Competition vs. Uber-competition

I can’t leave this topic of the pitfalls of an uber-competitive environment. Earlier this week, I pulled out my Duke Magazine (the November/December 2011 issue) and read the article “Dreams, Fears, Pressures: Beneath the Surface.” It details the intense pursuit of perfection and the deep-seated fears the highly successful Duke undergraduates are feeling. In the library at Duke, students are able to write down their greatest hopes and fears. Here is a sample of those thoughts: 

• “loneliness” 
• “to not fulfill my own goals” 
• “accidentally hurting people, especially ones I care about” 
• “that I am damaged goods” 
• “having people realize that I am not as perfect as I try to be…” 
• “being alone” 
• “to give it all back to my parents” 
• “making my parents proud” 
• “to stop caring about the fact that I won’t be in med school” 

These are Duke students. Has the drive to compete, to be perfect, to meet parental expectations drained the humanity out of them? 

Do the quotes help you understand why Rivers subscribes to “Excellence with Humanity?” On one level, “Excellence with Humanity” signifies a balance between developing a competitive spirit, and discovering and developing talents and passions (being true to oneself). I know for some people, this balance is hard to comprehend. For some, getting ahead is the only thing that matters and they believe teaching kids how to do that is the job of independent schools. Indeed, competition is important and teaching students how to compete to improve their performance can be growth-inducing. But competition should be balanced with the legitimate pursuit of self-knowledge, the awakening of passions, the stuff that makes us human and ultimately will make us happy. This is the balance that Rivers strives for.

When schools create a super-competitive culture in which students are only striving for the gold ring of an Ivy League admit, they run the risk of graduating young people whose humanity has been stifled. Competition is a good thing; uber-competition is not.

Setting High Standards and Pursuing Passions

As I read David Brooks' brilliant editorial, "The Creative Monopoly," I could not help but think of Rivers and its mission. For some people, I suspect, The Rivers School “motto,” "Excellence with Humanity," presents a bit of a dilemma. The initial thought may be that excellence requires constant struggle, a super-competitive mindset, and a focus on defeating those around you in order to win the prize. Brooks acknowledges the importance of a competitive spirit but, he argues, that spirit taken to the nth degree can also stifle creativity and squash the discovery of individual passion. He writes:

“…students have to jump through ever-more demanding, preassigned academic hoops. Instead of developing a passion for one subject, they're rewarded for becoming professional students, getting great grades across all subjects, regardless of their intrinsic interests… they move into a ranking system in which the most competitive college, program, and employment opportunity is deemed the best. There is a status funnel pointing to the most competitive colleges and banks and companies, regardless of their appropriateness… Competition has trumped value-creation. In this and other ways, the competitive arena undermines innovation.”

This certainly describes the prep school I attended. As students, we were taught to compete; school was a form of academic boot camp. Learning was not intended to be fun or social; the only satisfaction we might glean from the experience was the bond of having all survived each learning experience. We counted ourselves as tougher than others; creativity, imagination, and passion all took a back seat to learning how to compete.

Rivers is different. It's true that we teach our students how to compete. We challenge them with high standards and a rigorous program. But learning how to compete at Rivers shares the spotlight with discovering talents and igniting passions. We demand students use their imaginations in order to cultivate their creative spirit. This calibration – this balance between teaching students how to compete while also fostering their creative spirit, their humanity – is the Rivers Way. It is sometimes difficult to understand this balance because we often spend a great deal of time in the "competitive myopia" as Brooks calls it. That myopia undermines innovation; it also undermines true happiness – people using their talents and passions to make the world a better place.

Expressing Gratitude

Last week I had the privilege of listening to one of our seniors, Alejandra Gil, talk about her experience as an immigrant from Colombia. Alejandra's senior speech focused on the sacrifices of her parents, especially her father, in order to give her the opportunity for a better life. Overwhelmed by her feelings of gratitude, she broke down in tears a few times but courageously finished delivering the speech. The Rivers community responded with a rare standing ovation.

Alejandra's speech poignantly reminded me of the importance of gratitude in our lives. When I first became a head of school in Hawaii, I thought little about gratitude. I took for granted that teachers and administrators would do their jobs. I saw the value of their work as a means to an end – getting our students to the finish line of graduation. I was often so focused, I didn't adequately express my gratitude.

How shortsighted!

Ultimately, the expression of gratitude is our path to connecting with others and an affirmation that it's easier to get through this thing called life together than alone. In the school business, gratitude is critical because it nourishes the spirit of teachers, reminding them of why they got into this business in the first place – to make a positive difference in the lives of others. To express appreciation for their extraordinary efforts is to acknowledge the value of their calling and the purpose of their lives.

But a wonderful byproduct of expressing gratitude is entirely selfish. At the end of the day I am happier being a grateful person than an ungrateful person. I sometimes need to be reminded of this. Thank you to Alejandra for doing so!

Leading an Independent School

Last month, Independent School, the quarterly magazine of the National Association of Independent Schools, published an article I co-wrote with a retired head of school about strategic thinking in schools. Cynthia and I loved working on the article two summers ago as we each reflected on our own experiences as leaders of independent schools. As the article points out, many heads sadly tend to become problem-solvers instead of thinkers and visionaries. The job certainly lends itself to falling into this trap. But too often the result is that no one is thinking deeply about what the school is and what the school can be in the future. Strategic thinking, supposedly what schools are paying heads to do, takes a back seat to solving problems with the head becoming the problem-solver-in-chief. 
 
Good strategic planning requires research, study, and deep thinking. Unfortunately, heads often substitute their own biases and values for the hard work of thinking strategically. As a result, schools unnecessarily limit their potential. 


Over the coming 24 months Rivers will begin its own strategic planning process. It will do so, however, only after we have completed our self-study for accreditation next year and an analysis of the intensely competitive independent school market in the Boston area. In short, we will look inward to see how we can do a better job of living our mission and look outward to determine if those improvements are important to prospective families. Both perspectives matter. Gazing inward provides the grist to inspire our educators; focusing on the external grounds our vision in the reality of the market place. Great strategic planning marries the two perspectives.

Making History

The following is a guest post by faculty member, Ben Leeming. Ben is the History Department Chair at Rivers.

This year the Rivers history department initiated the first phase of a long-planned shift in the history curriculum with the launch of a brand-new ninth-grade course titled Perspectives in World History (PWH). Students and teachers alike have responded favorably to this new offering, which approaches world history from a thematic perspective that emphasizes the historical roots of present-day issues such as “wealth and poverty,” “the environment,” and “violence and conflict.”

PWH seeks to confront ninth-graders with relevant issues seen from multiple points of view and challenges them to grapple with ambiguity and contradiction in an effort to develop their own critically-informed opinions. PWH is internet-based, research and writing intensive, and skills-oriented. The course aims to equip students with the critical thinking skills necessary to navigate a rapidly changing, expanding, and globalized world. 

The ultimate goal of the changes we are making in the history department is to foster passion for historical inquiry in our students. We hope to kindle this passion during the freshman and sophomore years through exposure to newly-conceived year-long courses, and then fan it into flame junior and senior years by allowing students to delve deeply into more specific areas of study. Many of us recall from our college days that experience of opening up the course catalogue and pouring over page after page of history offerings, wishing we could somehow take them all. This is the sort of experience we hope to present to our Rivers students. 

The second phase of changes will unfold this coming academic year and involves shifting United States History, traditionally taught during the junior year, to the tenth grade. As history faculty members, we wanted to offer a greater degree of choice to students interested in history and to shift the balance of course offerings away from the traditional, year-long survey course and toward a variety of diverse and interesting history electives. By moving U.S. History to the tenth grade, we will eventually open up both eleventh and twelfth grades to electives, many of which are totally new and currently in the planning stages. 

U.S. History will remain a graduation requirement, and will be taught to both tenth and eleventh graders next year until it can transition fully into the sophomore year. We are already referring to 2012-2013 as “the year of United States History” in the history department! Students who receive the necessary departmental recommendation will have the option of taking the Advanced Placement U.S. History course, which will be available to both tenth and eleventh graders next year. Honors U.S. History will be offered simultaneously for qualified students. 

The third and final phase of the course changes will commence in the fall of 2013. By this time PWH will be in its third year as the foundation of the Upper School history experience, U.S. History will have settled into its new position in the tenth grade, and juniors and seniors will have many exciting electives to choose from. Each elective will fall into one of four “strands”: ancient history, early modern history, modern history, or U.S history. Examples of elective topics will include: modern Latin America, modern Africa, modern India, disease in history, Muslim Empires, the Maya & Aztecs, war in the nuclear age, and “Big History.” As a consequence of moving AP U.S. History to the tenth grade, AP Modern European History – arguably the most advanced history course offered at Rivers – will be open to both juniors and seniors beginning in the fall of 2013. In an effort to provide an uninterrupted strand of Advanced Placement courses to qualified Upper School students, we are also considering offering AP Government as an option to juniors and seniors. Finally, the Rivers history department will continue to offer the option for Independent Study, effectively a one credit “elective” in which interested students may arrange for directed study of a historical topic of their choice with a history faculty member. 

Our aim is both to inspire in students a lifelong love of history and instill in them the qualities of a good historian: analytical, informed, open-minded and perceptive.

"Hope is a Good Thing"

On Friday, I watched Rivers students perform Man of La Mancha. The performances were captivating, and the young Rivers thespians earned a standing ovation. The play presents the struggle with the age-old conflict between delusion and hope – the romantic vision versus the practical reality. In the end, despite the misguided, fanciful antics of Don Quixote, hope seems to win. Quixote's romantic vision softens the heart of Aldonza/Dulcinea, almost erasing the grit and grime of her soul so she can find compassion and reach out to the man who believed in her.

"Hope is a good thing." Remember that line from the Shawshank Redemption. The pragmatists wrongly believe that hope is about the future, about a misguided, unfounded prediction of what will happen. Hope is about the present; it's about finding ways to sustain ourselves when life goes terribly wrong. And it works, not always in the way that we intend, but it works. Aldonza became Dulcinea because Don Quixote saw her and treated her with respect and even reverence. It was his romantic vision that changed her. Once she accepted that vision – in essence once she accepted his love – she could rise above her self-absorbed life to find meaning.

A friend of mine once said of hope: "Act as if it's real, and see how your life is changed." A big thank you to the Rivers actors for reminding me of this lesson.

How Art Prepares Students for a Changing World

Rivers' recent results from the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards competition remind me of the importance of art in preparing our students for a changing world. Fifty-one Rivers students garnered recognition including 10 Gold Key recipients. It's an astounding achievement, and a testament to our superior art faculty and talented students.

So, why should we care about art in secondary education? Why does Rivers insist on a two-year art requirement when most schools require just one? After all, many colleges do not consider art grades when evaluating student applications. When I came to Rivers in 1997 these were questions I asked with an eye toward reducing the prominence of art in the curriculum. But after a few years, I became a convert, and now I'm a "true believer."

Here's why: Art demands that students use the skills of an entrepreneur. The student must use her imagination to create a vision. That vision must be adjusted to match her skills. In other words, vision and execution are bound to each other. The student must then be open to mid-course changes as she executes her plan. And finally, she must have standards by which to evaluate each step of the process. What other subject so consistently demands imagination, vision, creativity, execution, mid-course adjustments, and honest evaluation? These are the skills that will make a difference in the 21st century. These are the skills of an entrepreneur.

Art matters for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the cultivation of important skills not always found in the traditional disciplines.