A "BE" choice for Teachers...

Each time I walk into a classroom,

 I can choose the place within myself

 from which my teaching will come,

 just as I can choose the place

within my students toward which

my teaching will be aimed.

~Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach

 

 

Montessori on Teachers..

Teachers..

 "....you yourselves

 must be filled

with wonder

and when you have

acquired that,

 you are prepared."

- Montessori, Her Life and Work p. 309

 

 

Teaching is personal...

“Never let the demands

 of your job or the curriculum

cause you to forget

that each one of your students

 is a feeling-thinking human being.

 For education to be effective

 it must be personal."

 --George Isaac Brown

 

 

The teacher receives
 and accepts the student's feelings 
toward the subject matter; 
she looks at it and listens to it
 through his eyes and ears. 
How else can she interpret the subject matter 
for him? 
~ Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminist Approach to Ethics and Moral Education

Nel Noddings-Always remember this!!!

The student is infinitely more important than the subject matter. 
~ Nel Noddings

When a teacher 
asks a question in class 
and a student responds, 
she receives not just the "response"
 but the student.
 What he says matters, 
whether it is right or wrong, 
and she probes gently for clarification, 
interpretation, contribution. 
She is not seeking the answer 
but the involvement of the cared-for. 
~ Nel Noddings, Caring: A Feminist Approach to Ethics and Moral Education

Palmer..

“As I teach,
 I project the condition of my soul 
onto my students, 
my subject, 
and our way of being together.” 
-Parker Palmer

“Good teaching 
cannot be reduced to technique; 
good teaching comes from the identity
 and integrity of the teacher.” 

-Parker Palmer

Resources you may want to check out...feel free to add!!!

Teaching...

Who dares to teach
must never cease to learn.
– John Cotton Dana

Purpose .....

It is not sufficient,
 and it may actually
 undermine our democracy,
 to concentrate on producing people
 who do well on standardized tests
and who define success
 as getting a well-paid job.
– Nel Noddings,
What Does It Mean to Educate the Whole Child?

Standardization.....

STANDARDIZATION…

States and Provinces and curricula
 around the world track students by age.
This practice is so common
that we do not think of it as tracking.
With few exceptions,
a six year old must go into first grade
even if that six year old is not ready
or was ready for the grade one year earlier.
– Zalman Usiskin

Learning...

The man who doesn't read good books
has no advantage over the man
 who can't read them.
– Mark Twain

Troubled Kids...Pain Based Behavior... consider knowing this..

“There are wounds that never

 show on the body

 that are deeper and more hurtful

than anything that bleeds.”
― Laurell K. Hamilton

Adolecents... what a cool stage!!!

But I promise,

underneath that bravado of the seventh grader

or swagger of the tenth grader

 you will find that small first grader who wonders,

“Will my teacher like me?”

And when that child – that teen –

 knows that you believe he or she matters,

then that student will do most anything for you.

(from Kylene Beers in an open letter to America’s teachers)

Teaching Troubled Children and Youth

He’s Violent, you say.

  Perhaps.

But imagine what it takes

 for a child to strike an adult-

his only source of survival.

 Imagine the depth of terror

 behind this bravado-

Imagine  the depth of hurt. 

--(L. Tobin)

Education vs Schooling...

“Education is not the piling on of learning,

 information, data, facts, skills, or abilities—

that's training or instruction—

but is rather a making visible what is hidden as a seed...

--Thomas Moore

Teaching

Teaching is the greatest act of optimism!!!

Helping-Fixing-Serving....

"Helping, fixing, and serving represent
three different ways of seeing life.
When you help, 
you see life as weak,
when you fix,
you see life as broken.
When you serve,
you see life as whole.
Fixing and helping
may be the work of the ego,
and service the work of the soul."
— Rachel Naomi Remen

Turnaround Teachers and Adults Provide 3 Protective Factors …

1. Caring Relationships…

 Adults can convey loving support to students

 by listening to students and validating their feelings,

and by demonstrating kindness, compassion, and respect

(Higgins, 1994 ; Meier, 1995).

They refrain from judging,

and do not take students' behavior personally,

understanding that youth are doing the best they can,

 based on the way they perceive the world.

  

2. Positive and High Expectations.

 Adults' high expectations can structure and guide behavior,

and can also challenge students beyond what they believe they can do (Delpit, 1996)

Turnaround adults recognize students' strengths,

mirror them, and help students see where they are strong.

They especially assist overwhelmed youth,

who have been labeled or oppressed

by their families, schools, and/or communities,

in using their personal power to grow from

damaged victim to resilient survivor by helping them to:

 (1) not take personally the adversity in their lives;

 (2) not see adversity as permanent; and

 (3) not see setbacks as pervasive (adapted from Seligman, 1995)

 These adults are student-centered:

they use the students' own strengths,

 interests, goals, and dreams

as the beginning point for learning,

and they tap students' intrinsic motivation for learning.

  

3. Opportunities to Participate and Contribute.

As an outgrowth of a strengths-based perspective,

 turnaround adults let students

express their opinions and imagination,

 make choices, problem solve,

work with and help others,

and give their gifts back to the community

 in a physically and psychologically safe and structured environment.

They treat students as responsible individuals,

allowing them to participate in all aspects of the school's functioning.

 ( Rutter et al., 1979; Rutter, 1984; Kohn, 1993)

Transforming Lives..

Adults and Programs Have the Power to Transform Lives

A common finding in resilience research

 is the power of adults, often unbeknownst,

to tip the scale from risk to resilience.

Turnaround  teachers/mentors

provide and model three protective factors

that buffer risk and enable positive development

 by meeting youth's basic needs for

safety, love and belonging, respect, power,

 accomplishment and learning, and,

ultimately, for meaning.

 (Benard, 1991)

Teaching Troubled and Troubling Kids!

When we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey.  The

When we no longer know what to do

 we have come to our real work,

and when we no longer know which way to go

 we have begun our real journey. 

The mind that is not baffled is not employed. 

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

                   - Wendell Berry

 mind that is not baffled is not employed.  The impeded stream is the one that sings.

                   - Wendell Berry

Creating Healthy Environment for all our children!

In its original meaning the term “at-risk” was meant to focus attention on the HAZZARDS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

That can lead to poor outcomes for ANY CHILD!!

It was never intended to become what it has turned into…. Another description or label for “ CERTAIN KINDS OF KIDS”!!

Once the term became distorted it simply has become another label to describe kids.

We have shifted from the original focus… which was on how to build supportive environments for ALL children and youth…toward once

Again… labeling  kids!!

I suggest to you that this is the wrong focus……!!

Let’s take a look at the SEEDS OF DISCOURAGEMENT AND THE

4 ENVIRONMENTAL HAZZARDS THAT PLACE CHILDREN AND YOUTH

                              “AT-RISK”.

1.  DESTRUCTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

As experienced by rejected or unclaimed children, abandoned, unable to trust…and expecting to be hurt again.

Bowlby ( 1982 ) described 2 types of anger triggered by UNSTABLE BELONGINGS….

The first he called:  THE ANGER OF DESPAIR

It is seen in youth who believe…

“It is no use… I deserve what is happening to me.”

These kids feel deep guilt and worthlessness…they have

• Very low self esteem
• Sexual abuse may have been experienced by these children
• Are at high risk of drug/alcohol abuse
• You may see promiscuous behaviors
• High risk of depression
• Cutting
• Suicide
• These are the children and youth that act their anger out “inwardly”
• They blame themselves for how they have been treated by those

     closest to them.

The second group he labeled:  THE ANGER OF HOPE

This is seen in youth who believe:

·         “I” do not deserve this shit.  It is not fair.

·          They are indignant at the treatment they have received and direct their

       Anger …”EXTERNALLY” AT ALL OTHERS.

·         They have a sense of me first.

·         No one tells me what to do… I can and do take care of myself!

·         Fuck-You All…..

There is a third broad group of HYPER-VIGILANT CHILDREN always in an uneasy state of ANXIETY AND STRESS.  These kids can look at act like children with ADHD. 

Over time… all these children can become… “RELATIONSHIP RESISTENT”

AND DISTRUSTFUL OF ALL ADULTS.

They are children with-out POSITIVE ADULT BELONGINGS!!!

2.  CLIMATES OF FUTILITY

As experienced by children that rarely meet with any success in schools.  They have long histories of failure…many times repeating grades….being removed from schools and programs….and becoming crippled by feelings of inadequacy.

Generally schools have not had much success with these children and have been characterized by:

• High Degrees of Punitive-ness
• Negative Expectations
• Professional Pessimism

Inadvertently Schools often recreate the STRESS and CONFLICT of the kids life outside of school.  These kids carry their worlds into our schools and they get unconscious adults to re-create those worlds on a daily basis in many of our schools!

It is also important to note… that for many kids…it is much better to be seen as BAD… rather than STUPID!!!

3.  Learned Irresponsibility

As seen in kids who display an “ I DON’T CARE”…INDIFFERENT ATTITUDE IN OUR SCHOOLS OR… A “DEFIANT…REBELLIOUS”.. “YOU CAN’T MAKE ME” DISPLAY.

As students disengage academically they become powerfully dependent on other DISENGAGED PEERS who join together to support each other in their “hatred of school”!!

4.  LOSS OF PURPOSE

As seen by self-centered youth searching for meaning in a world of very confusing values.  Empathy must be nurtured to grow and many of these children have been under-nourished.

Young people can not develop their own value unless they have opportunities to be of value to others.

THESE ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZZARDS THAT OUR MOST TROUBLING CHILDREN HAVE GROWN IN.  To reclaim them will require schools to do many things a bit differently….

Let us begin.....