PART 2
The calls and social media comments would not stop. My last column “A Teacher’s Moral Compass Points Straight At The Need for Classroom Character Education” actually had parents stop pushing their kids for a moment and take note and asked that dreaded parenting question –”Am I doing this right?”
I had a text this week from a parent who asked if schools should be held more accountable for the clear decline in student behavior in the classroom. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
From the beginning.
Unfortunately, it’s now probably time to start at square one. So instead of focusing on all of the hard skills (specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured, such as test taking, writing, math, reading, machine operation, and the ability to use software programs) and discuss the friendlier, calming, relaxing “World of Soft Skills.”
However, these skills are subjective and much harder to quantify. Also known as “people skills or interpersonal skills,” they deal with the way you relate to and interact with people.
These are the skills that students do not have the time to learn from teachers who want so badly to teach them but can’t since they are shutdown to do so because “you are not tested on soft skills.”
What then is an education?
And with that came the arguments on what truly constituted an education. And with that came arguments about the real meaning of learning. And with that a whole slew of opinions.
Think for a moment what our world would look and sound like if the concept of success was driven purely by other “stuff” such as happiness and self-confidence instead of testing, echelons and attainment. But now comes the tough question – what would that other “stuff” be?
Someone is bound to be a buzz kill and say something robotic like – “we’re trying to explain student success educationally or in the labor market with skills not directly measured by standardized tests.”
A game-changing skill set
Sure, we always hear about “life and career skills” and “information, media, and technology skills,” but, what about cognitive skills? Instead of teaching skills for the sake of achievement, how about presenting skills for expanding the mind and nurturing the heart?
I am always asked before, during, or after my presentation, what makes for a successful student and my answer is always the same –”a happy, well-adjusted confident kid.” This reminds me of a quote (circa 1788) I read almost a decade ago when I started designing The Student Success Project.
“The virtues of men are of more consequence to society than their abilities; and for this reason, the heart should be cultivated with more assiduity than the head.”
So with that said, I throw these few “cognitive skills” out for consideration.
Character Skills education has a long history in the U.S., with a major vogue in the 1930s and a revival in the 1980s and 1990s.
Certain schools emphasize a curriculum of seven “character strengths”: grit, zest, optimism, self-control, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity.
This is a direct response to parents wishing that their children be happy and good as well as successful. But here’s the Catch-22
1. Growth Mindset is the belief that positive traits, including intelligence, can be developed with practice.
2. Fixed Mindset refers to the idea that intelligence and other talents are set at birth.
Unfortunately, both mindsets are based in the belief that if you make the kids feel good they’ll learn,’ which is tied right into the 80’s self-esteem movement. A movement many feel led to lots of trophies but little improvement in actual achievement.
So jumping back to last issue’s moral compass comment. It’s time parents get pointed in the right direction before our students’ behavior continues to plummet further south.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Marketing. He can be reached at 305-788-4105 or via email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
