Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

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CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 3“I give the first, second, and third students who go achance to do it over, because it takes a few turns for studentsto get comfortable with the process. By the thirdday, I say to the class, ‘Tell me something you heard fromone of your classmates that you thought was really cool.’One year, a boy said: ‘It dawned on me when HollyKaplan was up there, ‘That’s my soul mate!’ They endedup getting married.”Mr. B. then described how the Hot Seat activity ended:Sample questions (with option to pass on any one):◆ Who is your “captain?” (that is, your ultimate referencepoint for your values)◆ What, so far, have been three of your greatest successesin life?◆ What are three things you would like written on yourtombstone?◆ What is your favorite place to be?◆ Where do you find solace and peace?◆ Who or what do you think created life?◆ Talk about your family.◆ Describe the qualities of your best friend.◆ If I were with your friends, what is the worst thing theymight say about you? The best thing they might sayabout you?◆ If you were going to advertise yourself, what would youidentify as your greatest asset?◆ What is the biggest character flaw you’re going to haveto overcome in order to succeed in life?◆ How would you describe your soul mate?The teacher continued: “The kids hardly breathe as theperson in the middle speaks. They are incredibly attentive.There are moments when we’re crying, andmoments when we can’t stop laughing. We are witnessesto each other.I always go last. This is their chance to ask, in effect, “Mr.B., who are you?” I don’t give them the questions, but bynow they know the parameters. All year long, they’ve triedto find out if I’m a Democrat or a Republican. I still won’ttell them, but I do tell the six presidents I most admire—Lincoln, Truman, Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt,and Jimmy Carter—and why. Half of those happento be Democrats, half Republicans. It drives them crazy.What are the lessons we all learn from this? We learn thatwe all have problems; we’re all human beings. We all havehurts. We all have hopes and dreams. On the surface wewear a lot of armor. Underneath, there are amazing commonalities.He concluded: “In the exit interviews I do at the end ofthe year—when I ask students what they think they’llremember about the class—they consistently say, ‘Theone thing I’ll never forget is the Hot Seat activity.’”“I’ll never forget the Hot Seat activity.”There are many other practices available to high schooleducators for developing social and emotional skills.Some schools have peer mediation programs. (“We findvery few repeat conflicts with the same individuals,” saysone counselor.) Other schools make an effort, throughadvisories, a freshman character development course, orsome other venue, to directly teach all students the skillsof solving conflicts, in the belief that this is a universallyneeded competence, crucial for successful adult relationshipsas well as non-violent resolution of adolescent disputes.Well-structured collaborative learning is still another strategythat gives students the opportunity to develop andpractice a range of social-emotional skills, including theteamwork so highly valued in the workplace. In Outcome7, Contributing Community Member and Democratic Citizen,we note the importance of cooperative learning inpreparing students for the teamwork demanded by ahighly competitive global economy.126Smart & Good High Schools
CHAPTER 5: Fostering the 8 Strengths of Character—Outcome 3We turn now to the next strength of character, one thatbuilds directly on social and emotional skills—ethicalthinking.Endnotes1L.M. Terman, “The discovery and encouragement of exceptionaltalent,” American Psychologist, 1954, 9, 221-230.2C.P. Benbow & J.C. Stanley (Eds.), Academic precocity: Aspects of itsdevelopment. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983).3H. Gardner, Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. (NewYork: Basic Books, 1983).4P. Salovey & J. Mayer, “Emotional intelligence,” Imagination, Cognition,and Personality, 1990, 9, 185-211.5See, for example, M. J. Elias et al., Promoting social and emotionallearning: Guidelines for educators. (Alexandria, VA: Association forSupervision and Curriculum Development, 1997).6www.casel.org7C. Cherniss & D. Goleman (Eds.), The emotionally intelligent workplace.(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).8T. Devine, J. H. Seuk, & A. Wilson, Cultivating heart and character.(Chapel Hill, NC: Character Development Publishing, 2000).9D. Augsburger, Caring enough to confront. (Ventura, CA: RegalBooks, 1980).10M.D. Resnick, P.S. Bearman, R.W. Blum et al., “Protecting adolescentsfrom harm: Findings from the National Longitudinal Studyon Adolescent Health,” JAMA, 1997, 278, 823-832.11R. Allen, “Making high schools better,” Education Update (August2004), 3.12C. Abourjilie, Developing character for classroom success: Strategies toincrease responsibility, achievement, and motivation in secondary students.(Chapel Hill, NC: Character Development Publishing, 2000).13K. Cotton, New small learning communities: Findings from recent literature.(Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals,2004).14E. Schaps, M. Watson, & C. Lewis, “A sense of community is key toeffectiveness in character education,” Journal of Staff Development,Spring 1996.15H. Urban, Positive words, powerful results. (New York: Fireside,2004).16C.R. Snyder et al., “The will and the ways: Development and validationof an individual differences measure of hope,” Journal of Personalityand Social Psychology, 1991, 60, 579.17Quoted in D. Goleman, Emotional intelligence. (New York: Bantam,1997), 86.18V.E. Frankl, Man’s search for meaning. (New York: WashingtonSquare Press, 1984).19Frankl, 135.20J. Perricone, Zen and the art of public school teaching. (Baltimore:PublishAmerica, 2005).21F.W. Jarvis, With love and prayers: A headmaster speaks to the next generation.(Boston: David R. Godine Publisher, 2000), 65-66.22Jarvis, 65-66.23See, for example, Aggravating circumstances: A status report onrudeness in America, Public Agenda, www.publicagenda.org (2002).24P.F. Vincent & D. Waangard, Restoring school civility. (Chapel Hill,NC: Character Development Group, 2004).127Smart & Good High Schools
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A Report to the NationSmart & GoodH
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A wonderful piece of work that addr
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Dedicated to the memory ofWinifred
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AcknowledgementsWe would like to ex
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Table of ContentsLetter to the Read
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ELC PRINCIPLE 4: TAKE PERSONAL RESP
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1. Develop Critical Friends Groups
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Letter to The Reader“Are you a he
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Letter to the ReaderBut we also do
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How to Read This Reporttices relate
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Patrick Bassett, president, Nationa
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Research Methodologyand Criteria fo
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Research Methodology and Criteria f
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Principles of a Smart & Good High S
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CHAPTER 1The Call to Character:Perf
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est work and be their best ethical
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CHAPTER 1: The Call to Charactertin
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CHAPTER 1: The Call to CharacterBec
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CHAPTER 2: Performance Character an
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CHAPTER 3: The Ethical Learning Com
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Galvanized by this finding, she and
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(1) scheduling a weekend retreat in
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CHAPTER 6Commonly Asked Questionsab
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Comprehensive EndnotesLetter to the
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Comprehensive Endnotesside, 1990).3
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