Two quotes from your post that resonated strongly with me:
"For some of these kids, high school is about constructing the application that will get them into one of a handful of universities they have been told are gateways to success and happiness."
"Depression and debilitating anxiety among adolescents has increased dramatically, and many indeed have turned to drugs and alcohol"
I myself was very much thrust into the idea that my self-worth was contingent upon my academic performance, and that little else in my life was useful or even meaningful. The (clinical) depression and alcohol dependence predicted by Stipek and Mamlet followed too.
I recall a lecture with Thomas Nielsen in PPLE last year where he asked a question to one half of the class, and another question to the other half of the class. The two questions were "What does a parent want for their kids?", and "What do we learn in schools?". At first, each group wasn't shown the question from the other group but after the groups had considered the questions the questions and the range of answers were shared with the entire group. The answers to the first question were things like "I wan't be child to be happy", "I want them to be well adjusted", "I want them to do something they love". The answers to the second group were "The three Rs", "study skills", "essay skills" etc. The point of the exercise was to demonstrate, that, by an large, the reason that we go to school is to lead happy productive lives as adults, but that the majority of our time spent at school is largely tangential to that pursuit.
Obviously, your post touched on the benefits of of SEL (Elias et al) and positive psychology (Seligman et al), but I guess I am worried about exactly how much of an effect we, as teachers can have on our students. In primary schools, its much more likely that a teacher can positively influence a child and focus on SEL and aspects of positive psych since the students only have the one teacher. But what about us in high schools, where our students only see as a few times a week?
Moreover, I know that you are intending to stay in priate music teaching, as am I. What can we do for the students overall well being when we only see them ONCE per week at most? I'm not saying that SEL or positive psychology is not important - it is very much essential that the student is first socially, emotionally, and psychologically well adjusted before any productive learning can take place, but what can we do as private teachers? Even with my current students, I can identify a few who are obviously at an emotionally taxing period of thier lives - including divoricing parents, sexual experimentation, new friends who seem to be having a 'bad influence' etc - and it is immediately obvious how this has impacted their guitar progress, and I'm sure the rest of their education and other aspects of their lives. But what can I do!?
Two quotes from your post that resonated strongly with me:
ReplyDelete"For some of these kids, high school is about constructing the application that will get them into one of a handful of universities they have been told are gateways to success and happiness."
"Depression and debilitating anxiety among adolescents has increased dramatically, and many indeed have turned to drugs and alcohol"
I myself was very much thrust into the idea that my self-worth was contingent upon my academic performance, and that little else in my life was useful or even meaningful. The (clinical) depression and alcohol dependence predicted by Stipek and Mamlet followed too.
I recall a lecture with Thomas Nielsen in PPLE last year where he asked a question to one half of the class, and another question to the other half of the class. The two questions were "What does a parent want for their kids?", and "What do we learn in schools?". At first, each group wasn't shown the question from the other group but after the groups had considered the questions the questions and the range of answers were shared with the entire group. The answers to the first question were things like "I wan't be child to be happy", "I want them to be well adjusted", "I want them to do something they love". The answers to the second group were "The three Rs", "study skills", "essay skills" etc. The point of the exercise was to demonstrate, that, by an large, the reason that we go to school is to lead happy productive lives as adults, but that the majority of our time spent at school is largely tangential to that pursuit.
Obviously, your post touched on the benefits of of SEL (Elias et al) and positive psychology (Seligman et al), but I guess I am worried about exactly how much of an effect we, as teachers can have on our students. In primary schools, its much more likely that a teacher can positively influence a child and focus on SEL and aspects of positive psych since the students only have the one teacher. But what about us in high schools, where our students only see as a few times a week?
Moreover, I know that you are intending to stay in priate music teaching, as am I. What can we do for the students overall well being when we only see them ONCE per week at most? I'm not saying that SEL or positive psychology is not important - it is very much essential that the student is first socially, emotionally, and psychologically well adjusted before any productive learning can take place, but what can we do as private teachers? Even with my current students, I can identify a few who are obviously at an emotionally taxing period of thier lives - including divoricing parents, sexual experimentation, new friends who seem to be having a 'bad influence' etc - and it is immediately obvious how this has impacted their guitar progress, and I'm sure the rest of their education and other aspects of their lives. But what can I do!?
Sorry about all the typos :) Blogger wouldn't let me preview the post then I hit "Post Comment" without thinking twice!
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