January 26th, 2019

You have done this exercise before.
 
Think of a powerful learning experience. What were the ingredients that made it so?
 
Challenge.
 
Engagement.
 
Consequence.
 
Now think about the people who were with you in the moment.
 
Friends – teammates – a worthy sparring partner?
 
Many of us are fortunate enough to remember a respected guide in those moments, someone we cared about and who cared about us.
 
This is not coincidence, according to decades of research, a recent editorial by David Brooks, and a report released last week by the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development appropriately entitled, From a Nation at Risk to a Nation at Hope. The gist of the work? The traits needed to succeed in a changing, unpredictable, and challenging  world – e.g., resilience, curiosity, global awareness – are best cultivated in an environment that puts strong relationships, character, and community at its core.

Challenge and rigor do not disappear in such a space. On the contrary, an environment with a focus on social emotional learning knows that rigorous academics create both stressors and growth. It builds the ability in its students to make the most of every challenge, to relish each opportunity to stretch and learn.
 
An example: Building fluency in a new language is exceptionally difficult. If a learner hasn’t developed the grit to push through the frustrations or cultivated a relationship with their teachers that allows her to ask honest questions, it’s just about impossible.
 
Those traits don’t happen by accident.

Brooks asks a question at the close of his piece: “When you start thinking this way it opens up the wide possibilities for change. How would you design a school if you wanted to put relationship quality at the core?”
 
I have been fortunate to spend 20 years at schools dedicated to that very question. It is our life's work, and never more so than as we look toward the future at Greenwich Country Day.
 
It is a tradition we will carry forward as we design a nursery through 12th grade experience. One that does not ignore the impact of emotion and character in learning, but holds them at the core of a school dedicated to cultivating graduates who will change the world. 
 
“In dreams begin responsibilities,” wrote William Butler Yeats. All of us dream of creating environments where the minds and spirits of children can thrive. Now it is our responsibility to make it happen. That is the high calling of education and the urgent task of our time. -  A Nation at Hope 
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