Qualities of a Montessori Adolescent Guide (Dec 2012)

Developmentally Appropriate Relationships

1. Compassionate toward individual lives of students
2. Kind in interactions with students
3. Humble in presence of hidden adolescent nobility
4. Clear in communication
5. Predictable in behavior
6. Fair in actions
7. A Mentor to students as developing adults
8. A Collaborator with students as they follow their interests
9. An Expert in academic subject area
10. Scientific in orientation to work of education
11. Supportive of the development of each adolescent’s adult will
12. Supportive of the development of each adolescent’s independence and identity formation

Developmentally Obstructive Relationships
Selfish toward individual lives of students Harsh in interactions with students Arrogant in presence of hidden adolescent nobility Vague in communication Uneven in behavior Unfair in actions Superior to students as developing adults Disconnected  from students as they follow their interests Uncertain in academic subject area Inconsistent in orientation to work of education Supplanting the development of each adolescent’s adult will Too Familiar with the development adolescent’s independence and identity formation

Teachers' Work

"The greatest work I do for my students is my inner work. You know, the Biblical thing of 'Deal with the log in your own eye, rather than the speck in your brother’s eye.'" -Herb Agan

I see many teachers who mistakenly think that great (transformative) teaching is a kind of 'Constantly-Taking-the-Inventory-of-the-Students'.  

A key part of being a teacher that constantly creates opportunities for student development, is the teacher constantly taking her own inventory.

Writing Progress Report Comments

In reviewing some high school progress report comments, I noticed that some comments did not align with the tone of others.  So, here are three thoughts to get us all on the same page.

1. Opening

Always open with a positive statement about something the student is doing well or clearly working hard on.  The opening sets the tone and communicates that no matter how rough a report this is, the teacher can see beyond the surface to the positive potential that is within every student.  It could just be the answer to one of two questions: "With which work has the student really done well or demonstrated deep engagement;" or, "What quality does the student demonstrate that supports their success?"  A more positive tone at the start makes the rest of the comment 'heard' with more open ears, especially the parts of the comment in which the teacher is communicating about areas of weaker observed proficiency.  

2. Phrasing

Phrase 'bad news' in a clear and compassionate way that focuses on what is observed.  Semester comments should be hopeful or optimistic about the student's positive growth and should convey the teacher's sense of the nobility of the student (even if it's presently only an internal nobility). Phrases like, "Tom's big issue is..." have a great potential to be triggers for negative response (consider avoiding the word 'issue' altogether).  Some alternatives:  Tom is still working on...; Tom appears to struggle with...; Tom is still working to perfect....

3. Closing

Wrap up with a forward-looking, optimistic comment that helps the student and parent to have a sense of your own hopes for the student.  This sentence will be the final thought from you in the student's and parents' minds.  A positive closure shows that struggles can be temporary and the student has positive things to look forward to.  Rather than, "She sometimes struggles with the equations we are using in our experiments" as the closer for Tina, shift that to the middle and close with one of the more complimentary sentences from the middle like, "Tina understands how to find good resources and to use them for research." It again highlights the teacher's ability to see beyond present challenges and convey how clearly he/she can see the the positive potential (nobility) within each student.

Playground Superheroes

playground superheroes

fear and lack of comprehension inside a child’s mind
not knowing what’s happening or what’s happening next
searing physical pain
friends’ blood let loose

not the images we plan for our children
not how our loves end
small frames

pure energy, full of life, snatched away

not abstract
not imagined
not pretend
hopes lost

we think of our own children
hold them close
closer
it’s not enough

our playground superheroes
are defeated

writhing and wrestling
we consume ourselves every day

James P. W. Moudry

A poem following the Sandy Hook school massacre on 12/14/12
twenty children and six teachers killed

Religious leaders, human bureaucracy, and the right to rule

This is a follow up on a Facebook posting with Ashley, who went to the same grade school that I did, though many years later. One of Ashley's friends commented that as clergy, "I signed up to be a religious leader, not a tool of human bureaucracy. I don't believe any human has a right to rule over another." I started a lengthy response in fb, but figured it would be better to pull it out and put it here. (I'm not sure of the manners about starting heavy, deep, and real conversations with strangers on fb. I can understand how others can be turned off by that at times. It can be a little creepy.)

Religious leaders and bureaucracy

I don't know a lot about how clergy works historically or contemporarily. I do have some first hand experiences with clergy and former clergy though, so let's see how this goes.

1. Religious leaders are often part of a bureaucracy called 'The Church' or something similar. Does the religion have rules? Most do. Is any system with rules a 'bureaucracy'? (Do you consider any system with rules to be a bureaucracy or is a bureaucracy something else?) Maybe some religious leaders think of themselves as 'spiritual' leaders and consider themselves to be outside of any bureaucracy. Maybe it's just fair to note that if you're in a system, the system, by definition, has parameters.


2. Religious leaders do not act in a vacuum. Historically, they have helped societies and cultures progress and grapple with challenging issues. Religious leaders may not be paid agents of the government, but they historically and regularly do a great deal of the communitarian work that serves well the citizenry of states. So how do they relate to the will and acts of the state? In this specific case, marriage equality, clergy are signing off on legal documents like marriage certificates that register marriages with the state and certify that all legal requirements of the state have been met.

Do clergy have a duty to society or the state that goes beyond just their spiritual duties? I'll say yes. The communities they serve are not islands with no other rulers. Even if that clergy member feels that they personally don't want to be ruled, or even that no one should be ruled, their flock may not agree. Their parishioners may love the state, work for the state or whatever. In service to who those people are, the clergy cannot just pretend like the state doesn't exist. The best clergy who I have ever known are acutely aware of the role of the state and the role of the individual members of the electorate. They work with all parties in concert. They minister to needy. They get arrested at protests. They speak out from within the systems.

As a tool for the state, clergy do great, postive work for individuals and for the collective.

Right to rule

For my part, I'm happy to live in the USA and have politicians govern. I'm happy to have senators, representatives, judges, a mayor, a governor, and a president. Do they have the right to rule over me?

Yes.

Why? It's not because I voted for them (some of them I didn't vote for).

They have that right to rule over me because I grant it as a citizen. If want to act to revoke that right I have choices.

1. I can vote against them and for someone else.
   
2. I can move to some place where they will not rule over me.

If I choose option number one, I'm saying I don't want to be ruled by this person specifically. But I still accept being ruled. If I choose option number two, it may be for many reasons, one of which may be that I'm rejecting being ruled at all. In that case, then I either choose to ignore the rules of the system of people who rule over me, or I try to find a place where I can live and not be ruled.

What about the issue of where the right comes from? The commenter, KF, said she didn't think any person had a right to rule over another. Clearly, people do rule over other people, so let's imagine that she doesn't think people should have such a right. In this case, perhaps, she'd argue that people therefore also shouldn't give people that right. And therefore she'd be bothered that I was giving all these people rights to rule over me.

I grant the right, gladly, because I'm willing to live in a system that is pluralistic. In which some of the rules match what I think are right and some don't. I'm willing to work on it collectively. I'm willing to argue. I'm willing to do those things because I believe that though our positions on any number of issues may differ, I can still work collaboratively with others to achieve certain goals for change. This system in the USA is pretty damn excellent. It was carefully built on the beliefs of pluralism, a strong government, and a carefully defined set of rights for individuals. It's not screwed up. The system allows for people to join up to get things done, to speak up when things are unjust and need changing, and to sit in a cabin in the woods. There is little compulsion, but the idea is that if you choose to be here, you agree with the idea, that we can do more together than we can do individually. That the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And that the country's motto, "E Pluribus Unum," is not a dusty old idea.

I'll sacrifice for that. I'll compromise for that. And I'll keep working for better. For me, that's the American Way. We're not looking for the easy way. We're down in the grimy machinery wrestling around with big ideas, pushing and pulling on the levers (somtimes even replacing them) to make the equipment work better for everyone. It's dirty.

Just a bit more

I'm an idealist and an optimist. I'll always be.

I know parts of the system are really messed up. But in my mind, they need good, loving, intelligent hands on them to make them right. The problems aren't helped by looking for the eject button. (Not yet at any rate! ;-))

Is marriage equality coming? I'm almost certain it is. Is slavery threatening to start up again legally in the USA? No. Anyone who would suggest it would not make much headway. Let's count that box as checked and move on. Marriage equality is an unchecked box (nationally). But just think of how much has happened for gay rights just in the past twenty or thirty years. The national level of acceptance is growing. Is the goal, 100%? I'd suggest caution. Not everyone thinks people of different ethnic backgrounds should marry, but that issue is a checked box. You don't need everyone to agree. Keep the goals clear and achievable. The people's will shall be done. Noam Chomsky has been asked about speaking truth to power. His response is that power can't always hear (or listen), so one should be sure to speak truth to people. Yes. Let's.

Topical tangent: Does providing a national healthcare system, like a social security system, fall under "promoting the general welfare?" I'm no expert, but like having state-run (and funded) fire and police departments on which we depend for safety and security, maybe we can get our heads around a wellness system that works in an efficient, preventative fashion to increase that general welfare of the people. People wiser than I struggle with this, so I'm not sure I've much to offer here.

So that's it. Good luck. See you on the other side.

 

Self-Immolation in Tibet

Since my visit to Tibet in 1995, I've paid attention to the Tibetans' struggle for cultural, religious, and intellectual freedom.

If you could go back in time and stop the erasure of the way of life of the Cherokee, Souix, Apache, or Powatan, would you?

Two pieces below on the self-immolations of 2012.

From ICT (International Campaign for Tibet)

Chinese security has tightened following the first self-immolations in Lhasa. An unknown number of Tibetans, some sources saying hundreds, have been detained in a massive police operation and are being held in detention centers in and around Lhasa. Many Tibetans from areas outside the Tibet Autonomous Region have been expelled from the city. (read on) 

and from the NYT 

Published online June 2, 2012 by The New York Times. Please read the full article here. 

By Edward WongDHARAMSALA, India — One young Tibetan monk walked down a street kicking Chinese military vehicles, then left a suicide note condemning an official ban on a religious ceremony. Another smiled often, and preferred to talk about Buddhism rather than politics. A third man, a former monk, liked herding animals with nomads. 

All had worn the crimson robes of Kirti Monastery, a venerable institution of learning ringed by mountains on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau. All set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. Two died. 

At least 38 Tibetans have set fire to themselves since 2009, and 29 have died, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group in Washington. The 2,000 or so monks of Kirti Monastery in Sichuan Province have been at the center of the movement, one of the biggest waves of self-immolations in modern history. The acts evoke the self-immolations in the early 1960s by Buddhist monks in South Vietnam to protest the corrupt government in Saigon. 

Read more >>

So you want to be a Montessori high school teacher...

Should I pursue traditional secondary teacher certification through my local college or university? 

It's not necessary for Montessori.  If you really want a solid grounding in Montessori pedagogy, a Montessori training course is the way to go.  Post Oak is accredited by AMI (Association Montessori Internationale), the Montessori organization that was founded by Maria Montessori.  Many teachers go through AMI or AMS trainings.  AMI offers training for working with ages 0-3, 3-6, and 6-12.  AMI oversees the Montessori Orientation to Adolescent Studies, which is a five week course that takes place each summer in Cleveland, Ohio.  This would be the right program for anyone interested in middle or high school work in a Montessori environment.  It's best when combined with any full AMI training, though my leaning is for the Primary (0-3) training.

Are there student teaching opportunities at Montessori high schools? 

I'm sure we could figure something out.  We'll be small and new though, so it might take us a little time to get our heads around it!  Whenever you think something like that might be interesting, just let me know.  A great start, of course, is coming to observe.

To prepare for teaching, is it more desirable to pursue my personal interests to a greater depth or to try to focus on familiarization with a broader range of peoples, geographies, time periods, etc.? 

Great question!  Answer: YES!  Your interests will always guide your energy and students will always know when you're teaching from your heart.  Neither of these can be ignored.  Literature is great because it opens up opportunities for adolescents to see themselves in the characters of fiction and then to write their own stories, poems, dramas, etc.  Our starting point is that students must feel that they have something worthwhile to say.  Then, later, they can write (same as with younger children; spoken activities lay the foundation for writing).  The teachers breadth is vital as well.  Teachers must be able to throw all kinds of seeds into the fertile soil.  Students don't need mentors/coaches/guides who are experts at everything.  But they absolutely need to be around adult models who are interested in anything.  As a teacher of writing (in all its forms), there will be much ground to cover from supporting a passionate poet to crafting the perfect horror story to reviewing a newly released book on quantum mechanics to writing an exposé on city water conservation.  There's so much!