Contributed by Sarah R. Welton, Ph.D.
As an educator, teaching a class in cultural foundations of human behavior, I asked my students to develop a community anywhere and at any time in history. The students were to imagine they were to set up a school for the community. I asked what they would want the children in the community to know, what the curriculum would be, how it would be taught and what would measure success. I was looking for generalities and an overview. This exercise was to show that education for a particular community is based on the community’s perspective of needs, ideas of values, relevant skills, knowledge and quality of life. We do the same with our public schools.
In the past several years, the Mat-Su Borough School District has added several programs of choice including more special mission schools, charter schools and enhanced homeschool options. These are changes that reflect the ideas of our community’s values and to meet the needs and desires of the community. The curriculum has changed as well, adding more technology, reading more nonfiction, promoting more critical thinking, social emotional learning skills and expansion of the career and technical education.
The Mat Su Borough School District mission statement says: “Mat-Su Borough School District prepares all students for success.” This is different for each person and depends on the experiences and abilities of each one. In our district, we seek to have personalized learning to meet the needs of the child and to meet what the parents and caregivers envision as important for the child. The school district also has to meet community, state and federal guidelines and standards.
My perspective on education is that it is an understanding that includes the experiences of life which shape who we are and how we make meaning in life. In the United States, the sense of purpose that comes from education can be thought of as building a human being who is capable of seeking “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. In traditional cultures, not just in Alaska but around the world, Father Michael Oleksa notes that education includes knowing who one is, how one fits and how one relates. The relationship piece is to other people and also to the natural world. He makes a distinction between education and schooling. I believe that our public schools can provide both education and schooling through understanding who we are and making meaning out of life through examination of our values.
Each one of us has interests and each one of us is motivated by some internal mechanism that relates to actions, thoughts, and feelings. As a counselor, a minister, and an instructor I often ask people what brings them “joy”. This is the building block of making meaning out of life and is the central figure in the movie “Inside Out”, produced by Disney. In the film there is a depiction of how the brain works and the building of memories, learning and emotions that make up a person. Joy is the figure who is mostly in charge in this story. Other emotions are needed to create a human being, but the idea of joy is central. While this is fiction, there are a lot of good metaphors in the story for how individuals build memories, use reflection in thinking, evaluate experiences, and, in the end, learn from those aspects of our lives. What brings you joy?
In our schools, we greet our students and know their names. A study was done by Jeffrey Cornelius White (2006) which found that the greatest measure of success for students was for the teacher to know their name. The relationship piece is practiced in our Mat Su Borough schools through a program called, “Capturing Kids Hearts”. Besides greeting students each day, the students are asked in the classrooms, “What is good in your life?” I have used this positive approach for teaching in the past few years and find that the atmosphere for learning is more upbeat and people are more engaged. Students also stated they felt more involved due to this approach. What good is happening in your life and what brings you joy?
In studying businesses, I found the ideas of, “What’s in it for me?” or WIIFM helps focus people also on motivation to succeed. When one evaluates the advantages and rewards for involvement in a task or project, one can find the motivation to seek out success or even joy. These concepts underlie factors in education. The idea of relevancy in teaching and learning listening skills, following directions, working collaboratively on projects, keeping oneself safe and making friends is part of the education in a public school, along with reading, language arts, math, social studies and science. What are your interests? What motivates you? What brings you joy?
Education is an investment in the child which benefits the child, the home and the community. I support Mat Su Borough Schools and the district’s mission of “preparing all students for success”. Education that values the child is central to building human beings who will seek out “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
Sarah R. Welton
Ph.D. in Psychology (Specializing in Organizational Psychology)
M.S. in Counseling Psychology
Pastor, Church of the Covenant
Mat-Su Borough School Board Member, 15 years