A School of Fish

Chapel Talk – January 30, 2012

First of all, I’d like to welcome our visitors this morning. 30 Grade Ten students and six of their teachers have joined us today from the High School affiliated to Beijing Normal University to further our work together as sister schools. They’ve been in the states for 20 days, visiting colleges like Yale, Columbia, MIT, and Tulane and they return to Beijing tomorrow morning. I hope many of you will be able to visit with them today and to join us for an early dinner in Calvert at 5:30 this evening.

Secondly, I’d like to share an anecdote I read as told by my favorite author – the late David Foster Wallace, but it’s not original to him, and some of you may know it from some other source. Two young trout are swimming along and meet an older trout swimming in the other direction. He nods at them as they pass each other and says, affably, “Morning, kids! How’s the water?” After the two young trout swim on for a bit, one turns to the other and asks, “What the heck is water?” Wallace describes the point of the anecdote—that the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about—as “a banal platitude with life and death importance.”

We’re all on a journey of some sort but it’s usually not very clear where we’re headed and how we’re actually making progress. Often times, here in chapel and elsewhere, we discuss ‘callings’ and being driven toward one thing or another in our lives. Teaching is a calling of sorts, as is being a social worker, a priest, or any number of pursuits. In fact, whatever it is that you have as your ‘calling’, it is of equal worth to others’ callings provided you pursue your work with honesty, dignity, and with real commitment.

I suppose one could argue that pursuing a life as an international criminal may provide less value than other, more noble pursuits, but let’s leave that for another discussion and assume that each of us in this space has at least some idea about the direction our lives are headed. Some of us may already have a clear notion about our actual calling while others are only beginning to think about this idea.

Think for a minute now about what your calling might be. How many of you have some idea about your plans in life? How many have a very clear idea and have already begun your work toward those aims? How many are just wanting to know what the math homework is tonight and for me to stop asking such annoying questions?

A good question to ask yourselves in your search for yourself, is what is the water in which I swim and how does it shape me as I move through life? The young trout were surprised by their elder’s question and probably hadn’t considered the idea that the fact that they were in water was an incredibly important and critical fact of their lives – it was the context in which they lived and defined them in very specific terms. Being aware of the context is the first and most important step toward deciding to act with courage and to shape our lives with meaning.

The anecdote has another meaning as well – the fact that the elder trout took time to point out to the youngsters that they were, in fact, in water, and to inquire as to how they were dealing with that is what your teachers and parents try to do each and every day.

The courses you take and the decisions you make, both creatively and analytically, literally describe the water around you in ever increasing detail and when your eyes and minds are open, you will find that your ability to swim will dramatically improve based on your understanding of your surroundings, and thereby the path you’re on.

To conclude, I challenge you to stop taking things for granted, to ask questions that not only help you understand your world, but most importantly, questions that help you to understand others in the world. We may swim in the same waters as others in this School, so we’d better make an effort to hear how our friends, acquaintances, and those we don’t know are experiencing their lives. We’re all at different points on our journeys toward our calling and I for one appreciate the opportunity to see my progress in ways I’ve not considered.

Thank you. Be a force for good. Enjoy the rest of your day.

You Can't Say You Can't Play

This phrase was a central feature in my children's primary and lower division classrooms. It's the title of an important book by Vivian Paley and is referenced by an important thinker on diversity in education: Randy Testa, former professor of education at Dartmouth.

In a recent communication by Testa about hazing in colleges and the shifts in the aims of schooling based on quantifiable outcomes and "return on investment", it's never been more important to promote values of inclusivity and acceptance in schools like ours.

Alfie Kohn writes in his article, Only for My Kid: “This bottom line is never far from the minds of parents, who weigh every decision about what their children do in school, or even after school, against the yardstick of what it might contribute to future success. They are not raising a child so much as a living resume.”


“Before long,” he continues, “the children internalize this quest and come to see their childhood as one long period of getting ready: they sign up for activities that might impress an admissions committee, ignoring (perhaps even losing sight of) what they personally find interesting in the here and now.”


I'm not sure I agree with Testa's assertion that entitlement and exclusion are directly responsible for misbehavior in fraternities and the like, but I do think we need to remember that community building and human flourishing are based on a philosophy of hopefulness and openness. 


Robert Coles' work in this arena is also very interesting and important - if you have time, pick up a copy of Privileged Ones: The Well-Off and the Rich in America.


Back to my own kids: they may or may not decide to join a fraternity or a sorority, but whatever they choose, I am happy to say that those early lessons about acceptance continue to be reinforced here at Casady and for that I am truly grateful.

Why the Pursuit of Excellence Matters

I just read an interesting article by Erik Reece from Orion Magazine on the current state of affairs in American schools. He points out, rightly, that our students are generally unprepared, bored, and uninspired because they haven't been pushed to pursue those things that really matter - citizenship, innovation, and critical thought. This is because they are taught in a system that necessitates teaching 'to the test' and a teacher education model that isn't cultivating the kinds of teachers who can work toward those habits of mind due to bureaucratic regulations and a lack of resources, both financial and intellectual, necessary to create excellent educational experience. 


I'm fortunate to lead a school which is able to do things the right way. Our teachers are inspiring, they care deeply about their subjects and their students and they have the freedom to pursue ethical dilemmas because they/we want to ensure that our graduates know how to think, have the courage to act, and have faith in their own development as human beings in the world that their work makes a difference. 


A couple of excerpts from the article:


"Deborah Meier, a senior scholar at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education and a founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools, suggests that we replace the cover-the-material mode of teaching by cultivating a “habit of mind” that can be applied to all material. Such a habit nurtures the intellectual skills students need to make decisions on complex matters and is based on such things as: quality of evidence (how do we know it’s true?), consideration of various viewpoints (how would it look through someone else’s eyes?), the search for patterns and causes (what are the consequences?), and relevance (who cares?)."
...
"THE GOOD NEWS is we can begin revitalizing both education and democracy by implementing a curriculum that incubates what I will call the “citizen-self.” As teachers, I believe our purpose should be twofold: 1) to provide the opportunity for individual self-invention among students, and 2) to create a space where that individual takes on the role and the responsibility of the social citizen. The pedagogy I have in mind combines the Romantic idea of thebildung, the cultivation of one’s own intellectual and psychological nature, with the Pragmatist view that such individuality must be vigorously protected by acts of citizenship. That is to say, it encourages Deborah Meier’s “habit of mind” toward the goal of helping each student determine what she or he truly thinks and feels about an issue or an idea, and it encourages what psychologist and philosopher William James called a “habit of action,” a way of translating such thinking into citizenship. At the risk of oversimplifying, we might say that the first part cultivates the inner self, while the second shapes the outer self. But these two selves cannot be separated; each depends upon and strengthens the other."

Courage

Here's a short piece on courage and its place in education (Chapel Talk October 3, 2011):

What if I told you that I heard that there was a sale on for chicken wings at the deli counter at the neighborhood WalMart and I wanted to be the first in line, so I ran right across Britton Road without checking for traffic.

What if, instead, I ran across Britton in order to save a young child who had wandered out of the parking lot and onto the street?

What if I saw the same child, but I looked around but decided that someone else would probably take care of her, and that it wasn’t really my responsibility?

All three situations involve me making a decision about crossing Britton, but the situations are very different and my ability to understand the differences shapes my decision significantly.

We all know that courage is a thing that we’re supposed to have. Indeed, this school was founded with a call toward courage and a call toward faith. Our crest, emblazoned with the words Fideliter et Fortiter implore us all to act with faith and with courage as we live our lives. The lion sought it during his journey to Oz, Dr. Martin Luther King demonstrated it on marches and in speeches at a time when his very life was at stake, and today, possibly as we leave chapel and head back to class, each and every one of us will have an opportunity to act courageously.

So why is courage so important?

Whether you’re standing up for a classmate when she’s being mistreated, telling a friend bad news, admitting to your teacher that you didn’t study for today’s test, or telling your parents that you were the one who broke the vase, each time we demonstrate courage, we make a difference in a positive direction. That is why courage is so important.

Great acts of courage are inspirational and we can all point to examples that set the bar for each of us, but it’s in the day-to-day living of our lives that we must strive to live life courageously. It is our duty to our selves, our community here at School and ultimately to our world that we embrace this way of living and work to set an example for one another in the way Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and others have in their lives.

As members of the Casady School community, we must strive to be the kind of person who isn’t afraid to stand up and do the right thing. We must strive to be the kind of person who isn’t afraid to admit to our failings. We must strive to be the kind of person who is courageous enough to make mistakes, learn from them and to muster the courage to make even more mistakes.  

“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

Parenting in the Real World

Parenting is really tough, yet I am thankful that I have the opportunity to come face to face with my own deficiencies as I navigate the beginnings of my children's adolescence.

As an educator with many years experience as a Middle School teacher, I began this journey with the false belief that because I had years of experience and understanding well the adolescent brain, that I'd be more than ready when the time came for me to help shape and guide my kids toward healthy and successful lives. 

Boy, was I misguided. 

Despite my own knowledge and understanding of adolescence as a Theory, practicing effective parenting is another skill entirely. 

Perhaps two articles I've read in the last few days could help shine a light on both why explicitly teaching character development and brain physiology contribute to deeper and perhaps more effective parenting and teaching...

This article in National Geographic points out some reasons why I'm destined to keep the learning curve steep and to continue developing skills like grit, determination, patience, and knowing when to not die on that particular hill.

That is all, for now.

Praise the Work

As you may already know, we are hosting a screening of the film Race to Nowhere here at Casady on October 16th at 5:30PM in Fee Theater. If you'd like to attend, click here to buy your tickets.

I will facilitate a discussion immediately following. 

I encourage you to attend - this is an important film that deserves our attention...

Additionally, this article is a very useful resource and reminder to parents and teachers alike in outlining the reasons we should praise effort and determination rather than intelligence. As I've noted in prior posts, Carol Dweck is another strong advocate for this approach to education and child-rearing.

Keep watching this space!

Chris

I Have a Lot to Learn

Chapel Talk September 13, 2011

I have a lot to learn.

I’ve spent the past 45 years trying to make sense of things. I’m lucky to have had some incredible teachers along the way and I’m fortunate that many of my friends have had an interest in the way things work as well.

I’m reminded about just how little I know almost every day and for that I’m truly grateful. I’m a big believer in the idea that when we stop learning and when we stop being curious about the world is about the same time that we become complacent and when we stop wanting to understand other people’s points of view. That’s when bad things happen like war, injustice, racism, and prejudice. That’s when we stop working together to solve problems and begin to judge each other and make fun of each other to make ourselves feel better, bigger, and more powerful.

The overall reason for learning, it seems to me, is to find out about the world around us and all the interesting people and things the world contains. As we discover more and more about these things, we also develop a sense of ourselves and begin to understand our purpose in the world.

Here in Chapel, we hear stories about how others lived their lives, how we are supposed to make decisions, and why it’s important to try to do the right things. Here in Chapel, we dedicate ourselves to the enormous task of trying to make things better. Here in Chapel we are thankful to God for allowing us an opportunity to gather together in our shared work to improve ourselves and our world.

This is why we should have great respect for learning. Learning is, in its most basic form, the best way we have to connect to each other and to our world. We are all joined together through our shared desire to do the things in our lives that help to make a difference.

No single person on the planet has the whole story. No single person in this Chapel has all the answers, but if you listen, learn, and act with respect and a belief in yourself and in others, collectively, we answer the big questions each and every day.

The more I know, the more I understand just how little I, in fact, know. The more I have the chance to talk with people, hear their ideas and listen to their concerns, the more I understand that it takes a collective effort on the part of each and every one of us to figure out the hard problems and to learn to live together in peace.