Individualized Learning and Trusting Young People

At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, we regularly hear parents talk about "the factory model" of traditional K-12 education.  In a factory model, every student is fit into the same educational mold in an attempt to produce the same results for every child.  It is like growing a field of sunflowers.  Every flower is the same height, the same size, the same shape, the same color and judged by the strict sunflower standards.  But what is the cost of this educational conformity?

Individuality is lost.  So is independent thinking, communication skills and good decision making.    Controlling students and the environment becomes paramount because if we do not control every factor, then we might get students who think differently and act differently and they might be interested in things that aren't being taught.  They might learn things and develop skills that are not measured by the standards.  So, the controls get tighter on students, teachers, performance, standardized tests and public funding because any deviation might result in a flower that looks different from the rest. 

At SSA, we prefer an educational environment that creates a field of wild flowers.  Every flower is a different size, a different shape, a different color, a different height and blooms at a different time.  Flowers don't have to be taught to bloom.  Put them in a rich environment and they bloom by themselves, if...

If?

If what?

There is a critical component here of individualized education that polarizes people like oil and water.  It causes many people who fled the factory system to go running back.  It is also deeply embraced by many and strikes at the heart of these two different models of education.  That "if" is:

Trusting young people.  

If you believe that every young person is unique and has beliefs, values, thoughts and ideas that should be given a voice and developed, then you will trust young people and embrace individualized education.

If you believe that the beliefs, values, thoughts and ideas of young people have little value, then you will usher them into a system where the predominant message is "don't talk" and "do what you are told."  Young people are simply vessels to be filled up with "academic rigor" and they need to be controlled because we don't want to let them think independent thoughts, communicate something outside the curriculum or practice making decisions because that would create wildflowers and not sunflowers.  Letting a child choose what they want to do and think is nothing more than glorified babysitting.  Why?  Because you don't trust that they have beliefs, values, thoughts and ideas that have worth.  Education is all input and regurgitation of that input.  Save independent thinking for college.  Better yet, graduate school.

John Holt hit the nail on the head when he said:

"To trust children, we must first learn to trust ourselves... and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted."

Let's look beyond school for a moment.  Imagine the same factory-style environment in the workplace where your boss does not trust you, empower you or give you a voice.  Your boss dictates every minute of every day for you, what you do, how you do it and if you did it exactly to the standard.  Then, if you do not comply, you are punished or given "quiet lunch" where you can't talk to your co-workers or maybe you have to go to a remedial skills after-work program.  This is a micro-managing nightmare in a professional workforce situation.  Let's set aside the life-and-death scenarios of military combat and brain surgery.  On the whole, dysfunctional and ineffective teams in the workforce come from management that is distrustful, controlling, hierarchical and tone-deaf to interpersonal and team dynamics.  In fact, a 2011 study on behalf of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools found that that top skills desired by employers across sectors are:

1.  Interpersonal skills
2.  Teamwork
3.  Problem solving
4.  Job-specific knowledge
5.  Written communication skills
6.  Work experience
7.  Technical ability
8.  Education
9.  Personal references
10.  Business savvy
11. Math capability

The top three skills sought by employers have nothing to do with "academics" and cannot be taught well in a traditional educational system because they require trusting young people.

Traditional notions of rigor, like education and math skills, are #8 and #11 - not even close to the top.  It is a false assumption by parents that "academic rigor" and "advanced math" lead to students becoming competitive in the workforce after they graduate.  Parents wrap themselves in the cozy blanket of "rigor" because the thing that produces the top skills employers want requires trust, which produces situations that are unpredictable, unfamiliar, and downright frightening for parents and teachers alike.  It forces you to see a young person as a fully capable human being with independent thoughts, independent values and beliefs that are not your own.

Trusting children not only means giving them a voice, it means giving up much of your power and authority as an "adult."  It means giving up control to let their intellectual DNA determine what kind of wildflower they are to become.  It means giving them the same respect that others give you and letting them make choices even when you don't agree with them or understand them.  It means letting your child pursue their own passions and define their own standards for success.

For many parents trying to make life decisions about their child, trust is REALLY scary.  There is a lot at stake as we try to give our child the best shot at a success, however we define that success.  So, many parents want to control rather than empower.  They want others to control their child when they are not present.  Hence, it is no mystery why our predominant educational model is based on control.

However, there are those like me and others who want their child to be an independent thinker, good communicator and good decision maker.  We respect and trust that young people can find their best path to learning if we simply give them the freedom.  Is there any more important message that we can give to a child than, "You are worthy?"  "You are trusted and respected."  "What you say has meaning and value."

Albert Einstein said, "Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid."      

Any environment can teach math, but not every environment can teach self-worth.  Trusting and respecting young people speaks volumes to them that can never be communicated through textbooks and five-paragraph essays.  Trust is the fertile soil, warm sun and gentle rain that gives rise to the beautiful wildflowers that are our children.

-Dave Soleil

Sudbury Assignment: Learn Math, Reading, Writing and More

Many parents want to know what their child is learning at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.  "Sudbury Assignment:" is a series of articles that help parents recognize what sorts of things their children are learning and the depth of experience their child gets at our Sudbury school. 

Sudbury Assignment #4: Learn Math, Reading, Writing and More

In understanding how students learn "the basics" at Sudbury, like reading, writing and math, let's begin with an analogy.

If your child wants to learn Spanish, you might sign her up for a traditional class in Spanish.  A Spanish teacher guides children through a text book and workbook in Spanish.  They conjugate verbs, learn vocabulary and do graded worksheets and quizzes.  In the end, you hope that a good report card means that your child can speak, read and write Spanish.

Or, you take your daughter to Spain where every interaction of daily life teaches her another component of the Spanish language.  In addition, she learns the culture, customs and expectations of a person growing up in Spain.  She may learn other languages too by playing with a child who speaks Spanish but whose family is from Portugal or France.  Your child might also learn about the politics, monetary system, art, music, cuisine and architecture of Spain.  Living in Spain provides a much richer and deeper learning experience that goes far beyond the simple goal of "learning Spanish."

For learning the basics of reading, writing and math, the Sudbury experience is like the immersion experience of living in Spain.  We don't break subjects down into worksheets, quizzes and vocab lists because deep learning is multi-disciplinary.  It spans many "subjects" and we want students to follow their interests wherever they may lead.  Here's a real-life example from our school:   

A Tale of Two Gerbils
The students loved the idea of having a school pet from the first day of school.  What kind of pet?  Big or small?  And how much care would it need?  How much would it cost to buy?  How much would it cost to continue to buy the supplies for it?  What is our budget and what is a budget and what is the procedure to appropriate funds within the school?  They wanted to form a School Pet Committee but first needed to learn parliamentary procedure to propose the motion and vote the committee into existence.  They started discussing what is an agenda for a meeting and how to get an item on it for the School Meeting.  How many people have to be present for a quorum and what is a quorum?     

Once voted into existence, the committee began a six-week negotiation about what kind of animal to get.

Students talked to each other and to their parents about what sorts of animals they all would be willing to care for, even on weekends away from the school.  Some students and staff were allergic to some animals.  This started discussions about what is an allergy?  What happens if a person has an allergic reaction?  What animals cause allergies for people and why?  Physiology, biology and medical discussions ensued.  Students submitted a motion for the School Meeting agenda, "No frogs, lizards or cats due to allergies."  The motion passed.  Progress had been made.

So what kind of animals might be feasible for the school?  The School Pet Committee had to schedule meetings to negotiate the next steps.  Gerbils were proposed but who knew about gerbils?  What kind of habitat do they need?  What kind of food?  What kind of bedding?  How much does it cost?  Can they be picked up?  How do you pick them up?  How do you build trust with animals so they are friendly?  One student had experience with gerbils as did one staff member.  They shared their experiences but had to negotiate with others to persuade them that gerbils would be a worthwhile pet.  And what about the parents that just see gerbils as rodents and don't want them in their home?  And what about the cats people have at home?  How can we ensure that the gerbils are safe from cats at home?

Older students on the School Pet Committee did research at home on the internet about gerbil care, wrote it down and presented it to the other students.  Note here that active reading and writing happened for students, unprompted.  It was not an assignment.  It was not a suggestion.  Younger students who did not have the ability to read and write, looked at what the older students had written and picked out words they knew.  They also wanted to write words just like the older students.  All students progressed in reading and writing.

The School Pet Committee voted to buy two gerbils but they had to get the School Meeting to vote to approve the funds.  Students and staff consulted the budget... about two-hundred dollars for that month.  What would the gerbils need?  How much would it cost?  What would be the ongoing costs?  Multiply everything by two for two gerbils.  Or do we?  And how do you multiply?  What non-gerbil-related items would the school want to purchase with that two-hundred dollars?  How do we prioritize?  What is a priority?  How do we persuade others that buying gerbils is worth it?  Math ensued to see what it might all cost.  Reading ensued to figure out what equipment was needed for gerbils.  Writing ensued to remember the results of the research.  Again, older students showed younger students the results bringing them along on the reading, writing and arithmetic bandwagon.

The School Meeting approved up to $100 for initial supplies and $40 for each month after.  Any funds not spent would revert back to the general School Meeting fund.  Students then spent the better part of a week negotiating with other students, parents and staff about when and where the gerbils would be purchased.

At the pet store, students had not anticipated a choice of habitat colors and different food choices.  Do we have enough people for a vote to count?  Motions were presented and votes were taken smack in the middle of the gerbil supply aisle.  Students furiously read labels, added figures so as not to exceed the budget and wrote down notes so as not to forget what information they had gathered.

Students eventually walked out of the store with two gerbils and all the needed equipment, all within budget.  Then the ongoing care negotiations began.  Who can hold the gerbils and for how long?  How should they be held and who should be the ones to hold them?  Who will clean the habitat, refill food and water?  How much food and water?  Who will care for them on weekends?

More reading.  More writing.  More math.  More negotiating.  More questions.  More motions.  More votes.  More decisions.  More progress leading to more questions, more reading, more writing and more math.

In a supportive immersion environment where students are given great freedom and great responsibility, "the basics" come naturally in much the same way that Spanish comes naturally to students living in Spain yet never taking a Spanish class.

The question is, which form of learning math is going to be more exciting, useful and memorable for students?  Worksheets with math drills?  Or collectively working toward a common goal and applying math principles to real-life situations?

Perhaps we should ask the two gerbils who live at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.     

      

      
 

     

Sudbury Assignment: Negotiate, Mediate, Communicate

Many parents want to know what their child is learning at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.  "Sudbury Assignment:" is a series of articles that help parents recognize what sorts of things their children are learning and the depth of experience their child gets at our Sudbury school. 

Sudbury Assignment #3: Negotiate, Mediate, Communicate

A 2012 study of 225 U.S. companies showed that 98% of employers say that communication skills are important or very important skills they consider when hiring.  A 2010 study on behalf of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) found that 89% of companies feel that colleges and universities should place greater emphasis on "the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing."   A 2011 study on behalf of the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) found that the top three skills desired by employers are:

1. Interpersonal skills
2. Teamwork
3. Problem solving

These skills are placed even above "job-specific knowledge!"

 If communication skills are seen as critical for nearly all companies in hiring, why is the predominant message of traditional K-12 education, "Don't talk."

Shhhhh.  Don't talk in class.  Don't talk at lunch.  Don't talk in the halls.  Don't talk when going to the bathroom.  Hold your finger over your mouth to remember.  If you talk, you might not get a candy reward or you might get a demerit or even detention.  If you continue to talk in class, you might even get sent to the principal's office to talk about your talking problem.

Does spending 13 years in a system that punishes communication develop strong communication skills in students?  No.  It simply does not.

Previously, I was the Associate Director of the Center for Global Leadership and Team Development at the business school at the University of California, Irvine, a top 50 MBA program.  My job was to provide leadership skills trainings for MBA students and corporate clients.  What were our training priorities?

1.  Communication skills
2.  Teamwork
3.  Problem solving

Sound familiar?  There is no escaping that these skills are essential in the workplace and there is no escaping that the traditional K-12 system actively discourages the development of these skills.   I have also worked for twenty years organizing and facilitating leadership programs for high school students.  High school leadership programs are popular because they focus on these important skills that are discouraged in traditional K-12.

At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, student communication is a priority.  Part of the students' responsibilities at SSA are to build a democracy, create a fair and equitable judicial process and manage the affairs of the school.  How could they possibly take on such large responsibilities if they were not allowed to talk?  What other instances in life do people have to accomplish important tasks without communicating?  The scenario is absurd. 

Students practice negotiation, mediation and communication skills every day at Sudbury.  They learn to work together as they build their democracy.  The must think critically and creatively and communicate through every decision and every vote because they agree to live by what the group decides.   Early on at our school, students spent six weeks negotiating with each other the conditions, rules and expectations for getting two gerbils for the school.  They mediate conflicts with each other every day and if they are not successful, they mediate further as part of the judicial committee until a resolution is achieved.  And if their judicial system or democracy falls short of their needs, they communicate, mediate and negotiate further to create the necessary changes.      

And what about when students choose not to talk?  What should they be doing?  Listening.  At Sudbury, students listen to the perspective of others, discuss personal and community values and priorities and negotiate decisions accordingly.  Negotiation and mediation not only require communicating but also receiving communication, thoughtfully considering another person's ideas and responding appropriately.  Students practice these skills every day at SSA.

Bottom line: If communication skills are a number one priority for hiring employers, shouldn't they be a number one priority for schools?  At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, communication skills are a top priority which is why we build them into the structure of our school.

   

Sudbury Assignment: Prepare for College

Many parents want to know what their child is learning at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.  "Sudbury Assignment:" is a series of articles that help parents recognize what sorts of things their children are learning and the depth of experience their child gets at our Sudbury school. 

Sudbury Assignment #2: Prepare for College

How does the Sudbury School of Atlanta prepare students for college?  SSA immerses students in a college-like environment where personal responsibility and self-direction are of primary importance.

The University of Delaware's Office of Academic Enrichment actively tries to educate parents and students that the environment of college is very different from the traditional K-12 environment.  Their article "Not Grade 13... What's the Difference?" says "Many students begin their freshman year in college carrying with them old habits that may not be useful in this new environment.  If you don't recognize the differences, you may receive an unpleasant surprise when your first exams roll around."  U. Delaware is not the only one.  Other universities like Purdue, Boston College, Southern Methodist University and the University of California all have similar lists. 

The "old habits" are the expectations and structures of a traditional K-12 environment.  U. Delaware and others have identified a fundamental disconnect between traditional K-12 and college that leads to difficulty and potential failure of students in higher education.  Students coming from traditional educational systems are like fish out of water struggling to survive because the two environments are so different.  Let's look at key differences that U. Delware identifies along side the Sudbury model: 

In high school, your time is planned by others, your classes are planned by others and your priorities are set by parents and teachers.  In college and at Sudbury, you manage your own time, you choose your own course of study and you set your own priorities.

Which environment is going to prepare your child better for college?

The one like college or the one unlike college?

In high school, teachers lead you through the thinking process and make connections for you.  In college and Sudbury, you are expected to think for yourself and make connections on your own.

Which environment is going to prepare your child better for college?

The one like college or the one unlike college? 

In high school, if you need help, someone gives it to you, whether you want it or not.  In college and at Sudbury, you have to reach out for help and even if someone sees you need it, they respect your choice not to seek it.

Which environment is going to prepare your child better for college?

The one like college or the one unlike college? 

In addition to these key differences, in traditional K-12, most students do not have the freedom to choose the areas of study that interest them.  There are endless common subject matters that are majors in college and careers afterward that are never addressed in high school classes:

Business 

Engineering

Computer science

Journalism

Sociology

Psychology

Philosophy

Leadership

Architecture

Anthropology

At best, these areas are relegated to an after-school club.  In college and at Sudbury, students have the freedom to pursue any chosen area of interest.  

Which environment is going to prepare your child better for college?  

The one like college or the one unlike college?  

Students at SSA spend every day of their K-12 years in an environment much like college.  So, when students get to college, they are very comfortable and already successful living in an environment of personal responsibility and self-direction.  They also may have been studying subjects in their major for years prior because they had the freedom to pursue their interests, just like college.

At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, preparing for college is not something you do when you turn 17 or 18.  It is part of the structure of the school and students prepare for college every day starting at age 5. 

  

Sudbury Assignment: Build a Democracy

Many parents want to know what their child is learning at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.  This is the start of a series of articles called "Sudbury Assignment" that help parents recognize what sorts of things their children are learning and the depth of experience their child gets at our Sudbury school.  Imagine receiving this assignment when you were a student:

Sudbury Assignment #1: Build a Democracy... from scratch.

Then, live by it and refine it daily.  Run meetings by parliamentary procedure.  Negotiate with others on a code of conduct.  Create and maintain a fair judicial process.  Engage in due process and peer-evaluate rule infractions in an impartial manner.  Discuss freedom, equality, and fairness in every aspect of your democracy.  Appropriate the budget as necessary to maintain your democracy.  Evaluate the staff and whether they support you in your democracy.  Vote.  Research what you don't know how to do to keep your democracy thriving.  Create and empower committees to oversee special activities in your democracy.  Create quorum regulations and other processes and procedures to govern the decision making in your democracy.  Create partnerships with outside people and organizations to support your group in areas you might need.  Communicate and negotiate with every other student on each element of your democracy.

Remember, this is a team project.  There is no end date and you will not receive a grade.  There will be no  homework and no teacher to tell you what to do.  The only evaluation of your democracy is your team answering the question, "does our democracy work?"  If not, brainstorm how to refine your democracy and put your ideas into action.  You and your team are responsible for the success of your democracy. 

Key vocabulary: democracy, democratic, equality, fairness, respect, responsibility, rights, reasonable, motion, second, committee, rules, code of conduct, table a rule, lease, contract, accountability, appropriate, adjourn, freedom, consequence.  

Sounds like an innovative year-long curriculum for high school seniors.  Or maybe it is a masters thesis in college?  This is what Sudbury students do every single day starting at age 5 and students love it.

Can you imagine a more powerful experience for students to truly understand how a democracy works or what being a thoughtful, engaged citizen looks like? 

Or should we return to a person standing at the front of the room reviewing the timeline of American wars and politics?  

Your student is part of this empowering and creative "assignment" every day at the Sudbury School of Atlanta.  We look forward to sharing future "Sudbury Assignments" with you.  

Sudbury Parenting: Relationships

As parents, we all want to support our children and encourage them along their educational journey.  However, a Sudbury school is likely very different than anything your child has been to previously.

What can you expect to hear from your child at home?  How should you respond?  What should worry you?  What is normal? 

In a more traditional educational setting, students are not allowed to talk freely in school except at passing periods and break times.  Social interaction is shut down to what is minimally necessary to operate a traditional school.  At home, students may talk about homework, tests, classes, rules, grades and other topics.  When we remove these lightning rods from the educational environment, the student focus changes.

Self-Directed Learning is the Easy Part

Learning comes naturally for young people.  So, pursuing their own learning may not seem particularly notable for your child.  Trying to have a conversation about what they are learning can be similar to asking, "how is the air you are breathing?" or "how was your blinking today?"  "Fine" and "good" are common responses you will hear.  In reality, your child is engaged in non-stop creativity and social interaction.  They are soaking up information like a sponge even if they don't verbalize it.  Because this is a natural process, they likely won't talk about it much.      

Focus on Relationships  

What they will talk about quite regularly are the relationships at school.  Sometimes, it may be the only thing your child talks about.  They will talk about high points and low points.  You will hear about giggles, arguments and accomplishments.  You will hear about every push on the playground, every tear that was cried and every knee that was scraped.  Should you be alarmed as a parent?  No.

When you can't talk in a traditional school, there is little opportunity to develop interpersonal skills.  At Sudbury, students are constantly discussing, negotiating, mediating, role-playing, creating friendships, creating conflicts, resolving conflicts, testing boundaries and processing their experience.  They are vibrant social scientists conducting social experiments all day long in the laboratory of life.  What is notable for the students is that their experiments have emotional outcomes: happy, sad, angry, funny and indifferent.  Because of the emotional component, their conversations at home are going to focus far more on the relationships at school than on the non-emotional ant hill they watched, the book they read or the Lego ship they constructed.

Your child is on a steep social learning curve.  Remember, if you are coming from a traditional educational model, your child has had restrictions on their social interactions.  At Sudbury, their freedom to interact has been restored and they are wobbling through social situations much like learning to ride a bike.  

So, as a parent, know that you will hear a lot about relationships from your child and that is normal.  

What Do I Do as a Parent?

As parents, we spend many years kissing booboo's and "making everything better."  We cringe when our child skins their knee because we weren't there to catch them or hold the seat of their bicycle.  We want to fix things.  We want to make things better.  When your child says they were upset or hurt at school, you will have the incredible urge to call the school and try to fix things.  This too is natural. 

Pause and breathe.

What your child is telling you is likely a 30-second episode from a six hour day of exploration, play, creativity and involvement.  They are processing their experience.  They are talking through the data of the social experiment that didn't turn out the way they expected, good or bad.  Most of the time, the situation was resolved even though they don't mention it.  Most of the time, they just want someone to listen.

So listen.  Reflect back to them what you are hearing.  "It sounds like that was an (exciting, frustrating, confusing) time for you."  Ask how they might address the situation next time.  Then support them.  "I know you can figure it out."

And if they ask for your help?  Share your personal experience and how you deal with situations like that.  Invite your child to keep trying or talk to the staff at the school.  As staff, we talk with students regularly about the many tools they have to solve problems at school.  Empower your child to solve the problem on their own.  "I know you can figure it out."  That is the only way they will learn to navigate the social waters they are encountering.  

If you find that your child is complaining repeatedly about the same interpersonal issue for multiple weeks and things aren't changing, even with your child talking to the staff regularly, feel free to contact us.  We are happy to sit down with you and your child to talk about the experience and new ideas and solutions.  

-Dave Soleil     

Lessons from Sudbury, part 1

As Sudbury parents, you may wonder about what your child does at school.  You know they are learning, but what are they learning?  As Sudbury staff, we have the opportunity to see your children learn and grow hour-by-hour in an empowering environment.  I wanted to share a recent event that demonstrates some amazing life skills that are emerging.  The names have been changed for the sake of anonymity.   

Brandon was playing a game today, something like tag with the other students.  Suddenly, he came stomping into the hallway saying, "Molly keeps changing the rules of the game.  We already did the rules.  I'm frustrated."

"Then you should tell Molly how that makes you feel," I said.

"But I don't want to hurt her feelings.  Will you come with me to tell her?" he said.

"I wasn't there Brandon.  You need to tell Molly how you feel.  I know you can do it."

Brandon did not.  Brandon entertained himself for a while.

Two hours later, Brandon was playing a similar game with other students.  Brandon was frustrated again because rules were being changed and his shirt got pulled.  Instead of coming to a staff member, Brandon said,

"I don't like when the rules change and I don't want my shirt to get pulled.  I will only play if the rules stay the same and no one pulls my shirt."

The other students thought about what Brandon said and unanimously responded, "OK!"  The game continued and all students were happy and included.  

Brandon spoke up for himself today.  Perhaps it was the first time Brandon ever spoke up for himself.  He did not receive a sticker or a reward for his effort.  He did not get an "A+" for personal development.  No adult intervened on Brandon's behalf and no one patted him on the back.  He found confidence in his own ability to speak up for himself.  

What is that lesson worth to a student or to any person's life?  We cannot possibly quantify it but we are proud to create the environment that enables such moments to happen.    

-Dave Soleil              

Trust The Process

At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, we talk a lot about "trusting the process."  Give a child the freedom to learn and they will find their own best path to learning.  That is a core belief at SSA, but as a parent this can be difficult.  You may ask:

How do I know that what my child is doing is valuable?  

What is my child getting out of this experience?  

How can I trust the process if I can't see the process?

As a leadership education consultant, the focus of my work is always on the process of how teams accomplish goals and ways that teams can create a more effective process.  I always tell clients that we must trust our process in order to trust our product.

However, when I work with "high achieving" teens at leadership programs, they are focused solely on the end product and they ignore the process.  They always want to give me the "right answer."  They tell me what they think I want to hear rather than telling me what they think.  The reason is that we have conditioned them with extrinsic motivations, i.e. carrots and sticks.  In traditional schools, these take the form of grades, tests, candy rewards, sticker rewards, honor rolls, honors classes, AP classes, messages of "be the best in the class," or "get good grades," and then we assign even greater extrinsic motivations with honors in Latin like, Magna Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude.  The literal translations are unimportant because the meaning and the intent are the same.  They are extrinsic motivators to get students to get more "right" answers.  These are not motivators of learning, they are motivators of playing the game of memorizing answers and spitting them out of our short term memory until the reward has been won.

Is this hyper-competitive environment where students are trying to best each other with right answers for teacher appreciation the most effective path to life-long learning?  Independent thinking?  Good decision making?  Definitely not, because the focus is on what you win and not what you learn and how you learn and why you learn and for whom you learn.

Independent thinking is not about selfish thinking.  Good decision making is not about "playing the game."  Learning is not about memorizing.  Being a life-long learner is not about pleasing someone else with right answers just so you get a reward.    

Step outside a competitive reward-driven environment and you will find that when you learn something, you don't do it to win or to beat someone else.  You do it because you are curious and it is satisfying to your mind, body and soul.  That is intrinsic motivation.  That is the motivation and self-knowledge we cultivate at Sudbury.  Having no tests, no grades and no rewards is intentional because we want students to learn for themselves and follow their own passions.  We want students to engage in learning because it satisfies an inner desire rather than an outer reward.    

So, what is the process to trust?  

Your student is learning how to learn.  

At SSA, your student is thinking independently every day.  We don't tell them what to think or what to do to "learn more."  They are constructing meaning every minute of every day in creating, reading, writing, playing and interacting with others.  We take our responsibility seriously not to interrupt or interfere with their learning process.  We understand that the most "teachable moments" happen when a student makes a discovery themselves and creates new meaning for themselves.  That is an incredibly powerful experience that can only happen when students are given the freedom to think and make choices without outside influence.

We also understand that the learning process has a "learning curve."  At SSA, students have the freedom to fail without judgment.  Failures are a necessary part of the learning process and we support students regardless of their failure or success.  Experiencing failures that come out of our own choices demonstrate to us the most effective way forward as a person.  When a child falls off a bicycle, we don't punish them for falling.  We pick them up, give them words of encouragement and invite them to get back on the bicycle.  It is only when we fall to one side or the other that we learn how to balance.  SSA treats learning the same way.  If a child makes mistakes, we give them words of encouragement and invite them to get back on whatever proverbial bicycle they have chosen to ride.  

Learning how to learn is one of the most valuable skills a person can have throughout life.  It is the challenging two-wheeled vehicle that carries us through life pursuits, careers, research, entrepreneurship, leadership, hobbies and personal fulfillment.

And much like balancing on a bicycle, we cannot give it to a child.  They must discover it for themselves.  We trust that if we give a child encouragement and continue to invite them back onto the bicycle that they will find success.

Herbert Simon, Nobel Laureate, professor at Carnegie Mellon and father of the field of Cognitive Science, said:

"Learning results from what the student does and thinks 

and only from what the student does and thinks."  

The freedom to "do and think" is the critical process a Sudbury environment provides and protects.  Trust it.  Encourage it.  There is no more powerful path to learning.

-Dave Soleil

Ask Linda: Do Homeschooling and Sudbury Mix?

Ask Linda is a new series of articles from the Sudbury School of Atlanta where SSA founder and unschooling mom, Linda Levine, answers parent questions about the Sudbury model, transitioning to Sudbury from different educational models and other common questions.  If you have a question for Linda, just email us!   

Q: My homeschooled child is using a specific curriculum at home. How will that fit in with the Sudbury Experience?

All self-chosen pursuits are valued and respected.  What families choose to do in their own homes is, of course, their choice. If there is something that a student has been learning about at home, that s/he would genuinely like to pursue further while at the Sudbury School, the staff will be pleased to discuss any topic of interest with the student/s, provide (or recommend) books on the subject, help the student find interesting websites, videos, DVDs, hands-on materials, etc, related to the subject, and, to the extent possible, arrange for the student to meet with an "expert" or professional in the subject. There is a process through which classes or lessons in a given topic can be requested by students, as well.

We strongly recommend/encourage parents to NOT send curriculum-based "work" with students, but to instead *ask* if the student has anything in particular they want to bring to the Sudbury School for the day, and to respect their child's answer.  If they really are self-directed to work on homeschool "work" they will choose to bring it! If they choose to bring a favorite toy, game, hobby-related materials, or something else that is meaningful to them that day, that is equally valuable, and will contribute just as well to the child's learning experiences! 

The most common/typical time-frame for a Sudbury student (or a homeschooled student) to choose to pursue formal academic studies, if s/he chooses to learn in that manner at all, is when s/he is in her/his teens, and wanting to prepare for college - if attending college is the student's goal.

Here is a link to the first in a series of talks given by alumni of the original Sudbury Valley School, about their experiences at SVS, and what they went on to do after they graduated:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csAiJgvajYo

"My ADD Child Would Play With Legos All Day"

In a recent conversation with a parent about our school, the parent commented that "My ADHD child would just play with legos all day."

I found this to be a profound and curious statement, particularly because it was the parent's reason why they would not choose a Sudbury School.  Wanting to learn a little more about ADHD, I went on WebMD to look up symptoms.  Here is the very first symptom that WebMD lists:

"Inattention may not become apparent until a child enters the challenging environment of school."

I think it is telling that the very first symptom of ADHD specifically mentions "school" and that school is a "challenging environment."  A recent survey in the UK found that more than 40% of teachers believe students are turned off to reading for pleasure by the time they finish primary school and 94% said kids prefer the internet to books.   

Let's look at the further description of symptoms of ADHD:

"difficulty paying attention to details and tendency to make careless mistakes in school or other activities."

There's that word again!  "School."  There's another telling word in there.  "Careless."

How many medical conditions are you aware of where key symptoms are location specific?  And when did making "careless mistakes" become a medical issue that needs to be medicated?

Here are a few more interesting symptoms:

-Difficulty finishing schoolwork
-Procrastination
-Failure to complete tasks such as homework  

I am not here to say that ADHD does not exist.  It does.  However, we must acknowledge that the environment that surrounds a child and the treatment they receive has a tremendous influence on their behavior.

Think if adults were required to participate in a traditional school environment where they had to:

-Pay attention to a teacher and try to learn what was taught for 6 hours;
-Have no freedom or choice as to what is taught, how it is taught or its relevance to your life;
-Have no freedom to move around or even go to the bathroom without permission;
-Be punished if you are late;
-Be punished if you talk;
-Be punished if you don't continue to work on the subjects at home after school.

I believe most adults would not like to be in such an environment.  So why do we subject our students to it?

Back to the parent of a child with ADHD who said they would play with Legos all day.

How can it be that a child who has been professionally diagnosed with a condition characterized by inattention engages in a focused, attentive activity "all day?"  

Boston University Psychology Professor Peter Gray has conducted a qualitative study on students diagnosed with ADHD.  Among his conclusions were that most students who were medicated for ADHD in traditional schools were taken off medications when they were removed from traditional schools.  Also, many ADHD children have a high need for self-direction and many "hyper-focus" on tasks that interest them.  Gray demonstrates for us that changing the environment, changes behavior.  Given a self-directed learning environment, students with ADHD thrive.  

As well, Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences provides more insight for us into our young Lego-maniac.  A spatial learner who engages in extended spatial learning is not wasting time.  They are thriving in the act of learning and exploration that fits them best.  Is this not the sort of individualized learning suited exactly to the person's strengths that we hope and wish for our kids?

At the most basic level of how we treat people, if we do not respect students as whole persons capable of making decisions and having valid emotions, then they react in the many ways that people react when they are not respected, not heard and not valued as thinking, living, breathing persons.  Things like procrastination, a careless attitude, and difficulty finishing work are commonplace if not blatantly intentional.

At Sudbury, we respect students and the choices they make.  We empower them to learn what interests them and they thrive because of it.  If your student is "having trouble" at school, begin with a few questions about the environment they are in before you take them to the doctor:

-Do they have any choice at school to learn what interests them?
-Do they have freedom to move, explore and make decisions about their learning?
-Are they respected as a decision-making person or are they expected to be obedient without question?

The answers to those questions will reveal much about your school and even more about your child's reaction to that environment.  It will also help put into perspective the types of environments that support your child or frustrate them.

So should we let students play with Legos all day?  Or should we medicate away students' strengths, instincts and desires?

I say, pass the Legos.

-Dave Soleil

What If a Bird Went to Flying School?

We all know how birds learn to fly.  The mother and daddy bird feed and care for their young until they are developed enough to push them out of the nest.  Birds fly by nature and discover their wings in the space between the nest and the ground.  But what if we ignored the nature of birds and flight?  What if a bird went to flying school?

In flying school, birds would be gently eased from their nest onto a high platform where a teacher would show them wing shapes and colors.  They would learn to count feathers and sing songs about how much fun it is to fly.  At the end of the term, the young birds would take an elevator down to the next platform where they would learn about different types of trees and nests.  They would hear stories about heroic birds that flew long distances.  They would take important tests about "flying comprehension" that would allow them to descend to the next platform where they would learn the history of flying in different countries and they would see books with birds from around the world.  They might even get to visit the local Museum of Flying.  On the next level, they get to use computers to write about flying and watch videos of birds flying.  Then, finally, after passing many tests on trees, nests, bird history, and flying comprehension, they are released at ground level where they would attend a graduation recognizing that they now know how to fly.

Of course, birds don't learn to fly that way, nor would they.  Why?  Because it ignores the nature of birds and the nature of flight.

So, what about the nature of people and the nature of learning?  People are curious by nature.  Give them the freedom to explore and they will explore.  We do not need someone to tell us how to be curious or what to be curious about or to teach us curiosity.  It is part of our nature.

On learning, I am continually inspired by a quote from Herbert Simon, one of the founders of the field of Cognitive Science, a Nobel Laureate, and professor at Carnegie Mellon.  He said,

"Learning results from what the student does and thinks and only from what the student does and thinks."

Learning happens with the student, not with the teacher and not even with the presence of a teacher.  Technology has come to a point where content is no longer a scarcity possessed only by teachers.  It is abundant and freely available to all through a multitude of books, resources, and the internet.

If we want to produce students who are independent thinkers, we must give them the freedom to think... independently.  If we want to produce students who are life-long learners, we must give them the freedom to learn, to struggle, to fail and to try again.  Metaphorically, we must push them out of the nest and allow them to fall in order for them to discover their wings and fly.

This is why the Sudbury School of Atlanta is such a deep and special experience.  We recognize the nature of people and the nature of learning and we create our school accordingly.

At the Sudbury School of Atlanta, we do not teach your young bird to fly.  We are the space between the nest and the ground where they will discover their wings.

-Dave

Is the ability to actually do basic math needed today?

I was talking with a young man this past week who is about to graduate with his Ph.D. in Engineering from a top-ranked university.

We were discussing his job offer from a very well-known technology company and talking about the vacation time that came with the position. He said, "160 hours, how many weeks is that?" and as I did the math in my head, he whipped out his smart phone, opened the calculator app, entered "160/40" and about a split second after me, said "4."

Now, this may be appalling to some, shouldn't this student about to graduate with a Ph.D. in Engineering just do the simple math in his head?

I argue that no, he shouldn't.  Why?  Because the amount of knowledge in the world is increasing at an amazing rate and no one can keep all the knowledge in their own specialized field in their head at once, not to mention all the other information some might say is "critical" to know.

This young man is growing up as a digital native in the information age and he is doing what it takes to survive and thrive in this age.  He knows what knowledge and skills are worth keeping in his head, what is critical to his daily life and daily work tasks, when to use his resources, how to use them, and when it is faster to use something other than his brain.  It is very likely that simple math is not something he needs to use every day in his life or in his work so he has gotten rusty at it as he doesn't use it often...just like most of us and spell check.  For him, there is much more critical information and critical skills that he does need on a regular basis.   So he lets that critical information stay in his brain and uses his available resources, a smart phone--where less critical information is literally a few clicks away, on the rare occasions when he needs it.

Remember, it was not that long ago that most business people didn't know how to type.  It was not worth knowing how to do because secretaries would do it for them, based on longhand notes or spoken diction.  Kids today are born into a a world with spellcheckers, calculators, and google, and more disruptive technologies are on their way.  The job skills of today are very different than they were a generation ago, and will likely change again by the time today's kindergarteners are ready to graduate from high school.

What will endure as critical skills for adults in the future?  The ability to be self-directed learners who are motivated to learn what they need, when they need it AND know when to "delegate" to technology because it is more efficient.

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