Check out this interview with Dan Siegel on the psychology and sociology of our environment. At Rainbow I often stress that helping students cultivate a deep and personal relationship with the natural world is our only hope of saving it, as they will only protect what they love. Dan Siegel shares that same sentiment adding the notion of “mwe.” When we learn to see ourselves as integrally connected to all things and to one another, we will end the destruction of our time and begin taking care of one another and the planet that sustains us. It all begins with love.
What type of parent are you? Read this checklist to see if you help your child build resilience. My favorite is “Make the adage that there are at least two sides to every story a mantra in your home.”
Rainbow Community School has always been a safe haven for introverted children. In a world where social aggressiveness has be glorified, especially in the competitive public education model, Rainbow has always had a way of understanding and honoring the power of the introvert.
Three insights from Rainbow on educating introverts:
1. Provide “in-breath and out-breath” time. At Rainbow, we have active and “outward” times of day; but unlike most schools, those are balanced with “inward” times. Every day has moments of silence, such as when we take three breaths together at morning centering, or when we watch nature, or when we decide to have a meditational lunch.
2. Provide many speaking opportunities where introverts can share about something they are passionate about in a safe space — with their classmates. That eventually builds up to speaking in front of the whole community. However, if they are actually terrified, allow them to “pass” until they are comfortable. It takes time to build trust.
3. Allow introverts to find a role they are comfortable with. Instead of forcing a terrified child to sing in a performance, a Rainbow teacher might ask them to take on another role, such as being in charge of costumes or props. Such a role actually makes them a leader in the eyes of their peers, and builds confidence.
“And just when you think you’ve got things figured out things change again…” The sixth graders share this powerful wisdom about the transformational power of love through their original song “Love as Metamorphosis”. The melody and rhythm of the song parallel the powerful lyrics as they describe the ever unfolding process of love. The sixth grade worked closely with their teacher, Justin Pilla, to create entirely new composition and lyrics for last year’s Annual Winter Program. Steeped in the emotional, spiritual, and creative domains, these sixth graders have created something beyond the material that can touch us all if we are open enough to receiving it.
Senior Deputy Ben Fields is seen pulling a student from her chair at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C., in these three images made from another student’s video recording. AP
Like anyone who saw the video of the students at Spring Valley High being slammed to the floor and dragged out of her chair, I was sick, angry, and mortified. The social media comments that followed mostly focused on Officer Fields, otherwise known as Officer Slam on Facebook. But this is about so much more than whether Officer Fields’ actions were warranted. Of course, they weren’t warranted. A counselor should have been called instead of a cop.
Students learn as much or more from the “hidden curriculum” of a school than from the “overt curriculum.” The hidden curriculum is made up of everything else that goes on other than what is being literally studied in class. How are students treated? How do they treat each other? Are the teachers empowered? Essentially, what is the culture of the school? Since the rise of violence in schools in the 80’s and 90’s, many high schools started using school resource officers. New high schools were built that look like prisons with almost no windows, designed more to quell a riot than facilitate education. Some even greeted students at the door with metal detectors. The hidden curriculum in these institutions is one of oppression. What I see in the students at their desks in the Spring Valley video are students who have learned from the hidden curriculum to keep their heads down, so it doesn’t happen to them. Indeed, so many black parents talk about teaching their children this very message. It wasn’t that long ago that a young black man could be lynched for looking at a white woman. Years later, that translates into a prison sentence for looking sideways at a cop, or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Niya Kennedy was the only student witnessing the violence who had the courage to do anything other than cower, and she was arrested for it. What is the lesson in that?
As one student said in the attached link, this wouldn’t have happened if the student had been white. Part of the whole point of the Black Lives Matter movement is that our society has become used to treating black people, particularly poor black people, as if their lives are not important–as if they don’t deserve the same opportunities in life as their white peers. They don’t receive the same quality of services, housing, respect, or education. (Black students in primarily black schools receive an average of $733 less on per pupil funding that students in primarily white schools.) The hidden curriculum of large public schools has enforced this message. So the issue is so much bigger than one racist or overly aggressive officer, it’s systematic.
Of course, the term “hidden” means more than “not-overt.” It means that it has been taken for granted. It is so much a part of the “atmosphere” that it can’t be seen any more than the air around us. Everyone is so used to it, that it hasn’t been questioned — at least not by enough people for those questions to be heard or addressed.
We need to advocate for schools that have positive school cultures, where the lessons learned from the hidden curriculum are the following:
I am a valued and accepted member of my community.
My unique personhood is seen and appreciated.
If I am in need, I will be helped
Students carry the “hidden curriclum” they learn in school forward into society. Wouldn’t it be great to have a society with these values?
