Anger management classes are often as effective as training budding chefs solely by listing recipes. The mastery of skills and habits requires practice, practice and more practice. Recitation of the Ten Commandments does not make for a virtuous person. Virtuousness requires practice, and though such practice may not perfect one's soul, practice may take the soul nearer to perfection.
Many youth development and alternative sentencing programs fail because they surmise that repeatedly hammering the same message at participants will result in the formation of new habits. Human behavior is more complex and less amenable to change than such a tunnel-vision of human psychology appreciates. Many parents, educators and police will go to bed tonight frustrated that despite constant fussing and talking, that some adolescents, like Dereck, can't control their tempers.
Maybe Dereck's pastor can get him to listen? Highly unlikely. Dereck is tired of talk. There are other ways to seize Dereck's attention. U.S.-based AMIKids employs an effective model of learning and human development that has transformed thousands of young people. Someone like Dereck may best profit from the experiential learning model employed by AMIKids through "seamanship, water safety, fishing, low ropes, high ropes, backpacking ... to give each student meaningful and challenging experiences in a variety of ways."
Successful
The highly successful program knows from experience the power of experiential learning in education in general, and in reaching kids many have given up on: "Experiential activities teach students when they are most receptive. And, the experience-based education allows students to get to know teachers on a different level, fostering a more relaxed relationship, influencing them to shift their behavior and to change the way they see the world." Dereck is not a particularly difficult child.
But he has been in a few school fights. He is bored in class, frustrated that he can't always keep up in high school because his English skills have not improved much since primary school. English isn't important to him because his parents don't insist on him improving his reading, writing and comprehension skills. He reasons that after leaving school with a certificate that he will find a reasonably well-paying job not requiring English skills beyond his current competency.
To his mind, this is a rational choice given what he views as the possibilities before him. However, he's about to get a genuine education, discovering possibilities within himself and in the world, of which he never dreamed. Dereck's principal invites him to participate in a five-day kayaking expedition, a joint pilot project between her school and the Island School in Eleuthera.
In the lead-up to the expedition, Dereck and nine other boys learn kayaking skills in a swimming pool. They learn safety and other skills. The five-day adventure proves daunting and sometimes frightening. Yet, it is one of the most thrilling experiences of his life. He learns that he is a strong swimmer, able to hold his breath under water longer than the other boys, so much so that he is nicknamed, Barracuda.
What thrills him to his gills is that he is mesmerized by the horizon beyond the shoreline. He discovers leadership qualities, how to resolve conflicts and control that temper when his three-person kayak capsizes and has to be righted through a roll requiring teamwork. Despite the thrill of the expedition, Dereck is frustrated that his language skills are not better.
During study modules he is having greater difficulty than the others in reading excerpts from a science book on marine biology and a geography text on coastal environments. When called on to read aloud a part of a story chronicling how 19th century seafarers traversed the Bahamian archipelago he is embarrassed that his reading is halting, something his fellow adventurers tease him about. Peer pressure isn't always negative, if you keep the right company.
The arts
The ASHE Edutainment and Performing Arts Company of Jamaica utilizes the performing arts to teach young people about personal development, healthy sexuality and other topics. ASHE breaks through to young people by using entertainment as a platform for education, something known as edutainment. ASHE has its own model of teaching and learning, the components of which are good psychology, resembling the proven methods of others engaged in experiential learning.
The first component is known as "E" for excitement. Which is exactly how Dereck returns to school: Excited about a possibility a teacher on the expedition has introduced to his imagination; a possible career as a marine biologist. But to make the thrill of a school week the adventure of a lifetime will require him to hone the talents and skills he demonstrated during the expedition, while working through his deficits of character and competence. If Dereck wants to turn his new passion into a long-term vocation he will have to improve his language skills, do well in math and science, and secure his ambition through discipline of mind, habits and will.
While Dereck, like other adolescents, may be hard-headed in some ways, it is possible to reach their minds, excite their imaginations, inspire their virtues and discipline their willpower, all of which is the responsibility of their elders. It is more than within our grasp to craft models of teaching and learning that may transform public education. It is also a great moral responsibility.
It is a matter of economic survival. A possible vehicle for change is the development an education lab or consortium bringing together an A-list of resident talent dedicated to more experiential models of teacher training and retraining and similar models of student learning. Gail Wisdom can guide us on how to dramatically improve literacy. Arlene Nash Ferguson can 'school' us on the use of edutainment and Junkanoo as learning platforms for a variety of subjects.
Cleophas Adderley might share his expertise as the head of the highly successful Bahamas National Youth Choir. Dr. Ian Strachan can teach us how plays and ring play may help students discover their Bahamian identity from within, and Pat Rahming may advise how to marry artistry and entrepreneurship. Casuarina McKinney may share lessons from BREEF's teacher education program.
Dr. Jacinta Higgs and Lisa McCartney utilize experiential learning methods in their schools which they may wish to share, while Dr. Reginald Eldon, who, with considerable experience in youth development and training, continues to chart new directions in education and human development. Teachers like Dr. Tracey Thompson, Joseph Darville, Jeffrey Lloyd and others can share their collective wisdom on pitfalls to be avoided, and on what may work.
We don't need a talk shop. We need a lab for bold experimentation where proven methods may be refined for replication in the classroom utilizing as much indigenous material as possible. How many writers, engineers, teachers, farmers and entrepreneurs are we losing because we are failing to inspire and excite scores of students of possibilities for their lives as well as for the greater good of a 21st century Bahamas? Our collective failure is measured by various statistics. Yet, as compelling, are the names of those we are failing, like Dereck and his schoolmates. Note: The series on improving public education will continue in the weeks ahead.
• frontporchguardian@gmail.com www.bahamapundit.com
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