Ellen DeGeneres had a segment of her show on a school in Visalia, California. The school is in one of the poorest areas of town and definitely fits the definition of an “urban school”. Ellen included this school on her show because of what the principal was doing for her students. She had noticed that several of the kids loved dancing and gymnastics and she wanted to encourage their individuality and creativity. This principal’s overriding goal was to get her students to love coming to school. She accomplished that by starting a club that encouraged her students’ interests.
I share this story because it illustrates one person’s recognition of “achievement” in others. One of my favorite quotes is:
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Albert Einstein is attributed with this quote… someone who most people agree is a genius. Too often in a traditional school setting, we set our students up to fail by measuring them by the same achievement goals (state standards, etc.) in the same way (standardized tests) rather than allowing students express their “genius” in their individualized way.
When you bring in other challenges of urban schools such as different cultures and expectations, you have to look at other things in order to support closing the achievement gap for students. Noguera in his book “City Schools and the American Dream” (2003) indicated that he felt that culture was transient, in that it was ever changing. The principal in Visalia is successfully changing the culture at her school by finding her students’ genius and encouraging them. Having a transient culture is a good thing… it can change. We just need to figure out how to change it.
Changing culture can seem to be overwhelming. It isn’t always as easy as it was for the principal in Visalia. Another example of a principal who purposely changed the culture in his school is Frank DeAngelis. He wasn’t faced with the challenges of an urban school. He was the principal of Columbine High School when his school became synonymous with school shootings. Tommy Spaulding in his book “Heart Led Leader” (2015) documents what DeAngelis did to change the culture of his school. It involved things like skateboard and rap exhibitions rather than just athletic and academic ones. He also worked hard to build the community of his school and help everyone – students, staff, and teachers – know that their individual talents were needed and appreciated.
Every student has their individual abilities and when we honor and nurture those abilities, they can achieve great things. Is it challenging? Yes. We are looking at changing culture both in and out of the classroom. Can it be done? Yes. It has and it is being done. The real question is, are we willing to take the challenge and do it ourselves.
Resources:
George, C. (n.d.). ‘Dreams come true.’ Watch these Visalia students dance on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’. Retrieved from http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article212196499.html
Noguera, P. A. (2003). City schools and the American dream: Reclaiming the promise of public education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Spaulding, T. (2015). The heart-led leader: How living and leading from the heart will change your organization and your life. New York: Crown Business.