Whole Child Education: Intrapersonal

The final pillar of whole-child education is intrapersonal. Although similar to other elements that have been discussed in this series, intrapersonal development can unlock the potential within the other aspects enabling a person to thrive in life. So, what is intrapersonal development? 

Intrapersonal Development

Intrapersonal development refers to the development "within" an individual person or knowing oneself. As a Christian, I like to refer to this as knowing who God created you to be ... and where you fit in His redemptive story. While often overlooked or left in the "hidden" curriculum, educators need to help students identify their gifts, discover their passions, and uncover ways to use those gifts/passions in a vocational or avocational calling. 

Schools, for too long, have assumed that students will develop intrapersonally on their own, but I've seen too many students wander aimlessly for too long before stumbling into their major and eventually their job. Thankfully, a ton of tools are available for educators to use to begin this process 

Gift Identification / Development

Each student is created with individual gifts, and the first step in intrapersonal development is helping to identify those for students. The second step in this pillar is to develop those gifts into strengths. Like the biblical Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), God-given gifts are to be used and developed ... not hidden. In order for full intrapersonal development, gift identification AND development needs to happen. I like how the strengths perspective emphasizes developing gifts into strengths through learning more about one's gifts (knowledge) and practicing those gifts (effort). 

Gifts + Effort/Knowledge => Strengths

So, how does a school help students identify and develop their gifts? 

Howard Gardner, the founding father of Multiple Intelligences, challenged schools to redefine student intelligence: "It's not how smart you are that matters, what really matters is how you are smart." Unfortunately, most schools place students in subject area boxes based on if they are "smart" in those areas, e.g., I am good at math, I love history, I can't spell; of course, this is reinforced at the end of each term with report cards. Sadly, many students see themselves as "dumb" because they are not smart in academic subject areas. How short-sided, limiting, Hellenistic ("I think, therefore I am"), and intrapersonally damaging if students see themselves only as a subject area! 

So a good place to start this journey is by breaking away from subject-defined categories and utilize a system like Multiple Intelligences to redefine how students see themselves. An educational goal for intrapersonal development is to help students see how they are smart (to use Multiple Intelligence language) or how they are gifted.

Equally disappointing, schools follow up the subject-area intelligence/gifts identification by developing students from a deficit (not strengths) perspective. Let me explain; for most of K-12 education, students are identified by their weaknesses and parents/teachers/schools add tutoring/remediation to develop the students in areas in which they are not gifted. A strengths perspective (as the formula above suggests) would work to identify "how the students are smart" (gifted) and then provide additionally opportunities to grow those gifts into strengths. 

Let's look closer at the two frameworks discussed above: Multiple Intelligences and Strengths.

Multiple Intelligences -- a structure of 9 categories that identify ways students can be "smart" in school and in life. This aligns well with a whole-child perspective and has been used by educators to enrich the "learning styles" conversation.  

Identifying a student's intelligence can be found through many free surveys on-line; however, unpacking how they are smart and how they can use their intelligence inside and outside of the classrom will involve much more work. This is a great starting point to help students see intelligence and "smarts" from a different perspective. 

StrengthQuest -- The CliftonStrengths for Students (name recently rebranded) from Gallup is a more robust program with 34 different themes applied from a strengths perspective for students to thrive in school and life. It has a wide array of resources that can be used to develop students intrapersonally. This program is being used in colleges across the country, especially with first year students. Due to the research done at strengths-aligned universities and the extensive use with college students, CliftonStrengths is leading the conversation in intrapersonal development; however, it does come with a cost ... both a fee to take the assessment and an additional cost to become a strengths-certified educator. While developed more for college students, it can also be used in high school.

Other tools (fee or free versions) are available to help identify student gifts. Here are a few to consider:

• Values in Action -- An online tool that I've used with high school students to identify character strengths is VIAcharacter. Values in Action (similar to CliftonStrengths) provides good resources on each of the character strengths to help students learn more about their character strengths and provide suggestions to practice putting their values in action. 
• The Highlands Ability Battery -- The THAB is one of the most complete career identification and planning resource. While the cost is prohibitive, this tool utilizes a wide range of tests (including personality and interest inventories) and resources to pinpoint a career path for students. Primarily utilized at the college and early career stage in life, this tool has been introduced at the high school level also.
• Spiritual Gifts Assessment -- Christian schools can use a Spiritual Gifts Survey to help students identify their gifts. Of course, deep learning can happen around each of the spiritual gifts through Bible and Christian book study. Students can then be encouraged to practice their gifts at school to improve the school culture.
• Personality Tests -- Schools can also use personality tests, like Myers-Briggs or Enneagram, to help students identify how they were created and ways to use those traits to be successful in school and in life. Like the other programs, educators can find extensive resources to help students develop their personalities into strengths.

Calling Prep

In order to complete a student's intrapersonal development, the gift identification/development ought to be done with the student's future in mind, i.e., a teleological perspective. This includes college and career preparation, but it is even bigger than that. Schools should want to see their students flourish in all areas of life. I like to use the terms "Life Prep" or "Calling Prep" instead of the typical college/career prep to emphasize the "education for all of life" that a whole-child education promotes.

By connecting what happens in the classroom to a future calling, students will see the relevance to the learning and help them see a future-fit for them in the world. This can begin in the elementary classroom with career days by having parents come in to share about their jobs, but it is especially impactful when this happens at the high school level. If an engineer comes into a physics class to share about how they use this content every day, a spark may be lit for these students that will lead to a college choice, college major, and future career. 

An important part of intrapersonal development is identifying what a student is good at and what job fits with their interest/passion. However, career prep is more than just finding a job you love (so "you'll never work a day in your life" as Twain quipped). Calling prep is deeper than that. I love Frederick Buechner's quote: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Implied in this quote is that we need to both know our "deep gladness" and the "deep hunger" around us. This involves intrapersonal development but it also involves world and market analysis. What jobs are out there? What jobs are needed at this time? By considering the world's deep hunger, we may need to step into a job that we don't love and is hard work ... but it is fulfilling because the world needs us to use our gifts there.

Ikigai is a Japanese term meaning, "a reason for being," or a life purpose, or a calling. The diagram below helps to clarify the elements of intrapersonal development and align it with what the world needs. 

Schools can encourage students to use their gifts to make a real impact in the world by helping them combine what they love, what they are good at, what the world needs with a career. This will be truly calling prep.

What I love about many of the instruments above (CliftonStrengths, VIA, Spiritual Gifts, etc.) is that they identify and help to develop a holistic, intrapersonal person. They are concerned about academic success and future employment, but they also have resources to help students flourish in all areas of life. Likewise, schools with a Hebraic, whole-child perspective want to see student flourishing in all areas: cognitive, spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and intrapersonal.

I hope that this blog series has helped you see whole-child education in a new light.

Whole Child Education: Physical

Like the previous aspects of whole-child education (cognitive, spiritual, social, and emotional), physical development is integral to healthy growth for students (and all humans). We are created to move, and physical activity actually helps keep us positive, energetic, and motivated. Developing the physical aspect of a student and utilizing movement is another essential part of a whole-child education. 

Physical Development

We can all provide examples of when you felt good after a brisk walk, intense workout, physical labor, or even stretching. I know after an hour of working in my office, I need to take a walk to help me re-focus on my work and maintain my productivity. Our physical aspect is part of how we are created, and God intends us to move. It is built into our bio-chemistry; when we exercise, the brain releases dopamine and endorphins that make us feel happy. So, logically, if humans are to flourish, physical activity needs to be a part of life. Likewise, a whole-child education must include movement and physical development. Quite simply, schools that are based on a whole-child perspective must build into the schedule physical activity.

Recess and Brain Breaks

I remember answering "recess" to the question, "What's your favorite subject in school?" While most adults dismissed this as a facetious answer, I was serious. In fact, this is a common answer for many elementary students, and it is usually not because they hate every other classroom subject; it is because something special happens at recess. When students get a chance to be active in school, it gives them a brain break, releases the happy brain chemicals, allows them to connect socially, provides them a stress release, and ushers them into a time of discovery learning through play.  

Finland has been rated #1 in the world for their national educational system. While there are many factors that can be used to rate schools, Finland has been praised for their low-stress, play-focused school system that instills a lifelong love of learning. One specific point that gets cited often is the amount of recess time in Finnish schools; after 45 minutes of classroom learning, students get 15 minutes of recess. The correlation is often drawn between Finnish recess time and happy, successful students; likewise, American schools that have reduced recess time to focus more time on academics are criticized. Would an increase in recess time lead to more success in school?  I am not sure the data allows us to make that direct causal claim, but Finnish schools do provide a positive example supporting physical activity in school.

Few high schools have "recess" time and high school break ends up being spent looking at phones or standing around "hanging out," so how do teenagers gain the benefits that physical activity provides? Unfortunately, many high schools care more about head knowledge and test scores (classroom learning) than devoting time to active "play."  In fact, Carnegie Units used to determine high school credits are tied to time in a classroom, so high school administrators (including the author) build schedules that value classroom time and often reduce break (or recess) times. It does make me pause when thinking about my high school schedule.

However, physical activity can also be included within the traditional class period by providing active brain breaks. Teachers with a whole-child perspective will make sure to provide times of activity during the class period ... even if it is just to give students a break to stretch in the middle of a brain-intensive lesson. Brain breaks can be effective times of re-focus and a way to extend learning, especially if structured around the lesson.

The Colorado Education Initiative has developed a great resource on physical activity brain breaks. Check out the resource at the link below:

• https://www.coloradoedinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/CEI-Take-a-Break-Teacher-Toolbox.pdf 

Physical Education and Athletics

Curricular and co-curricular physical activities clearly provide students with an opportunity for physical development and growth.  Physical Education (PE) classes are still a staple in most K-8 schools; however, more and more high schools are eliminating PE from the required courses for graduation, or they are allowing students to fulfill PE graduation requirements through playing a school sport, working out at a fitness club, or independent study physical activity logs. While most of these decisions are related to budget cuts, it does show the value that some schools place on physical development and physical education. 

Not all schools that have cut PE classes are against the physical development of students or whole-child education; in fact, some schools have, replaced the traditional PE classes during the school day with more extensive physical activities requirements before or after school. Some have even required all students to play at least one school "sport" each year. Realizing that not every student is an "athlete," these schools have added non-competitive physical activity programs that meet before or after school for all students, like aerobics, strength and conditioning, hiking, swimming, dance, etc. While these co-curricular programs do not provide the "brain breaks" during the school day, they can be amazing avenues of physical development.

Most communities also have a public supported recreation department that provide free (or low cost) opportunities for students to stay active. Partnering with these recreational organizations can be a win-win situation for both the schools and the recreational organizations, as the school can potentially reduce costs and the awareness/utilization of the recreational programs are optimized. Additionally,  schools can adopt programs, like Girls on the Run or NFL Play60, created by non-profit organizations to offer "plug and play" programs for their students. 

Schools who believe in a whole-child educational perspective will provide a plethora of ways to formally and informally develop the physical aspect of the student: open play recess times, structured PE classes, classroom physically active brain breaks in classrooms, after school programs, and co-curricular athletics. Schools should offer all of the above and more to develop students physically. 

By providing these programs, students will be healthier, happier, and more motivated to flourish in all areas of a whole-child education.

Whole Child Education: Emotional

In education, the social and the emotional aspects of human development are often connected and labeled as social-emotional learning. However, each of these areas is uniquely vital to human flourishing that they deserve to be treated separately. 

Emotional Development

If I was using a Venn diagram to show the interconnectedness of each of the areas of whole-child education, I would be tempted to put "emotional development" in the middle; each of the other areas impacts the emotional health of a student, and the emotional health of a student impacts the other areas.  For example, a student who is depressed is not going to be able to focus on his school work, and a student who performs poorly in his school work can become depressed. A positive example is a student who exercises (physical development) feels more happy as dopamine and endorphins are released through exercise, and a student who feels happy and has a positive self-image will want to be physically active.  The interdependence of a student's emotional health is more prominent than the other elements of whole-child education.

The importance of emotional and mental health for student flourishing is clear. Unfortunately, students (and all humans) seem to be struggling with their emotional health more than ever. There was a recent Gallup poll, published December 7, 2020, that the mental health of Americans is at the worst levels in history (Brenan 2020 ,"Americans Mental Health Ratings Sink to a New Low"). This confirms the alarm raised by the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2018, who highlighted a study that cited up to one in six children (aged 6-17) have a diagnosed mental illness (2019, "One in Six US Children Has a Mental Illness"). Finally, these studies confirm the negative trend over the past 10 years of increases to childhood depression, anxiety, and behavior disorders, according to the CDC. 

The School Counselors' Role

Clearly, emotional and mental health is something that needs to be addressed in the school setting.  Having certified school counselors who are trained to deal with emotional and mental health issues is essential. While often seen as an "extra" staff member who can be outsourced in tight budget years, schools with a whole-child perspective will make counseling staff a priority. The recommended ratios from the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is one counselor for every 250 students. Designating budget room for counseling is an important step that will pay off in student flourishing. However, the counseling staff needs to be more proactive than reactive to achieve the full benefit.

The counseling staff, of course, can address emotional and mental health crisis situations, e.g., death of a parent, suicidal ideation and actions, student conflict, and home abuse; however, to be most effective, school counselors should focus on proactive educational programming for both teachers and students. Professional development for teachers and school staff members should be a priority of the counseling staff, equipping teachers to deal with and help develop the emotional health of students. This can include formal "trauma informed teaching" workshops, instruction on how to identify at-risk students, and development around how to help without hurting the situation. Counselors should also lead a school's student crisis management team to identify students who are struggling emotionally or with mental illnesses, and develop/implement intervention strategies to help these students thrive.

The counseling staff also needs to take the lead in proactive student instruction in emotional/mental health. This can be from a purchased curriculum (e.g. Harmony SEL ) or self-developed lessons from the vast resources available online. The instruction should be age-appropriate but proactive and focused on providing coping strategies for students (all students) as they encounter stress, depression, and mental health disabilities.

The Teacher's Role

Recently, teacher education programs in colleges and teacher professional development has included more about trauma informed teaching and mental health; this needs to continue. However, this should not be seen as turning teachers into counselors. In fact, one of the most important lessons for teachers to understand is when to refer a student to a counselor. Teachers, primarily, need to understand emotional and mental health and its impact on a student's learning and behavior. Secondarily, teachers need to know how to incorporate emotional development into their classroom structures and lessons. 

While not dealing with emotional crisis situations, teachers can definitely impact student emotional development. Teachers must have a true heart for the students, caring about their emotional health. This manifests itself by teachers assuming a listening posture and a "whatever it takes to help" attitude; this will demonstrate that the teacher cares for the students and that their classroom is a safe emotional space.  Out of this classroom ethos, a teacher will then be able to challenge students to grow as a complete person; students will respond well to being pushed rigorously because they know that the teacher cares for them as a whole person and wants to see them grow.

Schools can also have a school-wide system for emotional learning, e.g., monthly virtues, regular chapels/assemblies, and monthly character awards. Likewise, classroom rhythms/rules can focus on emotional health teaching students coping strategies to manage stress and anxiety, providing learning experiences around topics like grit and resilience, and encouraging students to practice positive mental health and wellness.  

Unfortunately, classrooms/teachers, especially those who over-emphasize academic rigor, often are the causes of student stress, anxiety, feelings of failure, and depression. This emotionally unhealthy classroom environment (typically from the Greek educational philosophy) are also found in schools who hire academic coaches or college/career counselors instead of school counselors trained to work with emotional/mental health and development. This has to change, and a school with a whole-child education philosophy is best prepared to address these concerns.

It all begins from a whole-child (Hebraic) philosophy that loves and cares for the whole person, and then hires teachers, counselors, and staff who align with that perspective. However, counselors can't just wait around for a crisis (even though this may keep them busy); they must think proactively in preparing professional development for teachers and emotional health strengthening lessons for students. 

Working together from a whole-child perspective, schools can begin to change the troubling trends in student mental health into a flourishing future for our students.

Whole Child Education: Social

The cognitive and spiritual are really important aspects of education, and all schools teach for cognitive development and faith-based schools focus on the spiritual development of students, but whole-child education involves even more.  

Social Development

In my 30 years of working in education at the high school and college level, the social aspect (and the ineffectiveness of schools to develop this well) has had the most impact on student flourishing and student retention. Thinking solely about new students who enter a school at the high school level, when a social group or an individual friend welcomes and embraces them, they flourish; if this does not happen, the students struggle in almost all other areas of student development. 

I, of course, have a ton of examples of both the positive and negative social dynamics in school. I have seen the beaming faces of new students as they are invited to sit with a group at lunch, and, I know that this simple action will help them thrive. I have also had new students crying because nobody has reached out to them, and, likewise, I know that this is going to negatively impact their ability to thrive. If you are familiar with the book/film Wonder, the strongest and most consistently positive character is Summer, who has the courage to step out of her friend group to eat lunch with Auggie. View that scene HERE

Social dynamics does not only impact new students. Unfortunately, I have seen students withdraw from school because of social dynamics within a class that has been toxic for years: "mean girls" (and boys), ignoring/isolating, and bullying. Middle and high school can be either amazing times of social development or "the worst years of your life." Much of the negative social dynamics has to do with students learning what to do (and especially what not to do) through trial and error. Every students in middle and early high school are at different social maturity levels. Combine the variety of social maturity levels with wild hormones, intense peer pressure, and poor examples of healthy social interactions, and you have the recipe for disaster ... especially when you add the "dating" and social media fuel to the fire. Talk about a volatile combination that is sure to explode ... unless someone steps into that mess to help with social development. 

Sidenote on Dating: I am more and more convinced that "dating" is not a good idea in middle or high school. This is not because I am against these relationships but, rather, that I have seen so many of them implode and cause collateral damage socially, which, in turn, impacts student learning. On this topic, I share with students and parents that there are three entities in every dating relationship: the student, the person he/she is dating, and the friends around them ... and I guarantee that one of those entities is not mature enough to handle a dating relationship. Of course, nobody listens to me, and, each year, I have another set of examples about why you shouldn't date in high school.

I work with social development most specifically in high school with freshmen, and this area of personal development is all over the spectrum with this age group. The freshmen halls have both physically mature girls who are quite sophisticated socially and pre-pubescent boys who would never dream of talking to a girl. The saying that "freshmen girls are mean and freshmen boys are stupid" often rings true from the high school principal's perspective and what I deal with in discipline. Thankfully, freshmen mature into sophomores and boys and girls begin to balance out physically and socially. The social issues often (but not always) go away ... and it is always funny when sophomores shake their heads at the drama in the freshmen class and remember the same things happening last year in their class. Of course this is the vast majority of students, but unfortunately, some senior girls are still mean and some senior boys are still stupid.

I always feel like the school has failed when a student feels alone/isolated and changes schools, a dating relationship ends poorly and disrupts learning, or when a school still has mean/stupid seniors. How can schools help students grow in social development? How can a school teach students to be nice and to be a good friend?

This is one of the most difficult areas to address. As was highlighted in the video clip from Wonder, the last thing that a new student wants is for a teacher to force a student to "be nice" to the new student; it really ought to happen organically, and "nice" has to be a part of the school culture.

Building a Culture of Nice

"Play nice" has been a mantra repeated by parents and teachers since early childhood, but how do you build a culture of nice?  Like spiritual development there should be a formal and informal process that collectively changes the culture.

The formal aspect of this is teaching, modeling, and practicing these social skills on a regular basis. This begins with the rules found in the student handbook; when teachers spend extended time discussing the rules, explaining the why behind the rules, and giving examples (and letting students come up with examples) of how to act. The ongoing proactive discussions will help build a culture, and schools will begin to see students self-policing social interactions from a "that's not the way we act here" perspective. Unfortunately, we cannot assume that students have these skills when they enter school, so "nice" needs to be taught at each level and reinforced often. There are so many lessons to be taught; for example, elementary students need to be taught how to play nice at recess, middle schoolers need to be taught how to interact with each other on social media, and high schoolers need to be taught how to have crucial conversations when friends made poor choices; of course these are just a few examples.

Social development is more than just being nice or playing nice, it also involves lessons on healthy friendships and relationships; essentially, teaching students how to be a good friend. Students, unfortunately, do not see enough positive relationship examples (in life or in the media) for educators to assume that this doesn't need to be taught. Broken is an apt term for families, friends, and marital/dating relationships today. Students need to be flooded with examples of positive relationships, lessons on healthy relationship tending, and modeling to overcome all the negative examples.

One of the difficulties in teaching social development is when does it occur? These lessons don't always fit into a specific content area. However, a school built on the whole-child philosophy needs to carve out time to intentionally teach social development. As mentioned, it should begin with reviewing school rules at each level and enforcing/reinforcing those rules through the year. However, there needs to be time regularly set aside to teach these important life lessons. Some schools will implement these lessons in homeroom, crew time, advisory, or chapels/assemblies. 

Similar to spiritual development, the informal "instruction" is often more impactful. This happens when teachers and administrators "catch" students "being nice" and reinforce that behavior, and it happens with shoulder to shoulder short conversations as students are walking down the hall. It doesn't need to be posted or broadcasted, but it does need to be recognized and named at least to the specific student who is being nice. The opposite, of course, is also true; when students are not acting in appropriate ways socially, they need to be confronted, disciplined, and challenged to change their behaviors ... and tending a school culture sometimes means removing a student who is toxic socially.

By formally teaching and informally reinforcing "nice," students will develop socially and a culture can change.

Prepare for Future Flourishing

The importance of equipping students socially is not just to help them thrive in the present, but it is also to prepare them to flourish in the future.

An interesting expression highlights this point: "A's work for C's." Often educators place value and worth on a gpa and a student's ability to "do school" well; however, a student's social quotient (SQ), a measure of social maturity, is more important than their IQ in determining how successful they will be after their formal schooling ends. Thriving in family, community, and work depends on a person's attentiveness in personal relationships, being able to connect with a wide range of people professionally, listening and encouraging well, caring deeply for neighbors, and having the courage to step out of one's social comfort zone to risk getting to know someone new. These are all skills that should be taught in school, especially if future flourishing is a goal.

All educators can identify students who struggle in school but will flourish in life. Lean into these students and encourage them to lead; this will, not only put wind in their sails at school, but it will help them see their future in a positive light.

The importance of focusing on social development is essential for whole-child education and future flourishing. Unfortunately, schools are usually teaching these skills in a reactive way through discipline and correction. Even if the discipline process is framed from a restorative perspective, social development would be much richer if done proactively.

The next article in this series will highlight an area often combined with social development as social-emotional learning.  Next up is emotional development.

Whole Child Education: Spiritual

As the previous article pointed out, clearly schools should be about cognitive development; however, a hyper or sole focus on cognitive development does not help students flourish. I'm afraid our culture is reaping the rotten fruit of the heavily Greek model of education that produces smart but faith-less, selfish, depressed, and purposeless students.  A whole-child approach would produce smart AND faith-full, kind, emotionally healthy, and purposeful members of our society. 

An example of our hyper-focus on cognitive development is my daughter who is studying for the GRE to get into a Physician Assistant school. She is memorizing obscure vocabulary words so that she will score well on the Graduate Record Exam. Now, I absolutely want to have smart professionals in the medical field, but I also want to them to score high on social and emotional measures. A smart physician assistant who cannot listen and relate to her patients, is a poor PA no matter what she scores on the GRE.

Similarly, whole-child education has a "smart AND" perspective; graduates of a whole-child education should score high in academics AND spirituality, social interactions, emotional and physical health, and calling.

Spiritual Development

Returning to the Hebraic paradigm, a whole person was described as "heart, soul, strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5). While "heart" is a synecdoche for a whole person, the "soul" is added in both the old and new testaments to highlight a person's spiritual being. We are spiritual beings. Of course, Christians who believe in the Bible accept this, but most religions and self-help gurus affirm the same thing ... we have a spiritual soul. Deep in our being, in our spiritual soul, is a desire to believe in and worship something greater than ourselves, the transcendent; as a Christian, this is the God of the Bible.

American public schools have been so hyper-focused on cognitive development and hyper-sensitive to the separation of church and state that they have, for many years, neglected the spiritual development of students. Instead of believing in something greater than ourselves, students are taught to believe in themselves, other humans, or in humanity's collective knowledge. Although aligned with the religion of the American dream, believing in oneself is ultimately empty, especially in answering the ultimate questions of life.

As a Christian working in a Christian school, my examples will come from that faith perspective and school environment. However, other religious schools also focus on the spiritual development of students, and many private and public schools are realizing the need to add spiritual elements to help students flourish.

Ultimate Questions

A faith-based educational environment that focuses on developing the spiritual being is best able to help students answer the ultimate questions in life. 

• Origins -- where did we come from? where did I come from?
• Purpose -- why do humans exist? why do I exist?
• Eternity -- what happens after we die? where am I going after I die?

In Christian schools, these answers come from the Bible and even catechisms or doctrinal statements. Of course, the creation account in Genesis provides answers to origins and throughout the Bible are descriptions of eternal life. Additionally, the Bible emphasizes purpose and meaning in life; it shows why we exist (to glorify God) and how we should live. In fact many verses in the Bible become "life verses" that guide the lives of Christians. For example, the Bible says to love God and our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31), to value justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8), to live in peace with everyone (Hebrews 12:14), and to serve the "least of these" (Matthew 25:40). Each of those passages (along with many others) have been adopted by students to help give purpose to their life and, ultimately, glory to God.

Without a faith foundation to help answer these questions, students are left without answers to these ultimate questions. Without answers from a transcendent source, students remain perplexed, unsettled, and full of doubt.  Eventually these students stop seeking answers to these questions and become apathetic or they find answers that are purely self-serving and egotistical. Both of these sides provide little comfort (or development) for the spiritual soul. Students are left with an unsettled "is that all?" spiritual perspective and much doubt about their identity and purpose in life.

Guiding Principles

In addition to helping to answer the ultimate questions in life, spiritual development leads to a set of religious beliefs that provide moral and ethical guiding principles for students. Students in our modern world are presented with many, often conflicting, messages about morality and behaviors. Without a developing spiritual soul and its connection to their faith, students are left to make decisions based on society, peers or even the adults in their lives ... all who can lead them astray.

Through an educational system that focuses on spiritual development and faith formation, students will have a fixed point, like a lighthouse, to guide them through the swirling storms of life. This faith foundation will help students "test the spirits of the age" (I John 4:1) against biblical truth and align their actions to their faith.

Spiritual Development in the Classroom

Spiritual development in a Christian school is both formal and informal. 

Formally, spiritual development happens in Christian schools through Bible classes and a Bible curriculum. These are classes in the school day to help build biblical literacy and different publishers have developed extensive curricula taking students through the Bible and from a wide variety of theological perspectives. Additionally students gain formal Bible instruction through morning devotions and chapels. All of these collectively build a biblical knowledge foundation that can be quantifiably measured. 

Arguably, equally impactful are the informal times of faith formation. While all faith formation can be called discipleship, the informal conversations that teachers/coaches have with students remain at the heart of spiritual development. Conversations about faith as they organically arise in the classroom or hallways of the school represent the "walking and talking" discipleship modeled by Christ. Christ did life with his disciples and took faith pauses to point out God's work in life. Christian teachers also take "faith pauses" to point out to students the places in the content where God shines through; this also happens when teachers walk shoulder to shoulder down the hall with students. It may be hard to believe, but spiritual development also occurs in the principal's office as students are encouraged to make better choices ... yes, discipline and discipleship have the same root words. 

Full assessment of a student's spiritual development continues to allude Christian educators. Outside of biblical literacy, an individual's spiritual maturation is truly personal, subjective, and fluid.  In this area, maturation is not a steady linear line upward correlated to age. We all feel closer or further from God in different seasons of life (and does it show greater spiritual maturation to feel closer to God?). As soon as someone tries to quantify the spiritual, it becomes complicated to interpret the data. What does the number of times that a student prays in a day tell us about spiritual maturity?  How does an educator measure the heart?

Some instruments have been developed to measure spiritual development, e.g. The Spiritual Assessment Inventory (Hall & Edwards 2002), and, of course, developmental psychologists, e.g. Fowler (1981), have written extensively on spiritual development. Both the SAI and Fowler have extensive research supporting spiritual development that would be helpful in considering assessment. Additionally, a helpful and brief article on assessing spiritual growth is writing by Steven and Joanna Levy for ACSI ... "Rethinking Assessment: A Tool for Learning and Spiritual Development."

The difficulty in assessment is going to be seen in the other non-cognitive areas of whole child education (social, emotional, physical, intrapersonal). However, educators should not shy away from these areas of whole-child education just because they are difficult to measure.

The school should help build a solid foundation that begins with biblical literacy (and hermeneutics), encourages spiritual disciplines and habits, and help students consider academic subjects and life issues through the eyes of scripture. Out of the biblical foundation students can be encouraged to think biblically (ad fontes -- what does the Bible say about this?) and act biblically (how would God want us to act? or wwjd?). 

While supremely important in the overall development of the whole child, it needs to be done in partnership with the home and the church.  As mentioned above, schools can be powerfully supportive roles in building biblical literacy and encouraging spiritual disciplines. However, I believe PreK-12 schools should allow specific doctrine to be taught by the student's church and home. Unfortunately, many churches and parents are not embracing their responsibility to teach theology, i.e., catechism classes or theologically rich family devotion and discussion times (but that needs to remain for another article).

Of course, spiritual instruction does happen in the home and the church, but a whole-child educational perspective recognizes the importance of the "soul" in the student and its connection to flourishing. Schools that embrace the spiritual aspect of a student will partner with the home and the church to help develop students spiritually.

Focusing on cognitive and spiritual development is a good start to whole-child education, but it is not the end. Students need social, emotional, physical, and intrapersonal development.

Up next ... the social aspect of whole-child education.

Whole Child Education: Cognitive

The first article in this series introduced the concepts of a Hebraic (heart - whole child) approach to education instead of the Hellenistic/Greek (mind - specialized) approach to education. Simply, a whole-child approach broadly focuses on six tenets of student development (discussed below), while the modern Greek model is primarily focused on cognitive development. In education, we value what we measure; clearly, we value the cognitive development over everything else because schools and students are rated based on standardized test scores, and typically not much else.

A complete shift to a whole-child perspective in education would impact everything from school curriculum, to staffing, to government funding, to assessment, to school ratings, to college admissions. However, many local schools have realized the importance of a whole-child perspective, and, while they are still required to play in the Greek educational sandbox with assessment, they are adding whole-child elements to help students flourish. 

So, what does this look like in schools and classrooms?

Here are the six tenets of whole-child education that I will be discussing:

1. Cognitive
2. Spiritual
3. Social
4. Emotional
5. Physical
6. Intrapersonal

Cognitive

"Cognition" is an odd term, but it essentially means thinking, acquiring knowledge, and gaining understanding. It's the "brain work" most often connected to school learning and an essential part of any educational environment. Of course, all schools are, and must continue to be, focused on cognitive development. Cognitive development includes, at the most basic level, learning the 3 R's of reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, but, surprisingly, our modern (and Greek) educational ethos has stopped there. Just look at what we measure (typically reading and math). How limiting to the potential of education! In contrast, a whole-child perspective on cognitive development would align with Comenius who stated curriculum should be "as broad as life itself." 

John Amos Comenius, when outlining his perspective on curriculum, states ...  

There is nothing in Heaven or Earth, or in the Waters, nothing in the Abyss under the earth, nothing in the Human Body, nothing in the Soul, nothing in Holy Writ, nothing in the Arts, nothing in Economy, nothing in Polity, nothing in the Church, of which the little candidates of Wisdom shall be wholly ignorant. (Laurie, 1892. John Amos Comenius) 

A curriculum "as broad as life itself" would be an exciting set of core and elective courses (and topics) for the "little candidates of wisdom" (aka students). How liberating, relevant, and empowering school would truly be if "LIFE" was the overarching curricular goal!

A school that is committed to a whole-child curriculum would include the "traditional" courses for students, but each of then would be constantly pointing students to life, adding relevance to these subjects for the students. Additionally, students would have a plethora of elective courses that are as "broad as life itself." Students would be able to take classes in those areas that bring meaning to life: media, art, music, culinary arts, relationships, gardening, woodworking, interior design, fishing, etc.

How liberating a whole-child curriculum would be in contrast to the restrictive curriculum found in the majority of modern educational systems today. 

Unfortunately, schools are too heavily focused on assessment to be concerned about life. Most American schools are rated on reading and math through state and national standardized test scores, and colleges value prospective students on the same two subjects (ACT, SAT, CLT); therefore, an excessive amount of instructional time is spent in these two subject areas. While these are two amazing subject areas (I was a former English teacher), often students struggle in these traditional subjects to see the relevance to life.  

Modern educational systems seem to be content with the limited nature of cognitive development today (two subjects) rather than pushing for a broadening of the curriculum (and the assessment of more subjects). A logical first step to expand the curriculum would be to expand the subjects being assessed. It has always been perplexing to me that other "traditional" subjects taught in school (like history, science, world languages, fine arts, physical education, etc.) are not on standardized tests used to evaluate school programs. Knowing educators value what we assess, equally perplexing is why the leaders in these areas haven't fought harder for their subjects to be included in these assessments. A school that is committed to a whole-child system of cognitive development would utilize (and probably have to develop themselves) assessments for all subjects being taught. 

In addition to the academic program, a school following a whole-child educational philosophy would look quite different. Teachers would need to have a zest for life, and a desire to share their passions with students. Of course, a staff filled with a zest for life need school administrators willing to say "yes" to their ideas. With "life" as the curriculum umbrella, schools would need to be flexible enough to pause to address life events that arise. Also, the school calendar and class schedule would need to have enrichment days and discovery weeks for travel, field experiences, and expeditionary learning.

Wouldn't it be invigorating to work in a school that embraces the whole-child perspective ... a school that has a curriculum as broad as life itself!

Next up in this series is Spiritual Growth.

Whole Child Education: An Introduction

With the increase in schools shifting to specialized educational systems focused on one area of student development, e.g.. STEM, Classical, Fine Arts, etc., I want to use this article to defend the power of whole-child education. While some may criticize a whole-child education as "jack of all trades, master of none" perspective thus promoting a more specialized education, I would argue that a broad whole-child education, especially Prek-12, builds a strong foundation and best prepares students to flourish in an ever-changing world after high school.

An Introduction

Two overarching educational philosophies (Hebraic and Hellenistic) are present in the western educational world today. Most educational models can be traced back to these two roots: the Old Testament (Hebraic) and Greek philosophy (Hellenistic). Each need much more than a paragraph to fully understand, but a brief introduction to these two educational paradigms is below.

The Hebraic model originates from the Old Testament view of education and life. Flourishing and human development is driven and defined by a rich and full definition of "shalom." Shalom, while most often defined as "peace" is better understood as a completeness, wholeness of being, harmony, and flourishing. This includes all aspects of a person. A complementary Hebrew term is "heart"; in the Old Testament, "heart" is often used to refer to the complete inner being of a person, including the mind, spiritual soul, emotions, personality, and passion ... essentially "all" of a person. A Hebraic model of education would, therefore, seek to promote shalom in all areas of a person's being: cognitive, spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and intrapersonal. 

The Hellenistic model originates from the Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. This paradigm, while always elevating the cognitive (e.g., philosophy as the "queen of all sciences"), began with a holistic view of education, including citizenship, public speaking, service to humanity, vocational arts, and virtue. In fact, the term "liberal arts" (from Aristotle) has become synonymous for a well-rounded education. Today, the Hellenistic (or Greek) model of education is limited to academics, and a school's (and student's) identity (and worth) is primarily based on cognitive development. This can be summarized in Descartes' quote, "I think, therefore, I am." 

It would take an entire educational philosophy class to understand the full nuances of each of these two philosophies. To simplify, the Hebraic paradigm focuses on holistic student development (heart), and the Hellenistic paradigm focuses on cognitive student development (mind). We can actually see this distinction in the Old and New Testaments. The Shema is a Hebrew prayer/command that is found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy (6:4-5): "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." This passage, written in Hebrew and to a specifically Hebrew audience, would be clearly interpreted by the word "heart." In fact, "soul" and "strength" are there for emphasis ... "heart" means the complete, holistic being. In the New Testament (written in Greek), Jesus quotes the Shema as the greatest commandment: "Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." As one can see, one word is different; Jesus didn't misquote the Old Testament, but he replaced "strength" with "mind" as he was speaking to a heavily Greek-influenced world. The Greek world emphasized a person's mind as the most important aspect of his/her being, so it was appropriate to insert that as an emphatic phrase to his audience in order to make the point of "all of one's being." So, what does this have to do with 21st Century education?

Our modern educational system is steeped in a Hellenistic (or neo-Hellenistic) worldview which, essentially today, focuses primarily on cognitive development. Even though Aristotle (and other Greek philosophers) promoted the "good life," citizenship, ethics, and virtue in education, today our educational system has devolved into focusing on what we can objectively measure. In fact, the 21st Century in K-12 education has been marked (or marred) by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. School effectiveness has been reduced to a test score, typically in reading and math; likewise, student value (as determined by college acceptances/scholarships) is reduced to a test score. 

Unfortunately, because education values what we measure, school systems have "doubled down" on preparation for standardized test scores, focused solely on cognitive development. 

While one would assume non-religious schools would align more with the pagan Greek philosophers and religious schools would align more with the Old Testament, all American schools have capitulated to a neo-Hellenistic educational philosophy. Academic excellence and cognitive development (as measured by test scores) rule supreme in our schools today ... and our nation is a mess.

We are reaping the logical consequences of a hyper-focus on cognitive development. Students may be smarter today (as measured by "high stakes" standardized tests), but they are more depressed, stressed, obese, self-absorbed, unethical, faithless, and mean. I wish this was an exaggeration. Ironically, the only characteristic that is arguable from the previous statement is if students are actually "smarter" today.

New schools and school initiatives have been launched, but, unfortunately, most align with a neo-Hellenistic paradigm with the ultimate goal of raising test scores.

The Whole-Child Education movement, while not a new concept, has gained renewed interest from more of a Hebraic and "heart" educational paradigm. While still holding on to test scores to measure cognitive development and rate students/schools, educators are re-asserting that flourishing is more than just head knowledge.

Similar to the concept of "shalom," a Whole-Child educational model is holistic, pursuing a flourishing in all aspects of a student's being. Schools are implementing aspects of whole-child education in response to the student development crisis we currently see in our community. Today, schools are still heavily in the Hellenistic camp, but they are implementing Hebraic elements of Whole-Child education to encourage student flourishing. 

While each educator would define "whole-child" or "holistic education" differently, I am going to be focusing on the following elements: 

1. Cognitive
2. Spiritual
3. Social
4. Emotional
5. Physical
6. Intrapersonal 

The next blog will focus on how these elements are applied in a school setting.  Stay tuned.

Thriving in High School (Part 3)

I love to see high school students thriving, both inside and outside of the classroom. My first two articles in this series focused on those two general areas: academics and co-curricular activities. However, factors outside of school often impact a student's ability to thrive inside the school building. Part three of this series will focus on the home environment. While many of these "external" factors are negative and thus lead to students failing to thrive, this series will continue to focus on the positive aspects of thriving high school students. 

In order for a plant to flourish, it needs a favorable environment ... soil, sun, water. Likewise, a high school student needs a favorable home environment to thrive. 

Although each home, family, and parenting style is unique, I have tried to identify the positive factors that I have observed in the home environment of thriving students. My reflections fall into three categories: Stability, Structure, and Support.

Stability

Thriving high school students have a stable home. I realize the term a "stable home" is difficult to define and may even be controversial, so let me explain. In order for high school students to thrive, they need stability outside of school. Educators are probably familiar with the phrase, "Students need to Maslow before they can Bloom." This quote refers to two educational psychologists who focused on student thriving. Maslow focused on foundational human needs (like stability at home) that every student needs before he/she can thrive academically; Bloom's Taxonomy emphasized cognitive development and higher level learning, but students struggle to learn when they are concerned about food, shelter, safety (i.e. stability at home). Most educators understand that students cannot thrive without stability at home.

High school (and the teenage years) are filled with instability: physical changes, identity confusion, stressful social interactions, cultural and peer pressure, and hormonal chaos. In the midst of all this, they need a stable "home base," a place to retreat, regroup, and recover. Thriving students find this "home base" at home.

One of my favorite paintings, especially to describe the teenage years, is Edvard Munch's "The Scream" ... an amorphous figure standing alone on a bridge, losing his mind, screaming, while his world swirls around him. Clearly, that figure represents a teenager, right?  Just like the screamer in the painting needs a stable place to call home, teenagers need a stable home environment in order to thrive.

So what does a stable family look like? In the early 1990's, the vice president of the United States, Dan Quayle, made a controversial statement essentially claiming single-parent homes are less stable than two-parent homes. It sparked a lively debate and even led to a sociological study that affirmed a two-parent family structure as being more stable (see The Atlantic article, "Dan Quayle Was Right"). However, it is not that simple. A stable home can be found in a wide range of family structures. In fact, most people can quickly cite examples of abusive, oppressive two-parent homes that are not a stable home environment, along with citing single-parent homes that provide the stability needed to thrive.  

High school students, in order to thrive, need stability at home. While instability can come in many forms ... loss of a parent's job, frequent moving, divorce, death of a parent ... stability can still be found within those situations. Essentially, thriving students know that they have a place to return to after a hectic day. Thriving students have parents who will help bring order to the chaos, will provide a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on. Thriving students have people in their life who regularly assure them that everything will be okay. That is a stable home environment.

Support

Thriving high school students have a supportive home environment. Like stability, the term "supportive" needs to be explained. Some synonyms of support that help in the definition are, to bolster, to hold up, to brace, to carry some of the weight, to sustain, to assist. Thriving students have parents who do these things.

Supportive parents are ones who encourage their son/daughter's curiosity and interests. If a student shows an interest in piano, the supportive parent pays for lessons. If a student shows an interest in soccer, the supportive parent becomes a "soccer mom." If a student is curious about a historical time period, a supportive parent goes to the library with her to do research. If a student is curious about a profession, a supportive parent arranges a job shadow for him. Unfortunately, some parents (especially in sports) have a misguided understanding of what it means to be a supportive parent. It does not mean screaming at officials when his daughter gets fouled, cussing out the coach because of playing time, or pointing out every mistake that the daughter made in the game while in the car on the ride home. To stay positive, supportive sport parents, are quick to listen and slow to speak; they ask if she enjoyed playing the game, what she felt went well and what she wished went differently; they encourage a growth mindset and ask for ways that they can help her improve; and they take her out for ice cream no matter what the outcome. 

A new term for overly involved parents is "lawnmower parents"; essentially, a lawnmower parent goes before the son/daughter to smooth out any rough patches that may lie ahead, or "mow down" anyone that stands in the way.  A supportive parent is not a lawnmower parent.  In fact, a supportive parent is there to encourage (bolster, brace) a student as they go through difficulties but realizes the importance of going through difficulties for personal growth. Supportive parents also encourage their teenagers to gradually take on more and more responsibilities (practice adulting); they help them mature and grow into adulthood.  (See my previous article on "Adolescent Development: Positive Tethering" for more on this subject). 

Another aspect of support is correction. Consider a support railing on a pedestrian bridge; it provides something to hold onto to steady oneself, but it also helps keep the hiker from falling off the bridge. Supportive parents guide and keep their son/daughter on the right path, and this sometimes involves discipline. This can also take many forms. From modeling work ethic, positive language, and how to love a neighbor, parents set the example for their teenager. However, parents also need to intervene when correction is necessary; they must denounce toxic language and hate, monitor screen time and content, and admonish negative attitudes. This also is being a supportive parent. 

Thriving high school students have supportive parents.

Structure

Finally, thriving students have structure at home. Similar to stability mentioned above, teenagers need structure and routines in order to thrive within the swirling world around them. Unfortunately, as we've become busier and busier as a society, our structure at home has disintegrated. This hurts teenagers (and everyone, I would argue).

Family time used to be sacred. In the past, family dinner was at 6:00pm, and every family member was present. It was a "hearth" time to discuss the day, share highs/lows, seek advice/support from others, and just be together. It was a time and ritual that said, "No matter what happened during the day, this is one thing you can count on and look forward to" and "everything is going to be okay." Unfortunately, family dinner time is rare ... except for thriving students. Thriving students and families still have family dinner time.

Structure provides stability. Thriving students have a time for family dinner, homework, going to bed, and waking up. These routines mark their days and provide them with the stability needed during the teenage years. Of course, academically thriving students have structure in their homework; they have a consistent time and place that they finish their homework and prep for the following day. This homework structure is different for each student, but it is consistent for the individual student. Similarly, every student may go to bed and wake up at a slightly different time, but thriving students have a  consistent structure for sleep. 

Structure also includes chores at home. Thriving students have responsibilities at home, tasks that they complete to contribute to the success of the overall family. These tasks or chores may include doing the dishes or washing their own laundry; it could be weekend projects like mowing the lawn or daily tasks like making your bed (see Admiral McRaven's speech about why it is important to make your bed) . Work for teenagers help teach so many life lessons ... ways to thrive now and in the future. Chores at home help teenagers realize that the world doesn't revolve around them, provides them a sense of accomplishment, and develops an awareness of the concept of interdependency ... essentially, we all rely on each other. All of these are lessons that translate well to thriving in school. 

Structure also involves limits. For teenagers in the 21st Century, these limits are primarily tech related. Thriving students have limits on their screen time and phone use. Sometimes (probably more indicative of thriving students) these limits are set by the students themselves; more often, these limits are set by their parents. Thriving students realize the negative impact that heavy screen time has on the brain's ability to focus, and they willingly put their phones "to bed" and stop gaming after a set amount of time. It is probably easier to describe students who are failing to thrive in this area. Unfortunately, many students are addicted to their phones; it doesn't matter whether it is a gaming or social media addiction, the research is discouraging. Tech addiction is one of the leading obstacles to thriving in high school. The best resource that I've found on limiting home technology use is Andy Crouch's The Tech-Wise Family (Baker Books, 2017).

Students who thrive have structure in their lives.

Thriving in high school involves so much, but with stability, support, and structure at home, students have a good opportunity to thrive in school.

As a parent of two high school students, this has been a difficult article to write. For much of this, I have been reflecting on our home and "preaching" to myself. However, I stand by these observations from my 30 years of working with teenagers, even if I don't see them perfectly manifested in my own home. 

A Prayer for our Nation

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Dear Father,

I pray for the humbling of our land.

Lord, we do not walk humbly (Micah 6:8); in fact, we elevate the arrogant. We are a nation of people and institutions who seek glory for self rather than for You. We have disregarded You and your Word. Instead of following Your Word, we do what is right in our own eyes (Judges 21:25b). We attempt to understand scripture through the spectacles of culture, rather than understanding culture through the spectacles of scripture. We accept, embrace, and celebrate what You call sin; we reject, ridicule, and discard what You call righteous.

Instead of a nation filled with the fruit of the spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5: 22-23) ... we embody those characteristics warned about in "the terrible times in the last days ... lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

Humble us as a nation, as you did with the people of Israel in the time of the Judges; humble us, as you did Nebuchadnezzar in the time of Daniel (Daniel 4:37), so that we, as a nation and as individuals, seek your face and turn from our wicked ways. 

I pray that You heal our land.

Lord, we live in a wounded world in need of healing. Because of our arrogance, we do not love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31) and we are not "quick to listen and slow to speak" (James 1:19). Raise up your people to heal our land through loving and listening. 

We live in a wounded world in need of healing. Because of our arrogance, we do not "act justly and love mercy" (Micah 6:8), and we do not care for "the least of these" (Matthew 25:34-45). Raise up your people to heal our land through justice and mercy. Raise up your people to heal our land through caring for the hungry, thirsty, naked, and sick, through welcoming the stranger and visiting the prisoner.

Let us, as Christ-followers, be known as healers in this wounded world. Let us, as Christ-followers, be known by our actions of neighbor loving, listening, and caring, and by our actions of justice and mercy. Use us, as your humble hands and feet, to heal our land.

In the power of your son,

Amen

Thriving in High School (Part 2)

As a high school principal, I have a front row seat observing students in school and school activities. I am encouraged by those who are thriving and discouraged by those who fail to thrive. I hope that this blog series on "Thriving in High School" will help high school educators encourage attitudes and behaviors to help students thrive. Part one of this series focused on students who embraced a "work" mindset and were academically engaged in their learning. 

For Part Two, I want to move outside the classroom. Thriving students look differently in co-curricular activities and in their social interactions.

Thriving Students Get Involved

Thriving students participate in student activities, like clubs, athletics, student leadership, theater, and music. Every high school student has a classroom experience, thriving students take advantage of the learning opportunities outside the classroom. Unfortunately, the value of co-curricular activities has waned in recent years as more and more students just "survive" school and return home to spend time on devices in gaming or social media. I call this the "I'd rather not" culture, and it negatively impacts a student's ability to thrive. By opting out of these opportunities, students are missing out on the deep learning that can occur outside the classroom. The opposite of the "I'd rather not" culture is the "Why not?" culture; this culture encourages students to participate, to say "yes" to opportunities as they arise, and to get involved. It is exciting to see students jump in with two feet and get involved in whatever student activities are offered at the school. One thing we track at my school is participation rates because we know student success is tied to student participation.

Small School, Big Experience

Student participation is an area in which students attending smaller schools have a big advantage over those attending large schools. This is counter-intuitive; in fact, we occasionally have students leave our "small" school to attend a larger one for more opportunities. Bigger schools provide more opportunities is an urban myth. Often big schools force students to be single sport athletes or single activity participants; these schools have "theater kids" and "basketball kids" and "band kids" and "AP students" but rarely do these student groups intersect. Smaller schools allow students to participate in multiple activities ... yes, a high percentage of student participation is required for co-curricular programs to even exist in a smaller school, but what a gift for students who want to thrive in high school. Let me give you a personal example ... my son Adam, is a senior at a small school (180 high school students), but he is the student council co-president, a soccer player, a drummer in the symphonic, jazz, and pep bands, and an actor in the fall play and spring musical, all while taking multiple honors classes. He is thriving and embracing his high school experience.

Some will push back on this and cite the many opportunities that big schools provide to attend high level athletic contests with huge student sections and have front row seats to amazing musical and theater productions. I agree that you can learn by being an audience member, but the amount of learning that happens as a spectator pales in comparison to the level of learning that occurs for those on the field and stage. This reminds me of the quote by Lou Holtz (college football hall of fame coach), "Don't be a spectator; don't let life pass you by." Thriving students are not merely a "fan" of their high school experiences, they get involved. 

Thriving Students are Broadly Social

The power and impact of high school friends is real. I have observed good students hit rock bottom (as a student) because of their academically lackluster friend group, and I have seen mediocre students thrive academically when they surround themselves with students who are focused and thriving. Making wise decisions about friends is a vital factor in thriving vs. surviving high school ... and keeping relationships superficial in high school is actually a good thing. That sounds counter-intuitive, so let me explain.

The high school experience is filled with social learning, and thriving students are social butterflies. When I observe high school students socially, thriving students are the ones who move easily among different social groups, even among different grades. These students are able to sit at any table at lunch and are able to work with any group in the classroom; they are friends of all ... at least while at school. Unfortunately, some live by the axiom "birds of a feather stick together" rather than attempting to be a "social butterfly." While spending time with those who have similar interests, look, think, and act like you do is a comfortable and natural thing to do, it doesn't help you thrive and grow. "There is no growth in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone." This is true of friendships at school ... interacting with those who don't look, think, or act like you will help you grow and thrive.

By being open to new friendships with individuals from diverse backgrounds, students will learn from others about life and their perspective. Being broadly social is great for friendship, but it also helps students learn deeply. Those failing to thrive invest heavily in one person or one friend group and tie their identity to that person/group. This is unhealthy in high school and hinders the ability to thrive as a student.

I understand the importance of building deep human relationships rather than flitting superficially from one friend to another, and I also know that tending relationships, if done well, is a full time job. My point being, attempting to get to know someone at a deep level at school takes time ... time that would detract from thriving at school as a student. In my 30 years of working with high school and college students, I have seen too many students focus on one person, and fail to thrive as a student. Of course, at the high school level, this takes the form of a dating relationship.

Don't Date!

Whenever I talk to students about thriving in high school, I say "don't date." It usually brings eye rolls and smirks, but, even though I know many won't take this advice, I keep saying it ... because I see the aftermath. Every year, students disregard my advice, and every year I have more examples of why high school students shouldn't date. Occasionally, I will have a student survive a messy break-up and come to me in confidence and admit that I was right about not dating in high school (unfortunately, it is usually right before they jump into another relationship). In a softer moment, I advise students to not actively date at school, meaning that, while at school, they should stay focused on being a student rather than on being a boyfriend or girlfriend. This aligns with my first point (in part 1), thriving students see school as their job. Just like dating co-workers is frowned upon due to the distraction it brings and potential drama, dating at school is counter to being a focused, productive student.

Believe me, I've heard all the arguments why students should date while in high school, but none of them outweigh the potential pitfalls. I'll keep preaching to my small choir.

Social learning is an essential part of the high school experience. Connecting with a wide range of people allows high school students to flourish socially and to "learn from the stranger" while at school, but it also prepares them to thrive in a diverse world. 

Educators can encourage students within their sphere of influence to thrive outside of the classroom while at school. Students need to get involved, say "yes" to student activities, and interact with a wide range of people. 

Thriving in High School (Part 1)

Every high school is filled with students who are thriving and others who are just surviving. Attentive educators can identify these students quite early in the school year; the best educators act on that knowledge by encouraging those who are thriving and intervening into the lives of those who are merely surviving.

What characteristics should we use to identify thriving and surviving students. Following a positive psychology paradigm, this blog series will focus on the attitudes and behaviors of thriving students.

Most of the information will be from my experience ... what stands out to me after working with high school and college students for 30 years. Additionally, over the past 10 years, I've lived with five high school students (who were mostly thriving ... even with their dad as the principal). 

Let me start with the academic side.

Go to Work Every Day!

Thriving students see being a student as their job, and school as their workplace. This doesn't mean that they don't have any fun at school, rather they embrace "school" as a vocational calling for this season in their life. Like the workplace, school has expectations of attendance, dress, respect for the teacher/supervisor, job performance, and attention. 

Students who thrive have a "going to work" attitude that ensures that they show up on time and are dressed in a way that follows the dress code. They literally are "ready for work." Students who struggle with these two areas, being late and not complying with the school expectations on dress, begin the day in conflict, and start the day in survival mode. 

• Side Note: Tardies and dress code violations are the two most frequent discipline issues that I deal with as a high school principal. While I am thankful that it is not something more serious, I do take it seriously because grasping the importance of these two relatively minor behaviors will help students thrive in the workplace. Yes, showing up on time (or early) and dressing to the expectations set by your employer places employees on track for advancement.  

Students, as well as employees, are not going to like every "supervisor" that they have in school. However, the students who thrive academically are the ones who respect the teacher and strive to achieve whatever task is placed before them, even overcoming a teacher who doesn't teach to the individual student's preferred learning style.

• Side Note: Students who fail to thrive are ones who continually complain about a teacher (or class), and ultimately give up because of a conflict with a teacher. Thriving students also have teachers that they do not like; in contrast, they will ask questions in class, reach out to that teacher for clarification, seek additional support, and work doubly hard to achieve the tasks assigned to them (and they will ultimately take these attitudes and behaviors into their future workplaces).

Every job has performance and attentiveness expectations. If you want to thrive as an employee, you will prepare for meetings, work collaboratively, take on individual responsibility (and "do what you say you will do"), and meet deadlines. This is similar to each class in school; students must prepare for class, work diligently in groups and independently, and complete classwork and homework on time. Thriving students do these aspects of school well, and they are preparing to be thriving employees in the future. Additionally, most employers expect their employees to be working when "on the clock" and would frown on employees being off-task. In fact, many workplaces have rules restricting social media or gaming while on the job because of the distraction they can cause. Staying focused and on-task, both at work and at school, is a characteristic of thriving students (and employees). 

• Side Note: I see students unable to focus for long periods of time, and they are taking frequent work breaks to be on their phones (messaging / social media / gaming). I realize that phones are ubiquitous today, even in the workplace, but productivity wanes with active phone use. If an employee wants to merely survive in a job, remain connected to your phone throughout the workday; however, if an employee wants to set him/herself above others, be positioned for advancement, and thrive in the workplace, limit phone usage and stay focused on your work. Of course, same for students.

Engage Academically!

When I visit classrooms, it takes me about 2 minutes to identify the thriving students. They are the ones who are academically engaged in the lesson. I have become quite adept at identifying academic engagement through my experience in teaching and administration. Our school also use the "Effective Learning Environment Observation Tool" (ELEOT) from AdvancEd for classroom observations, and this tool focuses on the academic engagement of students. 

So what are characteristics of an engaged learner?

Active Listening -- an engaged, thriving student is an active listener. While not everyone actively listens in the same way, looking at a student's posture, facial expressions, and eyes are usually good indicators of active listening. An active listener leans forward toward the speaker, nods, smiles (or frowns) as appropriate. and the eyes are locked into the teacher or task. As an educator, you can almost see the brain spinning or capture an "aha moment" by observing posture, facial expressions, and eyes ... and that is one of the joys of teaching. Posture, facial expressions, and the eyes, of course, show good listening, but an engaged learner also participates as an integral part of the learning environment. 

Participation -- While participation can look different for each student, thriving students ask and answer questions. This is probably the easiest element of participation to observe, but if you've been in a classroom, you know asking/answering doesn't always align with academic engagement. The level of questions asked or answers given correlates to the level of engagement. For example, a question, "when is the assignment due again?" can actually show a low level of engagement, but an answer that challenges or expands the classroom discussion by referring to previous voices would indicate a higher level of engagement. Engaged and participating students can be identified by "jumping to it" when teachers give an activity or assignment. Whatever the task, there is little delay from teacher instruction to student work.

• Side note: I recognize that it is difficult to remain engaged in classes in which one has little internal interest. However, the "fake it until you make it" principle works well. If students act engaged (even if they would rather be somewhere else), the teacher typically becomes more animated and the lesson becomes more interesting to the student. In contrast, when students respond to a "boring" lesson by not actively listening and not participating, the lesson gets even more painful ... I only have to say "Anyone, Anyone" to conjure up pictures of disengaged students in Ferris Bueller's Day Off  (video of scene). Yes, engaged students could have even made that lesson better.

Thriving students "go to work" and are engaged in learning the entire day. Students who are failing to thrive should try these two things ... It will make a difference.

There are many more characteristics of thriving students ... stay tuned. 

Listen Up!

The mayhem of 2020 has pushed me to be more reflective. Why is our world such a mess? Where's the gap between what is and what ought to be? How should we as parents, educators, leaders act to help heal our wounded world?

The problems swirling around our world in 2020 are multi-faceted and complex; thus, the solutions are not simple or simplistic ones. However, let me suggest a first step.

We need to listen better.

I've been struck by how the majority of our modern modes of communication are broken. 

The classic communication cycle include two individuals: 1) sender/speaker and 2) receiver/listener.  A speaker sends a message to a listener; the listener responds by providing feedback to indicate that he/she has received the message in the same way that the sender meant it. Then, the roles are reversed; the listener becomes the speaker and the speaker becomes the listener ... to embody a complete communication cycle.

Effective communication is a beautiful dance between two (or more) people. The irony is, in our modern world with so many ways to communicate, we've forgotten this basic cycle, and we've eliminated the listener's role.

Let me provide some examples ... 

1. Social Media -- The "sender" posts a message on Twitter. The message is sent, but there is only a limited way to see if the message was received or if the "receiver" understood the message the same way that the sender meant it. Yes, a "receiver" can "like" the message, but rarely does the receiver reciprocate and become the "sender." In fact, if someone responds to a posts and disagrees with it, the chances are pretty good that the response will die there ... and the person will be blocked. So while social media posts can reach thousands of people, the mode represents a broken communication cycle.

2. Protests -- Although I believe that protests have their place in society, bringing awareness to injustice, this mode, for the most part, operates without a true "listener." Huge crowds assemble to chant and display signs with powerful messages, but who is listening? Like the example of a social media post, the message is sent out, but it is unsure that the receivers are listening, or, if they are listening, there is no way to gauge if they understood the message the same way that the protesters intended.

3. Television News -- Stations like Fox News and CNN have devolved into talking heads promoting a position on a topic. The majority of the time on these stations, the silver tongued host editorializes, what used to be a small part of the news called the "editorial" or "op-ed." When an individual with an opposing view is a guest, the host spends little time truly listening; in fact, the time with the guest is quickly and frequently interrupted, challenged, and refuted (and sometimes belittled).

4. Political Debates -- Politicians in "debates" are not there to listen. They are primarily there to catch an opponent in a faux pas and to repeat their talking points, whether they align with the question or not. btw, those who teach 'Speech and Debate" cringe when these spectacles are called "debates" (as they should).

5. Corporate Worship -- Worship, if designed properly, is a beautiful example of the communication cycle: God speaks to his people, and his people respond to the message. Traditionally, the service opens with a God's "call to worship" and the church responds with praise or a prayer; the service continues with the church's "confession of sin" and God's "assurance of pardon"; the sermon is God's word to the church followed by praise or prayer response from the church; the service ends with a benediction from God and the church's response with a "doxology." Without getting into too much criticism of the modern church, this beautiful cycle of communication is not seen in most churches today.

So What?

You may be wondering ... "Okay, we don't listen well today, but what does that have to do with the problems of today?"

First, in reflecting on the cultural mess that we are stuck in, I can't think of an issue that couldn't be improved by listening well. Political division, racism, church schisms, COVID-19, BLM, defunding police, school choice, creation care, homelessness, etc. ... listening to the other side would help.

Second, learning requires listening. Academic Freedom, a term largely used in higher education, implies that students learn best by listening well to a wide range of ideas and positions, and then pondering, researching, and challenging those positions. This belief is at the core of a liberal arts education (a liberating education); this philosophy leads to brain stretching and ultimately individual freedom and empowerment (as you know, "knowledge is power"). When only one view is presented by a teacher or professor, the student is robbed of that power that only critical thinking can provide.

Third, listening honors the imago dei like nothing else. If we believe that every human being is created in God's image, then we ought to value what each person has to say. To truly listen to another human being, especially one who doesn't think as you do, is the simplest ways to love your neighbor. In essence, a listener with humility is saying ... "I respect your views, your experiences, and your words; how can I learn from you?"

Now What?

Modeling listening is an important action step, and one that is really difficult. However, if we (as adults) want to raise up a generation of listeners, we have to show them how to listen. Most of the examples that children are seeing (as listed above) are not good examples of listening well. Here are a few action items to address the lack of listening in our society.

• Social Media ... don't just hide/block individuals with different views than you; take the time to listen, ask for clarification, seek understanding ... or invite them out for a cup of coffee to listen and seek to understand.
• Protests ... sit down with those who are planning to protest (before the heat of the moment); invite them to express their views in a town hall meeting or over a cup of coffee to truly listen.
• Television News ... limit editorializing and focus on reporting the facts; instead of seeking sensational headlines and sound bites, networks should run uncut versions of speeches and interviews. Invite opposing viewpoints, listen to them, and genuinely seek to learn from them.
• Political Debates ... each candidate should prepare (research themselves) a set of topics, develop position statements on those topics and follow the rules of debate ... including listening to the opponent.
• Corporate Worship ... churches should return to a communication liturgical rhythm of God speaking and his people responding.

Teaching listening to the next generation is a vital next step. Educators (like me) believe in using curriculum content and pedagogy to change attitudes and behaviors. This is a tall task due to all the modes of communication that hinder listening, but it can be done. After modeling good listening, show students how to "be still" and how to approach every conversation in humility, ready to learn from another. It truly is a discipline that needs to be taught and practiced in school and reinforced at home.

In James 1, everyone is admonished to listen. He says, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak ...." Of course, there is wisdom there, unfortunately our world does just the opposite, and that is one reason we are in such a mess.