From the Director’s Chair September 2008
Posted by usnl in : From the Director's Chair, September 2008“Let us then try what Love will do.”
William Penn, 1644 – 1718
Quakers have a long and storied relationship with the theme of peace. In fact, the Religious Society of Friends was born out of a time of civil war and religious strife in England in the 1640s and 1650s. Many of us are familiar with Quaker Founder George Fox’s declaration of 1660, made to King Charles II of England, to refute the charges that Friends were involved with a plot to overthrow the King. In it Fox said, "We utterly deny all outward wars and strife, and fighting with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever; this is our testimony to the whole world…The Spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil, and again to move us onto it; and we certainly know, and testify to the world that the Spirit of Christ, which leads us into all truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the Kingdom of Christ nor for the Kingdoms of this world…Therefore, we cannot learn war any more." And, with this declaration, the Quaker peace testimony was born from the belief in the divine spark in everyone and the New Testament teachings of Jesus to love one’s enemies.
Students at Penn Charter have learned about the peace testimony and understand the long history of Quakers protesting wars, opposing government and economic policies that support armed conflicts and refusing to bear arms
The Peaceable Kingdom (c. 1834) by Edward Hicks
in the military if drafted. Our students understand that Quakers seek to resolve conflicts peacefully, and they can point to many quotes about and symbols of peace. The greater challenge comes in thinking about peace as more than the absence of war.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice.” I think kids understand the idea of peace, but the concept of justice is much more complex to teach. Justice involves a sense of integrity and fair dealing in all that we engage in socially, economically and politically. Adding to the complexity of studying peace and justice are the various levels about which we need to think: individually, as a resident of Philadelphia or of the United States, or as a citizen of the world. This is where I start to get overwhelmed about how to think about the peace testimony with our children!
What helps me to get centered again is reflecting on what a testimony really is. Quakers believe that testimonies are a way to “bear witness”; testimonies are not a creed or set of behaviors. This means that Quakers are called to be a witness to peace in their everyday lives as they build relationships within their family, at work, and within the larger community. While most of us are not members of the Religious Society of Friends, I think this is something to keep in mind as we think about peace and teach our children to be peacemakers. We can all learn to move beyond fear in the face of conflict and to think creatively about alternatives. We can see conflict as an opportunity for growth and clarity, and we can role model this for our children. For me, thinking and talking about peacemaking on a personal level makes this theme so much more real. I encourage you to read, “21 Tips on Personal Peacemaking” by Lynn Fitz-Hugh in the Director’s Links section of this newsletter. This article from Friends Journal really has helped me to think about the theme of peace in a significant way.
Peace… the notion seems remarkably simple sitting here on the front porch of my tiny cabin in the mountains looking at a cerulean blue sky with cotton-ball clouds floating by. But, it seems to me that achieving true peace is extremely complex and may be somewhat elusive given the complexities of the world today. Having said that, I also truly believe that each of us can make a difference. I look forward to unpacking the concept of peace with you and with our children.
Beth Glascott
Director of Upper School
From the Director’s Chair April 2008
Posted by usnl in : From the Director's Chair, April 2008 Edition“Grit is defined as the perseverance and passion for long term goals.”
Angela Duckworth
As I have been thinking about teaching pedagogy and curriculum, I find myself repeatedly returning to an article in the Fall/Winter 2007 edition of Penn Arts & Sciences titled “True Grit:Perseverance and Passion”. In it, Penn associate professor of psychology Angela Duckworth shares her research about the non-intellectual traits she has observed in successful professionals in a variety of fields. Through interviews with many prominent individuals, she noted one personal characteristic that all seemed to share – grit.
In this article and in her paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Duckworth defines grit as “…perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” While grit is closely related to self-discipline, she characterizes self-discipline as “the ability to resist temptation and to stay focused on accomplishing tasks immediately at hand.” Self-discipline helps high school students complete nightly homework, organize for the next school day, and create a plan to tackle a large project like a term paper. “Self-discipline has proven to be an excellent predictor of academic achievement,” according to Duckworth. Going further than self-discipline, an individual with grit remains focused on very long-term goals, even when faced with failure or adversity.
Through her research with study participants, including Penn undergraduates, West Point cadets and 2005 Scripps National Spelling Bee finalists, Duckworth developed a grit scale that related one’s grittiness to other characteristics and achievements. Grittier individuals tended to have higher GPAs, to practice and review more, to have more
formal education, and to have more physical and intellectual stamina. At the end of her paper, Duckworth writes, “…in every field, grit may be as essential as talent to high accomplishment. If substantiated, this conclusion has several practical implications: First, children who demonstrate exceptional commitment to a particular goal should be supported with as many resources as those identified as ‘gifted and talented.’ Second, as educators and parents, we should encourage children not only to work with intensity, but also with stamina. In particular, we should prepare youth to anticipate failures and misfortunes and point out that excellence in any discipline requires years and years of time on task. Finally, liberal arts universities that encourage undergraduates to sample broadly should recognize the ineluctable trade-off between breadth and depth. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, the goal of education is not just to learn a little about a lot, but also to learn a lot about a little.”
So, in this age when children seem to want immediate results and are unsure of how to handle minor setbacks and when parents seem to over plan their children’s schedules and over-protect their children from experiencing challenges, how can we develop children with true grit? Duckworth’s advice is valuable. We need to support our children’s goals. We need to help children live the old adage “practice makes perfect.” And, we need to insist on schooling that balances exposure to many ideas with time for young people to study certain things deeply.
Beth Glascott
Director of Upper School
From the Director’s Chair December 2007
Posted by usnl in : November 2007 Edition, From the Director's Chair“We all tell stories. The kinds of stories we tell about the past help determine the way we behave in the present and how we orient ourselves to the future. It’s one of the ways we identify who we are, who I am and who all my groups are — by telling stories.”
Lorene Cary
Author of Black Ice, The Price of a Child, and Free! Great Escapes from Slavery on the Underground Railroad
My grandmother was a great storyteller, and I truly cherish the time we spent together before she died about 10 years ago. My first plane ride by myself was to see Momma Stone. She carted her three Yankee grandchildren all over rural Tennessee to small towns with names like Sugar Tree and to the cemeteries in these towns so that we could “meet our relatives,” as she liked to say. Every Christmas, we made gallons and gallons of eggnog and took it to the soup kitchen where we all cooked and served Christmas lunch to the homeless of Nashville. She taught me so much about forgiveness and unconditional love when I was getting divorced and, later, when she had terminal cancer. While I still miss her terribly, especially at Christmas, I know that what she taught me through our family stories significantly shaped who I am today.
As we move into this holiday season, I find myself thinking about family, service and the time to devote to both. At a recent faculty meeting, the Upper School faculty had a lively, poignant discussion about the possibility of a no-homework holiday over winter break. While we all agreed quickly that we want to spend time with our own families, thoughtful perspectives were also shared about what we might do to help keep “kids’ heads in school.” Teachers reflected on what research says about lengthy school vacations and student retention of what has been taught. After much discussion, it was the sense of the Upper School faculty that any assigned winter break homework would be short assignments to remind students about what they are studying in each class; no larger than a nightly assignment, taking about 20–30 minutes at most to complete. Ideally, students might complete these assignments a day or two before returning to school on Jan. 2 so that they can refocus on the concepts they have been studying in various classes. Students who have chosen to be in AP courses, however, should expect longer assignments in those courses; this is necessary to maintain the pace of the AP curriculum so that these students will be well prepared for their AP exams in mid-May.
While this might not be the total no-homework holiday that some of us had hoped for, it is a start: two full weeks to spend time with our families, to reconnect with old friends, to catch up on our sleep, and, most importantly, to hear each others’ stories. And so I share with each of you the joy and peace of this holiday season and hope our time away from Penn Charter is a time to care for others and ourselves.
Beth Glascott
Director of Upper School