The book 'How Children Succeed' provided a great means to reflect on the purpose of education and my own thoughts on what is important, not only in education but also in society. To help my recall of the book i made some notes as I was reading - these notes are in the post previous to this. For a slightly more indepth read - check out that post.
The main learning that I took from the book was the importance of early nurturing and care as key factors on success later in life. While much of the book was focused on children and families overcoming the barrier of poverty in order to attain academic and life success, there was much learning that could be carried over for all children.
A key aspect of the book, as the title would suggest is the role of character as important in providing the skills and attitudes that would outlive the mere knowledge that is attained in schools. While I would never doubt the importance of a sound base in educational skills, (everyone needs to be fully numerate and literate and have cognitive ability to problem solve) the book to raise my own consciousness of the need to foster character (in my own children and the students in my class/school).
While some of the americanisms in the book proved a little off putting, the need for students to be self regulating, resilient, determined, goal oriented young people was clear in its delivery.
The questions that have now been floating around in my own head since finishing the book a week ago -
How can i provide authentic experiences for children to develop such character?
How can i provide the support and guidance for children as they make mistakes, and learn to stand up and keep going without being overbearing and controlling myself?
How can i share the importance of character development with fellow staff members and the wider community
The final question has provided much thought and i am keen to share ways with the parents of the preteens in my own class that they can start to support what we are working on in class - ownership, self control, organisation, self regulation, critical and conscious thinkers etc!
Thats all for now...
If you are keen to read / view a bit more about the book check out some of the links below.
For a brief summary provided by Bruce Hammonds - check out this link.
A Video of Paul Tough (Author) talking about his book: Check out this link or this link.
There are a few more good sites I've found on the topic here and here.
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