As I was standing in line at a local delicatessen recently, the mother of a four-year-old was relating the story of her son's first day at school. Apparently, the teacher shook her finger at the children and in a high-pitched voice said, "We have so much to get done this year with learning numbers and words. It is my responsibility to get you ready for kindergarten."
I hastily purchased my sandwich and ate it en route to a middle school. Waiting in the corridor, I overheard a 7th-grade teacher say to his students, "Every minute is important in our class this year, since we will put all our efforts toward doing well on the state tests."
I felt my neck twitch and my stomach churn as my anxiety level rose. Questions flashed through my mind: Will the learners in these classes leave better, wiser, emotionally healthier, and more empowered than they came? Will their spirits soar toward lives fully expressed?
Educators face a daily predicament. They must set high expectations for student performance, meet high standards through intense periods of instruction, and help students perform well on required assessments. At the same time, educators must show students that they care about them as individuals.
Admittedly, there is little time to pay attention to the personal needs of students. Too often, educators must steal time to listen to students' concerns and help them to acquire social competencies. Balancing the cognitive and affective curriculums is a major challenge for educators, who feel the pressure of insufficient time, resources, and energy to do all that is expected.
Students Need Support
But today, more than ever, students nee educators' emotional support. Educators are working with students who are disconnected with their families, their communities, and even themselves. When the school day ends, many youngsters are shuttled to organized lessons in sports, dance, and martial arts, while others go to empty houses where they have no one with whom to share the events of the day over an afternoon snack.
Compounding these pressures, schools place major emphasis on preparing students for the world of work, giving constant reminders of the scarcity of jobs and the high level of economic anxiety. The ever-present stress of preparing oneself for future success often clouds students' joy in learning and living.
Given these conditions, it's little wonder that reports of stress-related illness among children and youth have reached alarming proportions. The percentage of teens who have attempted suicide at least once rose from 6 percent in 1988 to 13 percent in 1993. Suicide ranked as the third leading cause of death among children and adolescents in 1993. These troubling statistics are evidence that too many youth have crawled beneath the blanket of despair and are suffocating from a lack of human connections.
Finding a Balance
For educators, the challenge is to balance the academic curriculum with one of caring. Too much or too little of either curriculum tilts the balance of good schooling. Schools must become cocoons of caring where both high standards of academic performance and compassionate purpose are nestled. To feel comfortable in schools, students need to feel a sense of authentic unity—a unity where students are not driven or forced together but drawn together through natural ties and respect for one another.
The bridge of compassion that unites educators and youth is forged by listening actively to what students have to say and holding them accountable for their actions. Although educators cannot always solve students' problems, they can listen to students and give them sympathy and support. When educators show compassion, their actions serve as symbols of what is right and good.
Only in classrooms where caring and compassion are nurtured along with academic prowess does the flame of the heart become a roaring fire and possibly an eternal flame.