I am spending the summer taking a variety of college courses, and I am really excited about starting the school year.
My current class is entitled, Five Fabulous Skills for Your Students' Lifelong Success, and is based on the text by Thomas Hoerr, The Formative Five. Hoerr's main idea is that students that have developed grit, integrity, empathy, self-control, and the ability to embrace diversity are more likely to find success in life. After completing the assigned readings and assignments, it has got me reflecting on whether our students have the ability to EMBRACE DIVERSITY...DO they genuinely understand differences between cultures? If not, how can we do better as a community and as parents? As Hoerr (2017) argues, our world is becoming more diverse by the day, and those who succeed in life will be those that understand that difference. They will be those that are able to build trust with groups of people with whom they disagree, and collaborate with others who live in different parts of our country to solve some of our most daunting problems. They will be those individuals that go beyond just tolerating or accepting differences and EMBRACE them by learning, understanding, and appreciating those that are different. As parents, I tend to think that most of the time we do a sufficient job of teaching tolerance and acceptance, as long as it does not challenge us to be to uncomfortable in some of our core beliefs about the world...BUT what do we do when our personal values are challenged? How do we convey the importance of understanding and appreciating others? How do we learn to hold two completely opposite opinions about something with someone AND yet maintain a relationship that is mutually respectful? Our urge to notice and judge differences is immediate and acts as a barrier to building a connection and learning more about ourselves - How do we challenge ourselves to walk through this world together and not a part? In his text, Hoerr (2017) states that "embracing diversity means playing an active role in supporting the safety and dignity of others and ensuring that they are respected, AND making sure that we teach our children to do the same." Do we say one thing AND do something different? As a society, do we emphasize how we are alike or how we are different? Do we repeat a story that reinforces a stereotype and prevents us from gaining an understanding of someone else's perspective or circumstance? If you are interested in taking this a step further there are a lot of great resources that I would be happy to get to you. As always, please feel free to ask questions or stop by my office! Stacy
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