Brandon Busteed says:
Every student in the world, from pre-K to higher ed, needs:
- Someone who cares about their development
- To do what they like to do each day
- To do what they are best at every day
That’s it. It should be the new bill of rights for all students – and frankly, all people – worldwide.
via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brandon-busteed/the-new-bill-of-rights-for-all-students_b_3306642.html
We already have some schools that are organized around these principles. They’re amazing, incredible, energizing places of learning. Now, if we could just get policymakers, educators, and parents on board so that we can scale…
What are the names of the schools that you alluded to and where are they located? GREAT post…Thank You! :-))
My kids attended a preK-12 Montessori school for a few years before we moved out of state, and the atmosphere there VERY much modeled this student’s “bill of rights.” It was fabulous.
Yes, that would be great and utopian and all. But is it really. Could it even BE reality?
I know plenty of kids (and adults) who want to be rock stars. Movie stars. Athletes. Astronauts.
I don’t know anybody who said as a child “I want to be a CPA when I grow up.” Or “My dream is to be a janitor.”
And yet… we need those jobs. They are things to get done. Even if we don’t “like” it. Even if it’s not “what we’re best at.”
Where and when does that message come into schools? When do we teach kids that, even if you don’t like something, sometimes it still needs to be done? Or that you can always have dreams and goals but also have a plan B (and C and D) because life is unpredictable — and careers are unstable, and growing moreso every year.
The philosophy I personally teach my students is to, yes, to dream big and to set amazing goals and to try to work to your strengths… but also that there is no shame in doing other work while continuing to dream and pursue those goals (perhaps on the side, or as a hobby).
If we got all policymakers, educators, and parents on board with the above “bill of rights”, it would be a disaster of epic proportions. Think kids (all the way up to college grads) act entitled now? Wait until we teach them “You can do what you like to do every day. That is your RIGHT.”
No. In reality, it’s not an intrinsic RIGHT, and never can be if we want society to keep functioning. A better mentality is “Have a positive attitude in whatever you do, and find things to enjoy and challenge yourself with… even if it’s not your favorite thing to be doing.”
That is how people will be happy and productive workers. Not by hoping and wishing that we can all be Justin Bieber.
I like this post. However, I would like to add to the first point. As it is right now, the first point states that someone else needs to care about your development. I believe that learning and personal development at it’s best needs to be intrinsically motivated. Not every student or person feels like they have this person that cares about their development. Teachers are there to fill this gap but not every teacher can for every student. If the student realized that they are in charge of their development and they care about it then they can be in charge of it and so much learning will happen. If this “bill of rights” is to be adopted and used I would suggest the great or look at the Girls. Inc. Bill of Rights on their website http://www.girlsinc.org. I would be interested in what others think about this so please feel free to comment back!