Last time, we established some basic insights from the literature on resilience: it’s a thing; it makes our lives better; it’s a lot like the serenity prayer popularized by twelve-step groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. Resilient people are characterized by three tendencies: I. Acceptance of reality (treated below)II. A strong sense of purpose (treated in this […]
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Teacher Attrition, the Serenity Prayer, and the Resilient Inner Life
How can we keep the best teachers in education, engaged in the work, and flourishing long-term? This is a core question of my work as a teacher and writer, and so I was grateful at a recent conference to learn from Wendy Zdeb, Executive Director of the Michigan Association for Secondary School Principals (MASSP). Wendy is […]
Why Academics *Still* Matter for Long-Term Flourishing
Despite the intuitive and empirical evidence for the case that academics alone aren’t the key to the long-term flourishing of our young people, our schools are wise to focus on academic mastery for all students. Why? Because the work of mastering something — be it writing or biology or physical fitness or music — has, as its […]
We Empirically Know that Academics Aren't the Whole Picture of Long-Term Flourishing
Last time, I demonstrated that we intuitively know that student long-term flourishing outcomes result not primarily from academic knowledge and skill, but rather from noncognitive factors (e.g., perseverance, the ability to focus, work ethic, kindness, bravery, and so on). As we discussed, it’s not that academic mastery doesn’t matter at all — it clearly does […]
10 Tips for Teachers from Kate Spade’s Manners
This past weekend, I was in my home reading alongside my older children — one of the great delights of my older daughters’ entrance into middle childhood with its blessed ability to read independently — and I pulled one of Crystal’s old books off the shelf: the late Kate Spade’s Manners. As I often do […]