One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.
Neuroscience studies show that we must consciously hold on to a positive thought or feeling for a minimum of 15 seconds before it leaves any imprint on neurons.
The end depends on the beginning. Schools began to recognize that fact in the 1980s when a ‘moment of silence’ was first enacted at the beginning of each school day. Its goal is to provide a brief non-sectarian, peaceful moment for reflection and meditation without promoting religious activities.
The one-nation-under-God Pledge of Allegiance is the only divine moment public schools have to offer.
As a retired public schoolteacher, I experienced the implementation of the Education Enhancement Act in 1986. Its purpose was to increase teacher salaries among other things. It came with a price.
Grant money incentives, teacher evaluations that led to mandated Continuing Education Units (CEUs), and a ‘teach to the test’ factory model of learning. It would be worth our time to reflect on the ramifications of a system of learning on the developing whole minds of students based solely on test scores.
In plain English, there is no room in this system for non-judgmental trial-and-error practices and the opportunity to recover from mistakes. Nor is there the opportunity to explore innate student curiosity and the resulting imaginative actions that follow. Neither can teachers facilitate collaborative problem solving, which in the end builds community by trust.
In my opinion based on my experience, a ‘teach to the test’ model of learning can only be described as punitive both for the teacher and the taught.
Times change and thus people change. Waterbury has changed and is changing. Its identity as the center of the world in brass is over. Still, those qualities that made it so can and must be used to make this city a leader in melding an ever-increasing diverse cultural ‘melting pot’ population. If not us, then who? Schools represent the birthplace of our democracy. Our children carry the responsibility of ensuring and sustaining this democracy. Schools then must change. If not now, then when?
Historically, as the population grew, the rural one-room schoolhouses expanded into mega-roomed school-houses. In the 1800s, philosopher, essayist, and minister Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote on the need for practical, realistic, and philosophical ideals on schooling.
Having a positive thought at the beginning not only of the day, but in everything and about everybody is sound philosophy and practice. Therefore, along with a ‘moment of silence,’ a daily mantra for us all could be the bottom line of Emerson’s ideals.
The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.
Roberta M. Crispino
Waterbury
