dr. bruce hekman, calvin college. what is your vivid memory of your jk-12 school experience? school...
TRANSCRIPT
Schools and Classrooms as Communities of Grace
Dr. Bruce Hekman, Calvin College
What is your vivid memory of your
JK-12 school experience?
School memories
What does Flourishing look like?
SURVEY: MANY U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
BORED IN CLASS
A majority of U.S. high school students say they get bored in class every day, and more than one out of five has considered dropping out, according to a recently released survey.
Some challenges
“In the midst of unprecedented material
affluence, large and growing numbers of U.S. children and adolescents are failing to flourish. In particular, more and more young people are suffering from mental illness, emotional distress, and behavioral problems.”
“As a society we have been unable to respond effectively to these deteriorations in child and adolescent well-being.”
Hardwired to Connect, pg. 8
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times
“Eighty-eight percent of Americans who responded
to the commission survey said it was harder to be a parent today than it used to be, 81 percent said parents did not spend enough time with their children, 76 percent said that parents often did not know where their children were. More than half of the respondents said children are worse off today than they were ten years ago with respect to moral and religious training and parental supervision and discipline. Fully a third said that children get less love and care from parents than they did a decade ago.” Sergiovanni, pg. 12
Loss of community from the National Commission on Children
“When families fail, children sometimes withdraw
inward, hardening their shells and insulating themselves from the outside. But the typical response if for them to create their own ‘families’ by turning to each other for support…Norms are important to young people, particularly to adolescents. In schools powerful and extensive norms systems develop that constitute a student subculture. Like any other culture these norms dictate not only how students should dress, the latest ‘in’ language, and other harmless rituals of school life but also how students should think, what they value and believe and how they should behave.”
Sergiovanni, pg. 12
Loss of community
“Society has systematically abandoned the young. Young people are desperate for an adult who cares…they have been forced by a personal sense of abandonment to band together and create their own world—separate, semi-secret, and vastly different from the world around them.”
Chap Clark, Hurt
Abandonment
Normal Distorted Absent
Attached Gang loyalty Unattached Loving Craves affection Guarded Friendly Craves acceptance Rejected Intimate Promiscuous Lonely Gregarious Clinging Aloof Cooperative Cult vulnerable Isolated Trusting Overly dependent Distrustful
“…the unmet needs of youth can be addressed by corrective relationships of trust and intimacy.” Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern, p. 47
Belongingconsequences of loss
“People who had bad health habits (such as
smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or
alcohol use) but strong social ties lived
significantly longer than people who had great
health habits but were isolated. It is better to
eat Twinkies with good friends than eat
broccoli alone.” Ortberg
Loss of community
The context of schooling is an important part
of the content of schooling.
We need to be as intentional about the
context as we are about the curriculum.
Thesis
“The nature of relationships among the adults within a school
has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else. If the relationships between administrators and teachers are trusting, generous, helpful, and cooperative, then the relationships between teachers and students, between students and students, and between teachers and parents are likely to be trusting, generous, helpful, and cooperative. If, on the other hand, relationships between administrators and teachers are fearful, competitive, suspicious, and corrosive, then these qualities will disseminate throughout the school community.” Roland Barth
Significance of healthy community in schools
“Christian schooling is about how a Christian
education shapes us, forms us, molds us to
be certain kinds of people whose hearts and
passions and desires are aimed at the
Kingdom of God.” Desiring the
Kingdom, James K.A. Smith
Culture in faith-based schools
From All In
Climate: the people perceive their work environment;
the “feeling” of the classroom and hallways.
Culture: a set of (often) unarticulated “rules” about the way things are done; values, assumptions. Culture is expressed in artifacts (ceremonies, rituals, the physical appearance of hallways, classrooms, the curriculum); espoused values; underlying assumptions (about students, about relationships among teachers how discipline and conflict are handled).
Climate and culture
Organizational culture shapes how
groups understand and carry out their mission.
Culture is created communally.
Leaders play a significant role in shaping culture.
Organizational culture
Seven sources of system identity
HISTORY: our founding and sustaining stories
BELIEFS AND VALUES: who we believe we are
VISION: what we declare as our highest purpose
MISSION: the essence and reason for our existence
GOALS: mile markers for realizing our mission
SHARED KNOWLEDGE: what we collectively know and share about our work in order to achieve our purpose
PRINCIPLES OF BELONGING: “rules”, agreements, and commitments for learning and belonging together as a community The Power to Transform, p. 92
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up
people to gather the wood, divide the work,
and give orders. Instead, teach them to
yearn for the vast and endless sea.”
Antoine de Saint Exupery
Leadership and vision
School images
School as • Family
School as • Community
School as • Organization
School as • Factory
How might each school image handle the issue of bullying?
Which kind of school would consider merit pay for employees?
School imagesA continuum
Schools as Communities
Relationships are both close and informal. Individual circumstances count. Acceptance is unconditional. Relationships are cooperative. Concerns of members are unbounded and
therefore considered legitimate as long as they reflect needs.
Subjectivity is okay. Emotions are legitimate. Sacrificing one’s self-interest for the sake of other
community members is common. Members associate with each other because doing
so is valuable as an end in itself. Sergiovanni
Schools as communities
“Life in organizations and life in communities are
different in both quality and kind. In communities we create our social lives with others who have intentions similar to ours. In organizations relationships are constructed for us by others and become codified into a system of hierarchies, roles, and role expectations…Control is external.”
“Communities rely on norms, purposes, values, professional socialization, collegiality, and natural interdependence…a community of mind.” Sergiovanni
Schools as communities
Grace-Full leaders/teachersGrace-Full Leadership. John C Bowling
Are more concerned with spirit than with style Are covenantal rather than contractual View people as ends, not means Recognizable the changeable from the changeless Seek significance, not just success Are responsive as well as responsible Are high touch Maximize influence and minimize authority Are passionate Focus primarily on the body, not the head
“There is no recipe for community building---no correlates, no workshop agenda, no training package. Community cannot be borrowed or bought…If we are interested in community building, then we, along with other members of the proposed community, are going to have to invent our own practice of community. It is as simple, and as hard, as that.”
Sergiovanni, p. 5
Community Building
A Christian world view
Creation
Fall
Redemption
Restoration
“Redemption through Christ restores our relationship with God and empowers us to once again fulfill our calling in creation as He intended. The distortions of the fall still plague us, but we are no longer bound or ruled by them. We are called to live according to the truth, and living redemptively means living by that truth.”
Teaching Redemptively, p. xiv.
Redemptive leadership
“Jesus went through Galilee…preaching the good news of the
kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness…” Matt. 4:23
“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’” Matt. 10:7
“…strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matt. 6:33
“The kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the good news.” Mark 1:15
“Our Father in heaven, ….your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Matt. 6:9,10
(114 references to “the kingdom of God” in the first three gospels)
The kingdom of God
Redemptive leadership
MAKING IT DOWN HERE
LIKE IT IS UP THERE.
What is Biblical Community?
Why do we need it?
“The natural condition of life for human beings is reciprocal rootedness in
others.”Dallas Willard
Biblical community
“When God’s people are called out of the world, they are called into fellowship, into what the New Testament calls koinonia. We drink from a common cup of blessing; we break a common bread; we are connected as branches to a common vine; we are fingers and toes of a common body. We belong to Jesus and thus to each other.” Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
Biblical community
Biblical community
“God’s aim in human history is the creation of an inclusive community of loving persons, with himself as its primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”
Dallas Willard
“Christian community, life in the colony, is not primarily about togetherness. It is about the way of Jesus Christ with those whom he calls to himself. It is about disciplining our wants and needs in congruence with a true story, which gives us the resources to lead truthful lives. In living out the story together, togetherness happens, but only as a by-product of the main project of trying to be faithful to Jesus.”
Resident Aliens, p.78
Biblical community
“The Christian community has its roots in the future and its braches in the present.” The Good and Beautiful Community, p. 48
False narrative: Our needs matter the most.
“The problem comes when the most important consideration, the dominant desire and the main focus of the community is its own success….This is often the first step toward spiritual death, and, ultimately, the demise of the community.”
The Good and Beautiful Community, p. 68
Biblical community
“Communities become other-centered when they
are steeped in the narrative of the kingdom of God. They know that their community is an outpost of the kingdom of God, a place where grace is spoken and lived for as long as is needed.”
The Good and Beautiful Community, p. 72
“The key is to put on the mind of Christ and to see others as he sees them: treasures.”
The Good and Beautiful Community, p. 80
Biblical community
We are all image bearers of God, but none of us reflects all of who God is. Only in community do we begin to reflect the amazing diversity and creativity of God.
COMMUNITY IS LIKE A ROCK POLISHER:
TRANSFORMATIVE.
Biblical community
“There is no recipe for community building---no correlates, no workshop agenda, no training package. Community cannot be borrowed or bought…If we are interested in community building, then we, along with other members of the proposed community, are going to have to invent our own practice of community. It is as simple, and as hard, as that.” p. 5, Sergiovanni
Community building
“Building community requires the development of a community of mind represented in shared values, conceptions, and ideas about schooling and human nature. This mind structure provides the community and its members with purpose and meanings that are embodied in duties and obligations. Fulfilling these duties and obligations requires selfless behavior, altruistic love.”
Sergiovanni, p. 32
Building community
“Community does not develop naturally. It requires
tremendous struggle, and the answers to all the tough questions are in the struggle. The struggle, though, is essential because the children we teach will not care how much we know until they know how much we care…A school that is a true community is a group of individuals who have learned to communicate honestly with each other; who have built relationships that go deeper than their composures; and who have developed some significant commitment to rejoice together, mourn together, delight in each other, and make others’ conditions their own.”
p. 203, Flynn and Innes
Building community
“The eye of the mind without the eye of the
heart is heartless competence. The eye of the
heart without the eye of the mind is mindless
empathy.”
Dr. Nicholas Wolterstorff
We need two eyes
“To create community, start with an ideology, a set of conceptions about what schools are for, what is good for students, what makes sense about teaching and learning, and how everyone involved should live their lives together. Start, in other words, by developing a community of mind. Next, invite others to join this community of mind, relying on the persuasiveness of compelling ideas.”
Sergiovanni, p. 86
Building community
Community of Mind
A Purposeful Community
“The culture of a school arises from a network of shared ideologies, coherent sets of beliefs that tie people together and explain their work to them.”
Sergiovanni, Building Community in Schools, p. 72
“Communities are defined by their centers of values, sentiments, and beliefs that provide the needed conditions for creating a sense of “we” from “I.”
Sergiovanni, The Principalship, 5th ed, p. 106
Becoming a purposeful community
What’s a “good” school?
The principle of purposeful
coherence
“Good” schools
What does it mean to “flourish?”
Flourishing
Becoming a purposeful community: lists of five
FIVE: Promises we make to students
Promises we make to each other
Characteristics that you will see in our teachingFaith-nurture practices we use with students
Things we expect from parents
Things that parents can expect from us
Mentor programsPeer observations, including learning walks (rounds)Team teaching or co-teachingCommon planning timeCommon assessmentsCommon files for sharing assignments/activitiesBecome a community of learnersShared leadershipCreate an annual “best practices” book, with each teacher contributing a single page. Give all teachers a copy of the booklet at the end of the school year, and give it to new teachers as a welcome gift.
Becoming a purposeful community: collegiality
Nurturing school community
“As a Christian teacher,…you consciously strive to forge your classroom into a learning community in which students experience the richness of living in a caring and supportive but also challenging environment.” Van Brummelen 2009, p. 179
From Nurturing School Community
1. At your tables, brainstorm a list of
factors that influence student engagement and learning.
2. Alone – Write down your top five and rank order them with #1 being the most important
3. In pairs – agree on the top five factors
4. In two pairs – agree on the top five
5. In four pairs, agree on the top five
A community of mind and heart
Communities of Heart
What is “grace?”
“Grace… is the power of God, rooted in his
abiding love, by which God forgives the sinful, accepts the unacceptable, revives the spiritually dead, and so enables a reunion between the Creator and his wayward creatures.” p. 4
“ …grace is inherently unfair…for grace lets off the hook precisely those who otherwise deserve some kind of punishment.” p. 123
The Riddle of Grace
The riddle of grace
“Beyond forgiveness, grace also aims to
transform our way of life. Encountering God’s grace is a formative creative moment as a result of which a person is not only graced by God’s love but also becomes gracious because of God’s love. I mean gracious in the sense of being grace-like, of showing forth in our own lives some of the qualities of God’s grace in Christ.” p. 4
The Riddle of Grace
The riddle of grace
“Grace…is shorthand for everything that God is and does for us in our tired and sinful and broken lives.”
“Grace is the one word for all that God is for us in the form of Jesus Christ.”
“Three faces of grace: grace is pardon, grace is power, grace is promise.”
P. 3 How Can It Be Alright When Everything is All Wrong?
Smedes on grace
The gift of joy
Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made…” You don’t have to live in your dog house!
The gift of forgiveness I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful…”You can gamble on a new beginning and win.
The gift of freedom I Cor 4:3,4 “I do not judge myself…it is the Lord…” All the world’s a critic and you’re tired of reading the reviews.
The gift of wonder Acts 2: 6,7 “Each one heard them speaking in his own…You can still be wonder-full in a wonder-killing world
A catalog of grace
The gift of suffering
Rom 8:17 “If children, then heirs,…provided we suffer…”When you hurt with hurting people, you are dancing to the rhythm of God.
The gift of being ordinary II Cor. 4:7 “We have this treasure in clay pots…”You are only an earthen vessel, but God has a market for cracked pots.
The gift of an open heart Col 4:3 “Pray for us that God may open a door…If you just can’t cope, you are ripe for God’s opening move.
The gift of faith John 1:51 “You will see heaven opened, and the angels….When you see the angels, you’ll know why you believe.
A catalog of grace
The gift of patience
Jonah 4:11 “And should I not pity Nineveh…”God takes his time, so why not take yours?
The gift of being held
Ps. 139: 8,10 “If I make my bed in hell…even there….”If you fall into hell, you may land in the hand of God.
The gift of hope
II Pet 3:13, Rom 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us…”Everything is going to be all right!
How Can Everything Be Alright When Everything is All Wrong?
A catalog of grace
Working out grace in schools
Respect
The dance of the porcupines
Gratitude and celebration
Hospitality
Should there be conflict in a Christian
community?
The dance of the porcupines
“Conflict not only is possible in Christian community, it may be a necessary by-product of community that is an important catalyst for growth as we learn to adjust to the differences caused by the diversity of community. No conflict may suggest no diversity, and possibly no growth.”
Walter Wright, p. 139 Relational Leadership
“Communities need tensions if they are to grow and deepen. Tensions come from conflicts…A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly.”
Jean Vanier, p. 120-121, Community and Growth
Should there be conflict in a Christian community?
Community is the place
where the person you least
want to live with always
lives.
Henri Nouwen
The dance of the porcupines
You can develop a healthy robust community that lives right with God and enjoys its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. James 3:18 (The Message)
The dance of the porcupines
Peacekeeping or peacemaking?
Peacekeeping avoids conflict and seeks appeasement.
Peacemaking (God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.)
Here’s the rub: How do you pursue the
beautiful dream of community with actual
real-life people? Weird, not-normal, as-is,
dysfunctional people? How do you get close
without getting hurt?Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them
Dance of the porcupines
ELEPHANTS in the ROOM
Elephants…
Teacher who refuses to teach another grade
Teacher who refuses to use technology
Two teachers – gossip/back-stab
Part-time and full-time obligations
Shrinking school enrollmentsChanging
demographicsPrincipal struggles
Teacher who played a game with students online...blurring boundaries
A culture of high expectations
Embracing changes in pedagogy
A culture of mutual respect, honour, integrity
Professionalism
A culture of honesty
Mutual accountability
Wanting the best for ourselves and each other
Building on strengths, not focusing on deficits
A culture of gratitude: celebrations...not complaining
Students and teachers thriving
Relationships in a community of grace
BasicConcepts:
Good relationships are the basis for learning and growth and strong communities.
Anything that affects relationships (such as inappropriate behaviours) impacts the community and its growth.Confronting inappropriate behaviour needs to be experienced as an opportunity for learning.
The story of David and Nathan (2 Samuel 12)
“John Wesley had a beautiful phrase for this; he called it ‘watching over one another in love.’”
Ortberg, p. 173
Conflict and confrontation
Anything that is subject to human limitation or error requires the
collegial presence of another person to ensure responsibility. It is a fact of life.
Adversarial (Blame) approach:
“What happened, who is to blame, what punishment or sanction is needed?”
Restorative approach:“What happened, what harm has resulted and what needs to happen to make things right?”
Grace-filled confrontation
Where individual wrong doers are confronted
(EXPERIENCE SHAME) within a continuum of respect and support, then a process of REINTEGRATION can begin…
ALLOWS the act (unacceptable behaviours) to be rejected because they failed to reach expectations or standards
WHILE acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the person and their potential contribution to their own community “ I accept and value you but not your behaviour”
Braithwaite’s hypothesis
The Matthew 18 principle
1. If there is conflict2. You3. Go4. To the person5. In private6. And discuss the
problem7. For the purpose of
reconciliation.
1. Acknowledge conflict2. I must own
responsibility3. Approach, don’t
avoid the person you are in conflict with
4. No third parties5. Use sensitivity6. Direct
communication7. Aim at reconciliation
Is my practice...• Respectful (distinguishing person from behaviour)• Fair (engaging, with explanations & clarify
expectations• Restorative (by repairing harm and building
relationships)
Does my practice...• Develop empathy (through reflection, insight &
learning• Enhance responsibility and accountability• Promote positive behaviourial change
Restorative practice checklist
The goal: a new life
Admonition
Confession
Repentance
Forgiveness
Transformation/Restoration
Work on me first. Effective problem solvers observe an
infraction and then tell themselves a complete and accurate story. They ask, “Why would a reasonable, rational, decent person do that?” In other words, we’re curious instead of boiling mad.
What and If. What are we confronting? A broken promise, a gap, a difference between what you expected and what actually happened? Should you confront or accept?
Content—an immediate problem
Pattern—habits
Relationships—trust? competence? respect?
“If you don’t talk it out, you’ll act it out.” Crucial Confrontations
Crucial confrontations:Learning the skills
Crucial Confrontations
What do you do when other people aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do? How do you deal with broken promises, violated expectations, and …bad behavior?
To confront means to hold someone accountable, face to face, so that problems are resolved and relationships grow.
The ability to hold others accountable lies at the very center of a person’s ability to exert influence.
From Crucial Confrontations, 2005, Patterson et al.
“Your old life is dead…. And that means killing off
everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy….make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk. Don’t lie to each other…”
Colossians 3: 3-10 The Message
R—resentment A—anxiety G—greed S—superiority
Getting rid of our RAGS
Effective problem solvers observe an
infraction and then tell themselves a complete and accurate story. They ask, “Why would a reasonable, rational, decent person do that?” In other words, we’re curious instead of boiling mad.
Confront with safety: “Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” Ambrose Bierce
What are we confronting? A broken promise, a gap, a difference between what you expected and what actually happened.
Crucial confrontations:Learning the skills
Crucial confrontations:Learning the skills
Ask for permission
Speak in privateStart with the facts – describe the
gapEnd with a question: “What
happened?”Listen for motivation and ability
Agree on a plan and follow up
Stay focused and flexible
The first rule of St. Benedict’s “Rule of Life:” “Listen,
carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”
“Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.” James 1:19
“The greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.” Richard Moss
Select time and place (free from distractions)
Listen until they are satisfied
Listen! (and not just to the words)
Listening for motivation and ability: The six source
modelMotivate
Pain and pleasure
Praise and pressure
Carrots and sticks
Enable
Strengths and weaknesses
Helps and hindrances
Bridges and barriers
Speak
“Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear
them.”Ephesians 4:29
Listen long; talk short.
Apology without remorse: “Logically, I’ll admit
you have a point.” Premature apology: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry; now
can we drop the whole thing? Apology of expedience: “All right, I’m sorry;
now can we watch the game? Angry apology: “OK! I’m sorry! Is that what you
wanted?” Partial apology: “I’m sorry you feel bad.” Bitter apology: “I’m sorry for everything in the
last ten years.”
Confession and apology
Expressing regret. “I am sorry.”
Accepting responsibility. “I was wrong.”
Making restitution. “What can I do to make it right?”
Genuinely repenting. “I’ll try not to do that again.”
Requesting forgiveness. “Will you please forgive me?”
Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas
The five languages of apology
Forgiveness is not:
ExcusingForgettingReconciling
Forgiveness starts when we decide to stop trying to get even.
“To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.” William Walton
Forgiveness
“…speaking the truth in love, we will in all
things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.” Ephesians 4: 15
“Therefore, each of us must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are members of one body.” Ephesians 5:21
Graceful confrontation
“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.”
Galatians 6:1-5
Conflict and confrontation
Conflict and confrontation
“Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are members of one body.”
Ephesians 4:25
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21
“...warn those who are idle, encourage the
timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” I
Thess. 5:14
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and
dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3: 12-14
“When love is absent, the school will fail.” Educating for Responsible Action, Nicholas
Wolterstorff
Above all, love.
Above all, love.
Some things are loved because they are
worthy; some things are worthy because
they are loved.
