Marketplace
![[SeMissourian.com]](http://www.semissourian.com/images/nameplate.gif)
|
|
Overcast ~ River stage: 33.86 Rising Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
RSS
 Print
 Email link
 Respond to editor
 Read comments (10)
 Share link
School teaching social skills that pay off in other areasSaturday, January 5, 2008
Likewise, students know how to demonstrate the Listening Lucinda position, and they can emulate Completing Work Wyatt. Three years ago, teachers sat down and spent three full in-service days to envision the future of the school. Teachers agreed they needed common expectations and that they valued respect, good citizenship and responsibility. A bigger focus was placed on character education, or social skills programs. Students are now inundated with messages about positive behavior, starting from the moment they step in the door, where an oversized poster greats them with: "Character takes courage. It requires doing what's right, not what's easy or popular."
Expectations of how to act were unified throughout the school and have been ingrained in the students to the extent they now use the language, as in "I was not using an appropriate voice tone" or "I was not showing trustworthiness," according to principal Ruth Ann Orr. While some parents may balk at the idea of a school stressing social skills, new research indicates a positive relationship between teaching character education and academic performance, something counselors said they already knew: It pays academically to take time to teach social and emotional skills. The study, expected to be released early this year, was sponsored by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, which analyzed 207 studies and presented its findings at a Dec. 10 meeting in New York, Education Week reported. Orr said Alma Schrader has reaped the benefits from its multifaceted counseling curriculum: Office referrals are down, students know exactly what is expected of them and, ultimately, the school's test scores are some of the highest in the district. "Hopefully these lessons will travel with them as they grow to be independent citizens that are respectful, responsible, and really contribute to the community," said counselor Julia Unnerstall. While Alma Schrader is hardly alone in stressing social skills, it is the only school in Cape Girardeau or Jackson to have all its teachers trained by CHARACTERplus, a project started in 1988 in St. Louis that helps schools develop a character education curriculum and program. Training at Alma Schrader began last fall and will be completed this month. In most area schools, the guidance curriculum is taught entirely by the school counselor. Missouri is ahead of most states, Unnerstall said, in setting state standards for guidance and counseling curriculum. Jackson schools closely align their curriculum, which is approved by the board, to the state grade-level expectations so as to not infringe on a parent's responsibilities, said Marcia Clark, a counselor at Orchard Elementary in Jackson. "There is a fine line there, so that is why we go with the [state[']s] comprehensive guidance," she said. Some parents objected in Cape Girardeau when the school board approved a plan to implement Preparing for Academic Success classes at the high school starting next school year. In addition to career or college mentoring and tutoring, the PAS classes, to be required of all freshman, will include presentations about bullying, sexual harassment, dating relationships, manners, etiquette and social skills. "I have a fourth-grader who is already a dedicated student taught to value his education. We, his parents, are the ones responsible for his character training and ensuring he is prepared to succeed in high school. This responsibility is not, and should not be, yours," parent Teri Goodman said at a school board meeting Nov. 19. Central High principal Mike Cowan defends the program by saying employers think students are ready academically for the work force but lack "soft skills." Cowan hopes the program will not only increase the retention rate of freshman but will also better prepare students for life after high school. Throughout the district, schools have the option of implementing or stressing different character education programs. Some focus more on the Six Pillars of Character, where a new moral value, such as fairness, is introduced each month, while others focus on the Boys Town Social Skills, which outline appropriate behavior. Unnerstall uses a combination of programs, bringing puppets to present lessons on how to treat others, organizing peer mediators and conducting Good Citizens assemblies, where students are recognized for making good choices and community members discuss character qualities. Because of the peer mediators, Orr said, "we don't have boys whose first reaction is to turn and punch someone" when an altercation arises on the playground. Bullying is a significant issue Cape Girardeau schools are trying to address earlier, so when students from five elementary schools combine at the middle school, problems don't arise. Unnerstall has a slew of activities planned for Bully Buster Week, starting Jan. 14. Students deserve a safe school, said Robin Huffman, a counselor at Central Middle School. "Better behaved or more responsible students are going to be more academically successful," she said. 335-6611, extension 123 Comments  Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. If you feel that a comment is offensive, please Login or Create an account first, and then you will be able to flag a comment as objectionable. Please also note that those who post comments on semissourian.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
|
More stories
Enter your email address to subscribe to our mailing lists:
|
del.icio.us
Digg
StumbleUpon
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Furl
Reddit
Google
Wonderful messages for children to learn at a young age. Way to go Alma Schrader Elementary!
Why not the whole district?
I wholeheartedly agree with teaching children to have good character and to be responsible and accountable for their actions. They should be taught these lessons at school AND at home. My only caveat is that the voting public, especially parents of students, should carefully review exactly what content is being indoctrinated into their children. Bear in mind that the Hitler Youth program started with kindergarten students being taught cute catchy slogans about moral uprightness and good citizenship.
To anyone who reads this post: I do not claim in any way that the Public School System should be in any way likened to a Nazi propaganda program. The Cape schools are just fine in my book. HOWEVER, what I am saying is that we should be cautious not to allow agendas that we don't agree with, especially dangerous ones, to creep into the system via government legislation, i.e. any future permutation of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Good job teachers and students! I am impressed with this story, keep it going.
Kind of hate that I agree, Citizen, but what you say was pretty much what popped into my mind after the second paragraph. There is a very fine line between teaching and brainwashing.
CitizenSoldier & Gurusmom:
Good points. Besides guarding against Hitler Youth-style indoctrination, consider also that the German "socialist in a hurry" (per V. Lenin), Marx, proposed in his best seller not only to abolish parental rights, but for the state to indoctrinate "the children" (favorite mantra of the left) in, as he referred to them, "public schools". That's why the U.S. Dept. of Education & even the NEA (both of them, for that matter) should be abolished.
Action to consider: Not only parents, but taxpayers who are virtually forced at gunpoint to fund government schools might want to toy with the idea of demanding the right to monitor class curriculum and, even classes themselves, any time & without notice (without disrupting the class, of course)to see just what is going on there. This should also apply to state-funded universities like SEMO.
Consider writing your state legislators about two things: 1. Getting a handle on out-of-control property taxes for government schools (80% of real & personal taxes...absurd!), and reducing them; 2. Real citizen action...Ask for a letter of authorization (to present to the principal &/or teacher) to enter any classroom funded by the state to see exactly what is being taught. That may give them a bit of heartburn; however, it will also put 'em on notice that they are being monitored by those who pay them!
I have no children in the government school system, but I do pay property taxes, and want to know just what I'm getting, or not getting, for my money. I'm preparing my letters this weekend.
Herr Hauptmann: I hate to think that sometimes I might be a little paranoid, but I see so many things in this country that are following the paths that communistic countries once went down. The big difference, I think, is that we (our government) are going much more slowly (and assiduously), and most of what has happened over the decades has gone unnoticed.
You do know, I'm sure, that during Hitler's regime, in the name of "children's welfare," a time came when children 3 years old were placed into state's schools?
Was not aware that an adult could not go into classrooms anymore...there was a time, at least in the towns where I lived, that this happened fairly frequently, and as a parent I sometimes visited my children's classrooms...especially when they would come home with political and social issues that I strongly disagreed with! Glad those years are over, actually, because the "fight" for their education without the accompanying brainwashing was pretty bitter sometimes.
And I do agree (although it isn't popular) that NEA should have been abolished a long time ago. Do a little research and you will find that private schools usually cost less in tuition than what it costs taxpayers for public school education per student. For us in this country to believe that our government knows best how to raise our children is to astounding, isn't it?
Herr and gurusmom, I don't know where your getting your information (or lack of information), but you are free to enter any of the public schools. In the name of safety, most schools will have you log in to the office. Granted, you can't just march into a classroom and plunk down, but that's more of a safety issue and issue with being a distraction to the kids. If you're really that concerned, why don't you choose a school and serve as a volunteer? That puts you in the school where you can monitor on a regular basis what's going on. I'm sure any school in the county would be glad for your help.
Gurusmom, Citizen, and Herr,
I would like to throw in one more comment about the concern over "brainwashing" in the classroom. This may not be something you disagree with, but I want to clarify the point.
Often in these discussions, it sounds as though people want ideology-free education. I would submit to you that this is an impossibility. The pursuit of such a thing sends a loud and clear ideological message in itself. And young children will be shaped and molded by this kind of thinking.
And assuming we're stuck with sponsoring public schools for many of our young, should we be intentional or haphazard with what sort ideology we instill? And should we not have an upfront public discourse about it?
Zero-ideology just isn't one of the options at our disposal, and pretending that it is promotes that less accountability, not more.
This is laudable initiative. I consider that all the schools should introduce this program!