The most effective way that beliefs and values are taught is not by lecture but by modeling. Especially in middle and high school, students begin to see the gap between what is espoused and what is actually done; then cynicism sets in. When their teachers’ words and actions match what they are teaching which is modeling the value of integrity, students are more likely to trust them and then learn what is being taught. For instance, if teachers talk about the value of equality in a democracy, the respecting of diverse opinions in a democracy, but don’t allow students to question, to have different opinions; talk down to them instead of talking to them respectfully as they would an adult; students start to mistrust teachers, start to disengage in the classroom.
The relationship of the teachers to their students is key to students learning these beliefs and values. When teachers have a mutually respectful relationship with their students, they are able to mentor them in ways that lessen the impact of the “herd mentality” of peers and superficiality of television.
Structures in the River School that support this relationship are:
It is through the dialogue occurring between and among the teacher and students that the beliefs and values of the Implicit Curriculum are modeled and taught.
The fundamental ideas of the Implicit Curriculum came from the Ho’ala Educational Program, originally called Individual Education which Linda Inlay brought from Hawaii. Her mentor, Sr. Joan Madden, trained staff in the early years of the River School. Among many things, she taught that all human beings have three specific psychological needs to fulfill their sense of self and sense of belonging. They are:
Through the advisory group, the advisory periods, and listening group, students have these needs fulfilled. When students are listened to, amazing things happen:
Stephen Covey’s latest book, The 8th Habit, describes the 8th habit as “finding one’s voice and inspiring others to find theirs.” This allows human beings to flourish, to reach their highest potential, when they can speak up for themselves. What better way to nurture students’ voices, than having listening embedded throughout the school.
In general, students are not looked upon as being accountable for their learning. Teachers are held accountable for the students’ success at standards; parents are being held accountable for their child’s success in school. At the River School, students are also being held accountable for their learning. In fact, they are the only ones who should be accountable for their own learning. Our mission goals of students becoming responsible, respectful, resourceful, and responsive means that students play an active part in achieving these goals. These implicit curricular outcomes are not “done to” students. Teachers do not “make” students become responsible. They do not “make” students learn or “make” them do their homework. Teachers are not responsible for student achievement; students are.[19]
Teachers are responsible for:
They are not responsible for students learning. Students are responsible for their own learning. To take away responsibility from the student is:
Learning is a very personal decision. In middle school, when the psychological issue is autonomy, becoming an independent learner is a critical part of becoming autonomous. When parents and teachers take over the child’s responsibility by making them stay in at recess to finish homework, by checking homework every night; the implicit message is, “We don’t trust you. You can’t do this on your own so we have to monitor your learning.” This message results in students who are not confident; who have to be assured that their work is okay each step of the way; who don’t take intellectual risks; and continue to be dependent on adults for their success.
If our goal is teaching responsibility, the attitude that one is the “cause” and not the victim, then students have to be given the opportunity to make their own choices about learning.
When students come to our school where parents have taken responsibility for their academic success by checking their homework every night, by asking teachers questions for them; these students have a harder time at our school because they have not practiced making learning decisions for themselves. The middle school years are about preparing students for the rigors and the independent learning that is required in high school and beyond. They have to be able to take responsibility for their own learning, asking questions of their teachers on their own, problem solving issues on their own initiative, so that they develop the attitudes and skills required of being a responsible adult. Our juvenile and penal systems are filled with people who have not taken charge of their own lives and blame everyone else for their poor choices.
If everything in a school setting imparts values, then school procedures must be reviewed for the values we are trying to teach. Here is a sampling of the kinds of procedures we have in our school that is teaching responsible behavior, conveying to students that they have the power to choose to make appropriate decisions for themselves and can learn good ones from practicing and learning from their mistakes.
This sampling is representative of the many ways that we hold students accountable for their responsibilities. Rather than nag, we communicate what their responsibilities are ahead of time and also communicate the consequences if they don’t follow through. We then follow through with enforcing consequences without anger so that they can depend on our word. This process avoids disrespectful manipulation on both the part of the teachers and the students.
Parents are the primary educators of our students. The goals of the Implicit Curriculum of developing responsible, respectful, resourceful, and responsive students begin with the parents even before the students arrive at our doors. We know that the impact that the school has on the attainment of these goals is a far second to the impact of the parents. Some parents have taught their children these lessons and their children have a smooth transition into our school. Other parents have not and their children struggle initially and slowly learn these habits over the three years.
Because our school is not just about teaching reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic and is about developing responsible citizens who will participate and contribute to the national and global communities, developing a partnership with parents is crucial to our success in reaching these goals. This is especially critical in middle school, the start of adolescence, when the parenting habits that worked for their elementary child no longer are appropriate. It may have been appropriate to do more handholding and direct support while their children were younger. But in adolescence, the goal is autonomy, becoming independent, and responsible for self. So, parents need to understand this and retrain themselves to parent in other ways.
In general, parents need to learn how to “let go” emotionally and trust their child through the process of making academic and behavioral choices in school, some good and some poor, and allowing their child to learn from the consequences of these choices.
In addition, parents sign a Family Commitment Contract to participate a required minimum of 50 hours for the school year. The founders established this requirement when they saw research establishing the link between parent participation and successful students. Parents are asked to leave the school if they do not fulfill this requirement. The Council makes every effort to support families who have difficulty making this commitment. The modeling required to teach our students to be responsible begins with parents and thus, it is important to hold parents to this commitment.
Changing parenting habits from nurturing to supporting independence can be challenging for parents because if they are caring parents, the tendency is to do for their child, instead of giving them opportunities to become independent. The River School provides support for parents in the following ways:
Every school has an implicit or hidden curriculum which is taught by each interaction, each structure, policy, person within the school. A school can either choose to ignore their Implicit curriculum or choose to align it to the mission goals so that the goals are attained. We choose to pay close attention to ourselves and every aspect of our program.
Because we understand that a student is more than his mind, because we understand that the psychological and emotional needs of the emerging adolescent can detract from the ability to learn, we pay attention to these needs through the culture of the school.
When we can support the students’ need for sense of self and sense of belonging, they are better able to learn. When they are feeling respected, they can learn better. When they are responsible for themselves, they gain confidence in who they are and can learn better.
The partnership of parents and teachers who together model the values of respect and responsibility is the most effective way of teaching these values, thereby providing the environment in which students will thrive to become more responsible, respectful, resourceful, and responsive – the four R’s of the implicit curriculum.
[19]Frymier, Jack, “Developing a Sense of Responsibility.” Teaching Students To Be Responsible, Phi Delta Kappa Hot Topics Series February 1966.