I teach are at-risk of not completing their journey down any pathway. They seem to be stranded in a pothole on the path they’re on, just sitting there hating it and not doing much except throwing stones at anyone who comes near them to draw attention to their plight. It’s my job to help those students get out of that pothole and get back on the path. How do I do this? Well, first of all I don’t do it alone. It’s not just student success teachers or special education teachers like me who help these at-risk kids. It’s all the teachers, counsellors and administrators. It’s like that old saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child . Well, I say it takes a whole school to help educate an at-risk student. It takes all of us to help at-risk students learn strategies that develop their ability to think clearly so they can make better choices that lead to better consequences and a better quality of life. And, it takes all of us to help and support each other so that we can educate these at-risk kids.
I can speak for our school because that’s what I know best. At our school, we’re like that village where everyone is responsible for all it’s kids. When we come across a student sitting in a pothole in his pathway throwing stones at someone for whatever reason , the reasons are many, or crouching down so no one will notice that he’s not going any where, we come to his aid. We have a variety of tools we can use to help failing students get back on track. Students who are identified as being at risk can be part of the Credit Recovery Program, the Credit Rescue Program, the Credit Completion Program or the Counting On You program. The whole idea is to help students earn sixteen credits by the time they’re sixteen years old. Studies have shown that kids are more likely to drop out of school if they fall behind their peers. We don’t want that to happen because we want them to be able “to think clearly, act well in the world of work and to appreciate life”. We want them to be able to have what everyone else can have- an education.
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2 Responses to “It Takes a Whole School”
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I’m fine with the first two ideas Young states, but I dunno about that third one. Can you really teach a student to appreciate something? What if they, very simply, don’t appreciate it? Teaching the appreciation is different than instilling it. The latter might be near to impossible for some in some subjects.
Art isn’t for everyone and neither is science. Some students simply do not appreciate reading. They don’t appreciate fine writing, solid logic, stunning description, the power of words, emotional impact. Can teachers and schools really be held accountable for forcing their students to appreciate anything? That phrasing is in state standards and it bugs me there, too. Teachers can model appreciation for these things, but if students don’t appreciate what we see as beautiful, we can’t force them to.
And I think it takes a whole community, including those outside the school: parents, neighbors, teachers, administrators. School and community working together create an educated society. Communities have bowed out for so long now due to the oppressive red tape of school districts and unions. We’ve only half the powers working to do all the work. Perhaps that’s why we’re struggling so much.
I think that the success any schoolwide reform movement sees is due in large part to it being schoolwide (block scheduling, small learning communities, the KIPP model, etc.). Anything an entire school gets force behind and supports will meet with success during the initial years. That’s the whole school working to educate the child. You’re right on there.
Todd, I guess when I was thinking about teaching the kids to appreciate life I was thinking more in terms of them not getting caught up in consumerism and wanting ,wanting, wanting and to be appreciative of things that money can’t buy. I’ve had lots of conversations with kids about this. Many of my at-risk kids have lots of material things and still are in pain. You’re probably right about the appreciating life part. We can only show them why we think something is considered to be wonderful, we can’t make them appreciate it in terms of liking it. Thanks for making that point. Ditto about the whole community educating the child.