Teaching the whole picture...

The past two days I have been at a meeting talking with teachers and Brothers from Toronto to Michigan, to Washington DC about vocations. Yes, this was a religious conversation about the promotion of vocations to religious life, but I can't help but think of Chapter 4 of Nakkula. Possibility development is something that I think that we may not do enough of in schools. The conversation about goal development is something that I think is truly essential for all students. In an ideal world this would happen with a guidance counselor in a one on one setting, where the counselor sits down with the student and helps them to develop realistic goals, and realistic ways to reach those goals. On page 63, Nakkula writes "high goals must be met by realistic hope-hope cultivated by successive, ongoing experiences of accomplishment." I think this could be tracked specifically in guidance because they are the ones who stick with a student for the years that they are in our school. I think that check points need to be set up for students to make progress toward their goals, to show achievemnet or benchmarks. In each class, I think it would be appropriate to set a list of goals for the class, but individually I think it would be veru difficult to track for each student. Project If that Nakkula talks about on page 66 is a realistic solution to how we could go about this process with students. Nakkula writes, "Project IF was designed explicitly to help middle and high school students build a realistic sense of hope for their futures-hope rooted in the interests, strengths, and skills they already posessed, even though they might not be fully aware of them."  This directly links to the conversations that I have been having at my meeting for the last two days. We need to be forming and talking to students about the whole picture...not just what their favorite subject is in school, and push them toward that path in college. A conversation, or many conversations about vocations would be beneficial for this. I am not talking about vocations in the sense of becoming a religious, but rather, what do you feel like you are being called to be/do? The reality is that beyond the subject that we get the best grades in there is something more that we are being called to do with our life. I think explicit conversations about this needs to be woven in with their goals. I think that schools set out to form students for the future, but they often forget about all parts of the student, only focusing on aquired knowledge.


It's at this point that you may be thinking that I am getting too 'touchy feely," but Nakkula brings me back when he says on page 68, "imagination may fuel the vehicle of creativity and learning, but skill building is required to move the vehicle in the intended direction." I 100% agree with this statement. I can encourage my students to dream big every day until I am blue in the face, but the reality is they need to put in the work as well. Students need to be taught the skills to put their own train in motion. I think this is done most easily by students when they "learn for the love of it." I also think that learning can be more focused and targeted for the individual student. If students are lead to make thoughtful and meaningful goals for their education and life then they should be able to move toward those goals right from the start. I do, however, understand the value of a well-rounded student, but I am not sure I jump on the train that all students MUST learn "xyz." I do know that in order for students to learn they need to feel a connection to the material...that connection does not have to be positive, it can be negative, but it tips them into that disequilibrium, and pushes them out of their safety zone. Nakkula says on page 71, "the more confident and competent we feel, the more likely we are to venture into new learning activities." I am not sure that I agree completely with this statement. I think this is also where we as learners can become stagnant. I know for me as a student, if I am comfortable and confidant in a skill, then I tend to just continue to use that skill over and over when applicable. Venturing into something new is scary, trying out a new skill is scary, especially if I am unsure of how the teacher is going to grade my end result. I know as a learner I have had to push myself to try new things, and not be afraid of not being perfect....not an easy thing to do as an adult, and certainly not an easy thing to do as a teenager.


I think that student engagement in their own learning process is crucial toward their development. Nakkula writes on page 73, "the skills we develop orient us toward the possibilities that are likely to follow. Without the efforts of educators and other adults to encourage their sustained engagement in meaningful and challenging activities, adolescents may allow expediency, peer pressure, or the media to direct their energies, perhaps closing off the high-end skill development that requires sustained commitment and yields the greatest developmental payoff." Again, I think this links back to an education that is tailored to the individual student. To some extent, at my school, we can tailor the education that the student is receiving, but we still have "requirements" that have to be met. Teaching in a private school, I do not have to worry about the 'numbers game' that Nakkula talks about in chapter five. I don't have to worry about standardized test scores, and I wrestle with this being a blessing and a curse. I think more about our school environment, and I am often in conversation with my principal about the culture of our school. On page 83, Nakkula writes, "Sullivan placed a strong emphasis on the school environment as a key contributor to healthy development, particularly for those students coming from difficult home lives." I know that many of  my students do, in fact, come from difficult home lives, and that the school environment is where they find peace. I often wonder if there was a test for school environment, and student environment, how my school, and many other schools would score.