I was thrilled when ASCD asked me to write a column as my first official act as the new ASCD Board President. The chance to thank, support, and even help shape ASCD is a privilege beyond words.
Like many of you, I have devoted my entire career to supporting students. I started student teaching in my junior year of college and never looked back—4 years as a high school teacher, teaching everything from remedial math to AP English literature; 10 years as a high school principal; and now 3 years as a college professor and consultant. I have been immersed in the education world: exposed to children, schools, and systems across the globe. I am actually writing this article while sitting in a teachers' conference room in a preK–12 school in Bengaluru, India.
No matter where I am in the world, at what type of school, I am always struck by the enormous responsibility society has entrusted to its educators. We are expected to be teachers, supporters, shoulders to cry on, disciplinarians, referees, and coaches. We are expected to teach academic skills, life skills, relationship skills, morality, ethics, and behavior. And we are blamed if any transgression occurs.
It is absurd to think that schools should support children to be active members of society, but only reward them if they do well on a multiple-choice test that shows no deep understanding of skills or knowledge. Students should not be defined by one test score or one project. Education is not built to only help a child academically. If we take our jobs to heart, if we truly absorb the role, then we are here to serve the child, the whole child, in all her fullness and glory.
When a person turns 30, will he define himself based on the biology test he took in 8th grade, or will he succeed because of the team-building skills he possesses? If a student attended a school that gave her an environment in which she could try new things, not fear failure, and be safe in her own skin and identity, would that not translate to a better life than only being held accountable for learning the quadratic equation?
Yes, we must teach academics. The essence of an effective school and a just society is one that values and nurtures the whole child. We are here to steward students' growth so that when they leave us, they have the skills to be active, productive members of society.
I urge you to think of those future adults in children's clothing. How can you help them achieve a robust and full life? A happy life, a good life? A life that is filled with love?
Recently, I have been struck by the research concerning mindfulness. Just allowing our children time at the beginning of the day to meditate seems to do wonders in focusing them for the day. Even something as simple as repeating a phrase seems to alter our brainwaves and wire us for success. So I posit, after all we know, both through research and our own experiences, that we check ourselves every day and ask, Did I support the whole child today?