I'm always seeking equilibrium—that elusive balance between work and family, quiet time and social functions, domestic projects I've rescheduled more than once and professional adventures that entice me away from home.
My teaching career and my work as an educational consultant and administrator follow a similar pattern. I've had a lifelong interest in creativity and the arts. I taught art and history and conducted outdoor adventures and seminars for gifted youth. I have always tried to lead along a path of balance.
Over the past few years, as education in the United States has focused increasingly on high-stakes testing in reading and mathematics, the areas that were once so important in my own education, personal life, and professional career seem to have become marginalized. When they haven't been overtly suppressed, they have simply been left out of the conversation.
It seems to me the increased focus on how to help students gain a command of literacy and mathematics has overwhelmed us so much that conversations about how children become leaders, or ethical citizens, or creative thinkers, are pushed toward the back of the room or even outside of it, where they cannot be heard.
Balancing Personalized Learning
ASCD's recent publication of the Commission on the Whole Child's report, The Learning Compact Redefined: A Call to Action(www.ascd.org/learningcompact), has exciting potential to change the tone and substance of conversations about children and learning. The report is a powerful representation of ASCD's commitment to restoring balance in the education world. It presents a broad framework for education by recognizing that the basics, though important, represent only a portion of the ingredients necessary to shape children into physically healthy and emotionally mature adults.
Referring to education in the United States, Robert J. Sternberg (2006) said, "The increasingly massive and far-reaching use of conventional standardized tests is one of the most effective, if unintentional, vehicles this country has created for suppressing creativity" (p. 47).
More recently, evidence suggests that an unintended consequence of the emphasis on reading and mathematics for underachieving children has been an increasing divide between young people who receive broad and well-rounded education opportunities and those who focus on tests.
The world that today's children will one day enjoy can scarcely be imagined. The multiple modes of available communication, rapidly evolving efficiencies in the workplace, ease of travel and access to information, and other unfathomable technological changes and social trends make limiting education to a particular academic focus irrational. Furthermore, today's children will likely live in a world where their lives will be impacted by decisions made across the globe. Even now, they are citizens of the world, whether or not they wish to be. We cannot afford to allow children to become limited by being competent in the basics alone.
Clearly, schools have multiple aims. Some are vital for the individual; others benefit society as a whole. A balanced curriculum gives all children opportunities to develop decision-making and critical- and creative-thinking skills. A balanced curriculum gives all children access to the arts, sciences, history, and languages. A balanced education supports health and safety, while preparing children academically and socially for a multiethnic, multicultural, and multilingual world.
Changing the Conversation
I recently presented The Learning Compact Redefined to a group of educators for the first time. It was striking to see how the ideas in the publication resonated with the audience. They were concerned, however, about how a broader focus could be achieved within the constraints of a crowded curriculum and overstretched school day. I understand those concerns, having faced the same challenges as a principal and superintendent.
In fact, I find the report particularly appealing because it offers a broad definition of achievement and of accountability. It asks communities to consider how they can support the development of whole children. The Whole Child Web site (www.wholechildeducation.org) even features a community report card that seeks to engage whole communities in assessing their support for the development of children.
The report of ASCD's Commission on the Whole Child has stimulated the conversation and centered it on a complete set of educational opportunities. If we clearly articulate our areas of expertise to one another, if we listen to each other and spread the word among our colleagues, this conversation will move to the front of the room. Soon, the whole child dialogue among educators will engage families, attract community leaders, and influence policymakers at all levels.
ASCD's Whole Child Compact is a move toward equilibrium. I find that comforting.