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ideas on youth

Rhyme, Reason and Purpose in Childhood & Adolescence

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Skill is Counterintuitive

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Adam Cox

 

71HOVN4emaLFor more than a decade new perspectives of skill have been the focus of books on achievement, education, sports, and the arts. Malcom Gladwell’s books are some of the best known examples. Another very useful contribution is Daniel Coyle’s, The Talent Code. Not only does the book explain the benefits of myelination in simple terms (the insulation that wraps around nerve fibers, and which makes high level performance more automatic), it also explains how to “ignite” myelination through “deep learning.” I appreciate the examples Coyle provides about coaching – I see many parallels with psychotherapy and parenting.

Perhaps like many others, my mind tends to drift toward those perspectives of success that align with my core beliefs and assumptions. That’s why I’ve written so often about the importance of authenticity and connection. When I read a book like The Talent Code, it’s a reality check. The book requires me to think not only about the deeper, spiritual pathways to the good life, but also about the pragmatic ways in which a person becomes good at something. My clinical time involves lots of relevant challenges. For example, I’ve spent years helping students to develop better study habits. Increasingly, I’m inclined to simulate a study center in my office, drawing students’ attention to very specific choices and responses – emphasizing how the enhance or inhibit success. Scenarios like this are are well informed by Coyle’s writings. Even my own ability to communicate specifically and well, is improved by Coyle’s insights. If you know The Talent Code and have thoughts about the book I’d like to hear from you. Should we believe, as Coyle suggests, that talent can be created by anyone?

Posted in Education | Tagged Competition Creativity Education Sports | Leave a comment

Stop the Dull, Preachy Assemblies on Bullying

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Adam Cox

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Could any truth be more apparent than the fact that school assemblies on bullying have reached epidemic levels of boring. Kids complain about this to me all the time. Unfortunately, school organizers seem the last to know. The assemblies make the same points over and over. Do we really think that those kids who bully do so because they don’t understand it is wrong? And can we also understand that the effects of cyber-bullying dwarf the typical push and shove routine that may happen at school. I suggest we spend more time lecturing one another and parents than kids. We are the ones with the power to patrol cyberspace. Let’s take a hard line on innuendo. Let’s be less tolerant of random pictures on Instagram. Let’s stop telling kids not to bully, and instead publicly call out those that do. It’s a more direct, interesting, and effective approach.

Admonishing kids not to bully has become a redundant, circular argument. It causes us to lose credibility with young people, and it feels phony. Let’s walk the walk, more than we talk the talk. There is a point at which constant worry about something makes it more real and ominous than it would be other wise.Let’s make community meetings at school more relevant and transcendent. Students should be on every panel that is deciding about school programs and assemblies.

Posted in Boys Education Girls Psychology of Youth | Tagged Bullying Discipline | Leave a comment

The War on Creativity

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Adam Cox

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It shouldn’t be difficult to advocate for the basics. It should be obvious that some learning experiences are so fundamental to human life that they can’t be reasonably excluded from childhood. But in fact it is increasingly awkward to advocate for the basics. There is a tension between what strikes us as essential for a person’s wellbeing, and what strikes us as essential for the future economy. I can’t think of any more notable example of this issue than creativity. Everyone affirms the value of creativity, but when it comes to hard choices like making adequate time for creative work, most of us look the other way. A key to this problem is that our belief in the value of creativity is mostly spiritual and intuitive. It’s something we feel inside; it seems like the right thing to do.

Increasingly, we are led to second-guess such intuitions. We are encouraged to think more empirically. Where’s the scientific proof that creativity enhances life? Where’s the proof that creative experiences add up to anything?

As a counterpoint, there is abundant emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The clamor for STEM is global, and it is in full force in the United States, where the Department of Education strongly advocates that students spend more time in STEM subjects. Seemingly, no amount of time is enough time so long as students in other countries are outperforming US students on standardized tests. Because STEM is viewed as fundamental to a strong economy, the sense of urgency for STEM learning is great.

Do STEM subjects involve creative thinking? Absolutely. Is it the same type of creative thinking that takes place during more autonomous creative work? No.

Like you, I have heard and read numerous stories about the creative thinking involved in science, technology, and engineering. The examples are credible, but in no way do I believe that STEM is a substitute for time spent doing more self-directed creative work.

There is a difference between creativity that is an open-ended exercise in discovery, and the creativity we refer to as it applies to solving math or science problems. The latter is a kind of applied creativity. These types of creative processes require adaptive, flexible thinking – in the service of an established problem.

We should collectively assert that creativity is an important human experience unto itself. Creativity should not be justified as “a means of helping students to do better in math and science.” These sorts of bogus rationalizations are common among those who seek to justify creativity as a means of better STEM, or improved test scores. This is a regressive argument, and is quite frankly embarrassing for a country as purportedly sophisticated as the United States. When we hear officials speak of creativity in this way, we should be alarmed by how normal that tone has become.

What if science were taught with the ethos that its primary value was learning how to be a better painter or musician? What if STEM departments had to justify their existence, and budgets, to their applicability to aesthetics? This is just as absurd as the current trend of “justifying” arts and humanities for their profit potential.

Many of us live in such a way as to experience an almost complete absence of choice. It’s as though the scripts and agendas laid out for us are our destiny. The actual moment of creative work stands in opposition to this existential constriction. This is the moment when creative materials are assembled, and when there is no particular script for what is about to happen – other than to be true to what you are thinking and feeling at that moment. Those moments of psychological freedom are increasingly rare. And most of us hardly notice.

I believe that when many of us imagine such situations, we think, “yeah, that’s nice for little children, but of what practical use is that to someone who has to make their way in the world?” I think young people have also internalized this belief system. The research I’ve done with adolescent boys confirms that most forget their creative side around age 15. It’s at this age when creativity, even if it had been an important part of their earlier life, now seems irrelevant to the future.

If we want to make creativity appealing to adolescents it must certainly have more gravity than the kinds of assignments we do with younger children. I know that many of the world’s most progressive schools offer creative opportunities that greatly enrich the lives of their students. Unfortunately, such opportunities appear to be relatively exclusive. The state of creativity in the average American public-school is deplorable. Most students are lucky if they get an art or music class once a week. No real opportunity is allowed for immersion. And there is little discussion of the connection between creative work and things that are happening in the world. This why the work of the Children’s Arts Guild is of critical importance – it provides structure and meaningful supervision of creative work.

Despite the challenges, creativity does break through. Like weeds forcing themselves through a crack in the sidewalk, creative thinking demands air, and a chance to circulate. But more cultivation is needed. We need a summit on creativity in youth to define a path forward. This could happen at schools, or in communities – but there is need for a serious and ongoing dialogue about the role of creative work in youth. I don’t mean just encouraging kids to develop a new app, I mean work that gives young people a chance to participate in making the world. This is where life’s purpose is found.

 

Posted in Child Psychology Education Psychology of Youth | Tagged Creativity | Leave a comment

Can Nature Really Cure ADHD

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Adam Cox

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There is a pernicious myth that being in nature can miraculously cure those affected by ADHD, or more specifically, executive dysfunction. There is something wholesome and positive about this notion. It is based on the belief that the main reason kids have attention deficits is that their lives have become harried and void of time spent in the woods, or at the shore. There seems to be a thread of truth in this perspective, but the severity and prevalence of executive dysfunction is simply too great to believe that the only cause is an overly urban lifestyle. By extension, it’s highly unlikely that nature alone will cure ADHD.

I find it extremely uncomfortable to make this argument because I am a staunch defender of time spent in deep nature. I believe such experiences are important for the soul. For as long as I have been able to read Thoreau, I’ve been a steadfast believer that nature always makes life better. That being said, when a society examines how to best address a behavioral problem, we need a perspective that gets beyond romanticizing to consider the science of a disorder.

We might agree that many young people affected by executive dysfunction would be less symptomatic if they had regular contact with deep nature. But what if that contact is not readily available? We need other options, and I don’t mean only medicine. What’s really important is a culture-wide conversation about attention. Many young people would be greatly relieved by this sort of dialogue. It bring the challenge of attention into the light, and helps us shift from a culture of complaint to one of constructive problem-solving. I’d be thrilled if these conversations could take place in the woods, or along the beach!

Posted in Boys Child Psychology Education Executive Functions | Tagged Education Executive Functions Parenting | Leave a comment

Best School Video Ever!

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Adam Cox

Must see video from one of my favorite schools! Isn’t this how we want all students to feel about school…I think so!

 

Posted in Education | Tagged Boys Girls Happiness Life Narratives Purpose | Leave a comment

America’s Meritocracy Primes Unrelenting School Competition

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Adam Cox

pisa-studentsFirst, a confession. I am an idealist when it comes to education. I believe school is more than a means to an end, because I believe learning is one of life’s great privileges. Having said that, I have to take stock of how school actually unfolds for many. From the very first days, school is set up as a relentless competition; a survival of the fittest, a high stakes race to see who will collect the rewards for “winning.” It’s true that we put on smiles and a cheerful demeanor for virtually all students, but make no mistake – school is pure competition, and it’s the winners that garner the most respect.

School is a testing ground. Not only will your ability to remember facts of marginal personal importance be assessed, so will your perseverance. This includes your ability to work through boredom, to skip play, to look past the attraction of time with peers, to move closer to the core mission: compete, compete, compete.

This is the contest that pervades the daily life of every student. It is the real drama of school, no matter what we say is the purpose of education. Everyone knows that it’s all about getting the very best grades — and not because those grades represent a great achievement, but because they represent your ability to outdo the student to your left and right.

Why is it important to outdo others? Because the system is set up such that other achieving students threaten your security – your prospective access to opportunity and riches. So buckle up, take your Ritalin, and get ready to perform! It’s pretty close to a state of delirium, but it is culturally sanctioned madness. And what is the foundation of this race? Certainly, it is a broad cultural belief in a meritocracy. Americans, especially, subscribe to a philosophy of “earning it.” We take pride in the concept, brandishing this ethos widely in advertising and motivational speeches. Note that in America there is often little difference between the two!

Much of my professional life has been spent helping schools to close the gap between student ability and achievement. I am sympathetic to families who are afraid their kids won’t get through college. But at my clinical office, I see many kids way over-stressed by academics. Kids who long ago lost any perspective of balance, and who are now in an endless chase to be good enough. For whom?

Reason is left at the door as we begin the race every school day.It seems the only time that we step outside of this perspective, even temporarily, is when faith in meritocracy is overcome by an even more” fundamentalist” concern in American education – the core curriculum. It takes a violation of a community’s right to educate “as we see appropriate” to push an obsession with merit aside.

What does preoccupation with merit say about the value we place on human life that is sub-average with respect to cognitive abilities? How should we perceive gifted students, whose gifts are not necessarily academic? Are best-selling books titled “The Smartest Kids in the World” actually truthful? Isn’t there a difference between being smart, and simply succumbing to a pervasive system of competition? Is there an argument to be made that obsessing about one single aspect of development is dumb, rather than smart?

The main point I want to make is that competition is, at present, the essential experience of school. Thus all the conversations, assemblies, and small chats we may have about other values are like so much spit in the wind. Competition rules the day. Thus it is not surprising that we think of school as a means to an end, rather than a place to actually become educated. Ironically, I don’t believe anyone bemoans this fact more than teachers themselves.

 

Posted in Education | Tagged Competition Exams Parenting | Leave a comment

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