By CHRISTINE BERNSTEIN
Los Alamos
I went to the board recently for reasons I am not discussing here…maybe another time.
The high school has a program called School of Choice, or SOC. It has existed for at least 20 years, maybe more. It was in progress when I began teaching at the High School in 2004.
Four students presented the program while their teachers sat in the audience. This was telling. The teachers were 100% confident in their student’s ability to present the program to the board and the public.
Briefly, it is a school program that students apply to. It consists of four core content areas. Students must meet certain criteria, but not necessarily academic criteria. From my own understanding, it is designed to support students in their learning, students who may struggle in school for various reasons or just need a different approach.
One phrase in a slide jumped out at me: The program prepares learners, not test takers. Now, I am paraphrasing the statement, but that is the message I got.
This program has existed for more than twenty years, and I started wondering, “Why aren’t we learning from the successes, asking questions, and applying the practices to all classrooms?”
I talked to the teacher involved with the development and implementation, and she said the key to it is attendance. We have a huge attendance problem right now. One reason is that parents call their kids out for any reason … and I felt a little twinge of guilt because I am a guilty parent.
I am about to head off here and talk about attendance.
My daughter will occasionally call or text me telling me she doesn’t want to go to such and such class for various reasons. These reasons are anything from physical ailments and exhaustion to how the class makes her feel depressed, or she doesn’t have the capacity to cope, or there is nothing significant happening.
Now, I am sure she is not alone in her reasons, and I bet there are many more. But the one thing I keep wondering about is value.
I saw and heard in the SOC presentation that these students found value in their class. They had a sense of community and belonging. They realized that their presence made a difference. That they were part of something bigger. They had a sense of belonging.
I read a book called Atlas of the Heart a while back. I often refer back to it. It is sort of my personal dictionary for feelings. Brene Brown, the author, talks about belonging versus fitting in. She talks about how we are all wired for belonging. It is a part of who we are. I interpret this as a human need.
One piece that she mentions has stuck with me. She gets a bunch of quotes from kids, and one has always kind of hung around in my head.
“Belonging is being accepted for you, fitting in is being accepted for being like everyone else.”
Now, what does this have to do with attendance? Or learning?
I am going to attempt to connect the dots here.
We need certain things to learn. Learning can be uncomfortable. When we are learning something new, when we are opening our mind to a new idea, a new perspective, thought, or concept, we can feel uncomfortable. And we should be a little uncomfortable. You are not pushing your brain or body to learn as long as you stay in your comfort zone.
Now, I am not talking about certain types of discomfort like hunger or feeling tired. Fear and worry are discomforts that are not conducive to learning.
Our kids need to feel safe to learn. And I want to be clear here: I am talking about actual learning, not just doing work. We can discuss that later.
Belonging is a feeling that can promote learning. If you are in a class and feel like you belong, like your voice matters, you matter, then is it possible that what you are learning might matter too?
And is it possible that if you felt that your presence in the class had an impact, that it was important not just for you to be there, but that it matters to others as well, that you would feel a sense of belonging? If you, as a contributor, had a purpose, would that be a driver or feeling that might make it easier to show up every day and be involved? Would it make it more enticing if you had value?
If you have value in a classroom, then is it possible that you might find value in the class? And if you find value in the class…. well…maybe you would want to be there—on time, often.
What if every class at school felt this way for every kid?
What if when a kid showed up, no matter where they were in the learning process, they were valued?
What if every kid found value in their peers?
What if every teacher was a facilitator?
What if students had a voice in the HOW of the learning process?
What if that is what would change the attendance problem? Not lunch detention, not letters home to parents, not a bad grade in PowerSchool.
If our kids are not going to class, we owe it to them to ask why. We must talk to them and determine what would add value to their day. What would make them show up?
I recently asked a kid this question. She said that many kids are late to certain classes because nothing happens in the first few minutes. So, I asked: What would make those first minutes worth showing up for?
She felt that she would be there if students had a voice in what would happen in class that day. We discussed this a little further, and I can boil it down to this: The teacher is no longer the presenter of information but should be a facilitator of learning.
And when we feel we are part of something, when we have a purpose, and we feel we belong to something bigger. We will show up. We will feel invested. We have a purpose.
And in feeling this way, is it possible that our kids will also become better learners? Will they feel safe to take risks, be uncomfortable, and move outside of their comfort zone to allow themselves to learn?
What if….
