No matter how one looks at education, the never-ending – always ever present needs of students today push into the following more so than ever before: RELATIONSHIP – REGULATION – RELEVANCE. SImply stated, classrooms must be founded upon these three pilars of support; think of this like a three-legged stool.
RELATIONSHIP: Whether a student’s profile features Autism, ADHD, or any trauma-centered theme, our kids are “reading the room” and making decisions based upon two foundational needs: SAFETY and BELONGING. As a result, the sensitivity quotient demonstrated by these kids, truly “canaries in the coalmine”, is exemplary. For they are reading the energetic expressions of their caregivers, their teachers, and their peers from the perspective of “Am I safe?” and “Do I feel an authentic sense of belonging?”. As a result, classrooms need to be designed and implemented based upon deep relational roots. And this is where Brene Brown, noted social psychologist states, “Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.” Relationships with others are based upon our relationship with ourselves. *
REGULATION: As an education advocate, working with behavior support systems on a daily basis, the common denominator for most students in need of support highlights a more regulated – structured – scaffolded learning environment. By creating clear guidelines with consistent consequences, the classroom becomes “smaller” and presents more room for success. Again by creating classrooms with clear rules and guidelines, one provides CONSISTENCY and PREDICTABILTY. We all seek this out as our lives become more chaotic within. Abraham Maslow, well known psychologist stated, “If both the physiological and the safety needs are fairly well gratified, then there will emerge love and affection and belongingness needs, and the whole cycle already described will repeat itself with this new centre. Now the person will feel keenl”.
RELEVANCE: Again, within discussions highlighting themes such as autism and ADHD, we often hear about “preferred activities” and “hyper focus within meaningful tasks”. And these conversations highlight the challenge between what school is asking students to do versus meaning-centered engagement the students naturally want. As a result, we dance around the “first this then that” strategy unless the severity of school avoidance is intense; and in these situations, you often build engagement based upon meaning-centered activities alone. Nevertheless, what are we learning from these students and related conversations: Students today need an engaging and a set of instructional assignments that tap into their sense of purpose, meaning, or interest. Anything else leans into an endless battle of wills with superficial motivational techniques like reward systems and “points and charts”. We need to just wake up to the fact that within society, rich in technology, schools need to off-set this cultural influence with high interest activities. And our classrooms need to be fun!
More on this coming ….
*In December, look for a new book called THE HAPPY CAMPER CLASSROOM: Teaching toward Kumbaya: From Contention to Contentment. I look forward to sharing this soon!