School's Out
Whitney Johnson
Learning is the oxygen of human growth. Learn along with me on the Disrupt Yourself podcast.
Before we get into this week’s newsletter - we want to pause to acknowledge that just one week ago, 19 elementary school students in Texas were tragically killed in a mass shooting. Our hearts break for their families and the senseless loss of life. We are praying for all affected by this tragedy.?
Kids across the Northern Hemisphere are putting away their backpacks, saying goodbye to their teachers, and looking forward to summer vacation.?While kids love the freedom and fun that comes with summer, many parents worry about?summer slide—the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year.
Without the daily challenge and engagement that comes with the school year, kids’ academic development can actually start to go backward.?So, what do parents do? We get library cards; we read 20 minutes a day with our kids, set screen limits, and sign up for summer camp. We may ask a child what they want to do, but often we don’t have deep conversations about how they want to grow over the summer—but what if we did??
What if we sat down and asked each child, “Who are you?” If we had a discussion that helped them consider, “What are your superpowers? How do those things align with what the world needs and what you can contribute?”
On the?Disrupt Yourself?podcast, I recently spoke with Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen, a teacher, author of?The Future of Smart, researcher, and chief program officer at Grant Makers for Education. She has a vision of an education system where every student has had that very conversation to align their education with their unique interests and strengths.?
It would be a powerful shift, leading to a system that is “more dynamic, more inclusive, and more empowering for all kids.”
For?adults, reaching the mastery phase of their growth curve—the phase at the top of their learning curve when they are competent, productive, and comfortable—can be like reaching the end of the school year.?We know what is expected of us, we know how to navigate the playground, and we are comfortable with our classmates. We are on autopilot, possibly zoning out because we are bored.?
As much as we want to stay in our current grade, we must move on.?Staying where we are would only cause stagnation, boredom, and eventually frustration.?Like the end of the school year, there comes a time when it’s time to move to the bottom of a new curve.?
The challenge is often deciding what curve to climb.?
Consider the questions?Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen posed for kids: “Who are you? What are your superpowers? How do those things align with what the world needs and what you can contribute?”
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In other words,?what are your distinctive strengths? And how can you align those strengths with opportunities to ensure you are on the right learning curve?for yourself??
Taking the first steps toward personal and professional growth isn’t just a mental process; it’s an emotional journey.?When we ask ourselves—and possibly a few trusted friends or family—deep questions about who we are and what we contribute, we open ourselves up to positive and negative feelings. We face our identity, values, and deepest drivers head-on.?
But?we must go through a process of introspection to find the right learning curve to take on the next—one of our choosing—or risk our own summer slide.
What are your superpowers?
How can you leverage those superpowers to explore a new growth curve this summer?
Parenting & Family Communication Coach | DISC Personality Insights for Parents & Educators | Speaker & Author | Family Advocate
2 年The questions posed were very insightful. Having been a school social worker, home educator, and now helping parents navigate raising children, I appreciate this conversation. Education is not one size fits all.
Great questions!
Co-Founder & CEO @ AlphaAI | Operations Research, Engineering
2 年Fantastic post! Great reading the attached article. Indeed the questions by Ulcca Joshi Hansen can be of great help to parents as they determine what inspires their kids. Glad I came across this post. Thanks a bunch for sharing.
Unlocking human potential | Empowering communities | Manifestation enthusiast | Thought leader in creating reality
2 年Great article. I've recently started a nonprofit up in Canada in the province of New Brunswick. Our education is managed by provinces in Canada, not the federal government like in the US and many other countries. Our goal at Creative NB is to redesign education. Without getting into the negative aspect of education and reform, I will only say the world, or at least New Brunswick needs a complete change in how we do education. Reforms are only bandaids acting in a bubble or vacuum. As a result of our past lack of understanding of the future, we have to change our pedagogy and integrate or fuse life skills into teaching and learning methods. Examples of life skills are relationship building, community living/building, leadership skills, empathy, compassion, etc. When this becomes ingrained in the system, it sets up change for everything else. Suddenly standardized tests and testing, in general, become obsolete, and grading k-12 only works as a marker on the student's current level of understanding. The pushback will always say, "this is all well and good, but there's not enough resources or money for resources," and they'd be 100% right. Well, kind of right.
$9bn+ in sales. I build brands that customers chase after. If you're done wasting ad dollars, let's talk. Make your brand a magnet, not a money pit.
2 年So right, Whitney. It's having that deep conversations about how they want to grow. It's about helping them be intentional about what they want to do and what they want to become. Not just careerwise, but lifewise.