EXCELLENCE & ETHICS BLOG

Updates from December, 2009

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  Developing Character & Culture In Iowa

  Matt Davidson posted in IEE & Partners' News at 12:03 pm on December 18, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  Earlier this week I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to meet with our Regional Center partners, the Institute for Character Development at Drake University.  On Tuesday we went to meet with representatives from the Department of Education.  It’s a busy time of year; and this year things are even busier given the economic realities (the Department of Education, along with the rest of Iowa has been implementing a mid-year 10% across the board budget cut).  So we were especially grateful for the meeting.

  Over the past several years we have continued to meet with representatives from the Iowa Department of Education as part of our ongoing efforts to (1) understand the pressing challenges and initiatives faced by educators in Iowa (including the Iowa Core Curriculum, the 21st C Skills, Response to Intervention, Work Force Preparation, Dropout Prevention, etc.), and to (2) keep the Department updated on our programs, training, and research and how it aligns with and assists educators in realizing the goals of these pressing initiatives and challenges.

  I won’t lie, many meetings of this type can be pretty depressing: you have the sense that they’re yesing you so you’ll get the heck out of their office. And, in fairness to them, most folks that are bringing something to them are concerned with their agenda, not helping the department officials solve their concerns.  What was so refreshing about our meeting with the Iowa Department of Education was that there was genuine interest by all to be updated on the efforts to pilot programming whose success impacted all around the table.

  I think it was refreshing for the Department of Education to be updated on the 4 Iowa Field Research Sites participating in our Power2 programming (including hearing directly from an Associate Principal from one field site). I think it was encouraging for them to hear a “warts and all” assessment of our efforts.  We weren’t there to sell them that we have it all figured out (these are difficult challenges; if it was easy it would already be solved).

  The programs aren’t perfect; there have been growing pains (for the schools and for our team), but that we also have some important points of growth.  We have students working on an entirely new approach to character education:  one that helps them to intentionally develop the culture and competencies of excellence and ethics needed for school, work, and beyond.   The programming isn’t soft, ice-breakers and brain candy.  Students are thinking, and writing, and sharing, and experiencing an approach that is intensive and intentional (and we have emerging evidence that the programs are having an impact). Teachers are experiencing programming that has them learning, thinking, reflecting on data, and engaging colleagues in dialogue–all around character and culture needed for teaching and learning. Power2Teach has been very well received and the schools have put in significant time and energy.  The more we are able to help teachers understand this as not competing with the Iowa Core Curriculum, but as a pathway for realizing the Core Curriculum, the more progress we will make.  

  I think it was important to the Department to know that work continued this year in 4 field sites in spite of the fact that our proposal for funding was not reviewed by the USDOE Partnerships in Character Program (since funding was cut in the omnibus budget last spring, our proposal to do Power2Programming with 44 Iowa High Schools wasn’t reviewed).  So, in a difficult economic year, with pressing educational initiatives all around, 4 field research sites in Iowa commited their time and energy, supported by funding from secured by IEE and it’s partners at ICD and the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs. It was truly an example of “shared risk, shared reward” by all involved.

  We were grateful that at every step the Department has listened; the Department has continued to observe our work; the Department has continued to challenge us to align our research instruments and programming with the key initiatives in Iowa (like the Core Curriculum).  They haven’t promissed us anything, except that they would continue to listen, observe the ongoing field research work, and to continue dialogue about how the Power2Programming might help Iowa’s educators meet the Department’s vision.

  It’s slow, difficult, painstaking work. But, strangely, in a pretty depressing year, all around the table I believe were encouraged–maybe becuase we were talking about real work, done with real schools in Iowa, that was focused on meeting the needs of real students and teachers.  Funny how most of our time seems to be spent on other things that don’t really matter. 

  There are still many challenges and there were absolutely no clear answers.  Just a heartfelt sense of appreciation by all gathered for the hard work done by all to develop research-based  solutions to the challenges facing schools in Iowa–that are both useful and feasible.

  We were grateful for the time; encouraged by the progress; and, recommitted in our collective efforts to work harder to build on the successes of this past year, with hopes that 2010-2011 might see all involved in this important work, returning to the table with even more to celebrate. 

  Consider me a hopeful realist. What’s that mean?  I assume it will be harder than we think, require more time and effort than we planned, but that given the commitment and dedication of our partners, I expect for us to make some major headway on our shared challenges  in this coming year.

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  National Liberty Museum's Heroes of Character

  Tom Lickona posted in Power2 Community at 10:20 am on December 11, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  

  This past Tuesday, December 8, I had the opportunity to be one of the
  speakers at the National Liberty Museum’s launch of its Heroes of
  Character project in Philadelphia. The project includes four interactive,
  character-centered exhibits at the Museum and a website
  (http://www.heroesofcharacter.org)  featuring character education activities and
  resources for teachers, families, and communities-all designed to
  challenge kids to become a “hero of character” by making good choices,
  developing their talents, using their gifts to serve others, and the like.
  Tuesday’s launch event included a splendid speech on liberty and character
  exemplars by Dr. Jack Templeton, president of the John Templeton
  Foundation, which funded the Heroes of Character project. (Jack said he’d
  send me a copy of his talk.)

  In my 15-minute talk at the luncheon, I was able to include a brief
  account  of our current field-testing of Power2Learn in four states, with
  an example of a lesson we had just observed at Junction City High School,
  a large, multicultural school (about 50% African-American) and one of our
  leader schools in Kansas. Junction City is implementing Power2Learn with
  freshmen, having faculty teams (who teach Communications, Math, Science,
  and English) take turns teaching the lessons of a given unit.

  The day Sue Kidd (coordinator of the Kansas federal character ed grant)and
  I visited, we were able to observe Communications teacher Kate Erickson
  (also her school’s  Internal Power2 Coach) do a wonderful job of teaching
  the lesson from Unit 2 (on stress management) that includes the inspiring
  You-Tube clip, “Homeless to Harvard.”

  If you haven’t seen that You-Tube, it tells the story of a young woman
  named Liz Murray. She recounts how she grew up in a dysfunctional family
  with parents whose idea of life was having a good time dancing and doing
  drugs. When Liz was 15, her mother contracted AIDs, and died within a
  year. Liz found herself on the street and wondering, “Am I going to end up
  like my mother, or am I going to do something different with my life?”
  She decides to work hard in school, believe in herself, and persevere no
  matter what-and gets accepted into Harvard.

  Before teacher Erickson showed the video and had the students discuss the
  suggested questions (“What do you admire about Liz Murray?” “What
  questions would you like to ask her?”), she explained that the clip was an
  illustration of how we can turn our lives around if we want to. The most
  moving moment of the lesson came next when she asked **Jason, a tall
  African-American boy (about 6′ 4″, 240 lbs.)in the back of the room, if he
  would be willing to share his story. (Later she told us she knew he
  wouldn’t be embarrassed to do so because he had done so in another class.)
  She added, addressing the class: “Jason is one of the gentlest, most
  mild-mannered, and polite people I know.”

  Speaking softly, with all eyes on him, Jason then told his story:

  “When I was younger, I was part of a gang. We beat up some boys pretty bad
  and put them in the hospital. I went to jail, a juvenile detention center,
  for 13 months.”

  “What did that teach you?” Mrs. Erickson asked.

  “To control my anger.”

  “Jason is an example of what?” Mrs. Erickson asked the class.

  “A turnaround story,” a boy said.

  It was a powerful moment.  Many teachers have brought a Power2Learn lesson
  to life by sharing a story from their own lives.  Kate Erickson
  demonstrated the power of eliciting a pertinent story from a student’s
  life. This was one of many things she did to make this lesson a memorable
  one for her kids. It was a pleasure for Sue and me to see the potential of
  a Power2Learn lesson in the hands of a passionate and talented teacher.

  And I was grateful to be able to share this story with the folks at
  National Liberty Museum’s Heroes of Character event.

  ***Note: name changed

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  Then Someone Else Is

  Kathleen Davidson posted in Character Blog at 10:28 pm on December 10, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  Unfortunately, as disappointing and demoralizing as it is to say– bullying is not a novel subject for schools throughout the country.  It is not late-breaking news that schools everywhere deal with this.  To the contrary, it has proven to be a persistent problem even in the face of efforts to bring the issue to light and create formal programs specifically designed to go after the causes and solutions.

  This story on CNN details yet another case where multiple students planned, encouraged, and executed an act of violence on another student over a seemingly insignificant issue.  Not to mention, as is typical of these cases, this was not the first incident, but rather the culmination of numerous other instances of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse in school.

  While the story itself is indeed upsetting, it was as I found myself at the bottom of the article and I read on to the comments that other readers had left that I found the real sadness.   I don’t often read those comments, but in this particular story I was struck that many reactions to the piece included statements like: “I see this everyday” or “this permeates the school experience.”  For me it drove home, yet again, the importance of not letting the culture of our schools be shaped by chance, good intentions, or accident.  Character education at its best has evolved, and is not an anti-bullying approach. It looks at schools as a more holistic system with a culture that has the potential to influence staff, students, and community—for good or for bad.

  Still, when the general consensus at the end of a news piece that reports a group of students verbally and physically assaulting another is “this is the way schools are”  we must ask ourselves—who determines “the way schools are”?

  And then we must face the fact that whether we want to call ourselves “character educators” or not,  if we aren’t explicitly and intentionally determining “they way our school is”—then someone else is.

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  Where do winning streaks come from?

  Matt Davidson posted in Character Blog at 6:24 pm on December 8, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  I was recently interviewed by Joe Drape of the NY Times for a story he was writing about the Smith Center football team, whose streak of 79 consecutive victories came to an end in an overtime loss in the class 2-1a championship game. In the article Joe is trying to drill down on where winning streaks come from.  Joe asserts at one point that it’s partially about talent, chemistry, and luck, which isn’t innacurate. And yet, those seem insufficient for explaining how you explain 79 consecutive victories.  (In fairness to Joe, he delves in greater depth in his book “Our Boys” into coach Barta’s approach, and the influence of the entire Smith Center culture. It’s a fantastic read.)

  What Joe is going after in this piece is at the core of what we’re trying to not only understand, but positively impact in our Power2Progamming. We’re trying to develop the culture and character of excellence and ethics for success in school, work, and beyond. We look to examples of excellence over time, to distill down the replicable elements for use by parents, teachers, coaches and business leaders.

  So where do winning streaks come from?  First, as I indicated in the article, they come from leadership.  But, just like was profiled in “Good to Great” these aren’t necessarily your rock star leaders who overwhelm their teams with charisma.   The leaders are committed to shaping a culture of excellence.  What we say is: “we shape the culture, the culture shapes the character.”

  What shapes culture? Signature practices or ways of doing business.  It’s your rituals, your routines, your explicit focus on developing the character NEEDED FOR the system you want to run. What’s that mean?  If you to run a disciplined offense, based on personal and collective responsibility; if you need honest and constructive critique; if you need humility and continuous improvement; then, you must shape routines and rituals that build those character muscles.

  So, winning streaks come from strong culture.  Leaders have a vision of the culture needed for their philosophy and practical approach.  Leaders shape rituals and routines–signature practices that define who we are and how we do business.  In and through the consistent and faithful experience of those practices, over time, individuals begin to take on the distinguishing mark (in Greek, character) of that culture.   What kind of character is needed? Performance character (qualities needed for excellence–perseverance, work ethic, positive attitude,) and moral character (trust, respect, honesty, humility, love, committment).

  When you have a culture, a shared way of doing business that is like water to fish–you don’t know any different way of being and being this way seems essential to who you are and how you live–then the depth of impact on individuals is extraordinary.  The culture then becomes an even more powerful shaper of the inviduals than the leader (the leader still matters in that they have created and hold the group to faith implementation of the routines, but the individuals come to believe in the routines and “the group way” with unwavering faith.  That’s why they say, “good coaching is what your team would do in the last three minutes if the coach wasn’t there.”

  Talent, chemistry, and luck aren’t unimportant in understanding success.  But it’s really focus on shaping the culture, to shape the performance and moral character NEEDED for success.  Because character and culture are what develop talent and chemistry. Luck?  Well, we all need it, but how to get it is a different post.

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  Power2 School Highlighted for Service Learning Initiatives

  Kyle Baker posted in IEE & Partners' News at 1:59 pm on December 4, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  Cherry Hill Alternative High School, a Power2 high school in Cherry Hill, New Jersey continues to receive recognition for their student-driven service-learning initiatives.  For the second consecutive week,  the Cherry Hill Public Schools E-news offered a description of what students, faculty, and staff at the school are doing to engage in the greater community.  The following is a quote from the December 4th edition:

  “As the season of giving approached, staff, students, and friends of the Cherry Hill Alternative High School, once again, elected to sponsor Heifer International, an international nonprofit organization whose goals include ending world poverty and eliminating world hunger. This year’s Alternative High School campaign culminated with the purchase of a llama for a family located in the Andes Mountains of South America, a flock of chicks to a village in South America, and a flock of ducks to a village in Asia. The llama allows families to earn a modest income from selling the wool, or making clothes or blankets. The eggs that are harvested from Heifer International’s Poultry Project provide a sustainable food source to malnourished children.”

  The students, faculty, and staff at Cherry Hill Alternative High School spent time during the month of November developing a community food drive, which included delivering empty bags to residences in their neighborhood and collecting them later to gather community donations.  Students also engaged in a day of direct service at organizations within the community.  Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the school gathered together in celebration of their good works with a community meal.

  The faculty, staff, and administration at Cherry Hill Alternative School have shown great commitment and dedication to developing the culture and competencies of excellence and ethics within their school through the Power2Learn program, service-learning initiatives, and the development of a dynamic school community.

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  Fall 2009 EE newsletter is out

  Vlad Khmelkov posted in IEE & Partners' News at 5:01 pm on December 1, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  For those who missed the Fall 2009 excellence & ethics newsletter, I posted a link to it on our site. You can also go to it directly:

  http://www.cortland.edu/character/newsletters/EE_LETTER_Fall2009_final.pdf

  As always, great job, Tom and Marthe!

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