I just read a fascinating NY Times Magazine article on character education in schools. Written by Paul Tough (the name is wonderfully appropriate), the story focuses on the work of Martin Seligman and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania as applied at two NY City schools, one an elite private school in Riverdale, the other a charter school serving New York's poorer communities.
The bottom line, and what struck me, was their argument that it is character development more than academic prowess that is the best predictor of success. Further, they maintain that the character traits required to overcome adversity, embrace opportunity and live a fulfilling life can be learned at school.
Read the article for details (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html), but what I take away as most useful for myself and my kids, is the conclusion that a fulfilling life is one that is happy, meaningful, and productive. As parents, we sometimes focus on the first of these, often at the expense of the other two. Finding what is meaningful is a process of trying, failing, getting back up, and trying again. Being productive can mean doing things that, at first, we're not very good at. Once again, we need to learn to overcome failure to arrive at productivity.
An education that doesn't allow for failure, that doesn't celebrate the value of falling down and getting back up, doesn't prepare us for the realities of a fulfilling life. As parents we sometimes try to shield our children from the pain of failure. At those moments, if we ask ourselves how we're impacting the development of our child's character, we might choose to allow them their moment of failure, and focus on encouraging them to get back up.
The bottom line, and what struck me, was their argument that it is character development more than academic prowess that is the best predictor of success. Further, they maintain that the character traits required to overcome adversity, embrace opportunity and live a fulfilling life can be learned at school.
Read the article for details (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html), but what I take away as most useful for myself and my kids, is the conclusion that a fulfilling life is one that is happy, meaningful, and productive. As parents, we sometimes focus on the first of these, often at the expense of the other two. Finding what is meaningful is a process of trying, failing, getting back up, and trying again. Being productive can mean doing things that, at first, we're not very good at. Once again, we need to learn to overcome failure to arrive at productivity.
An education that doesn't allow for failure, that doesn't celebrate the value of falling down and getting back up, doesn't prepare us for the realities of a fulfilling life. As parents we sometimes try to shield our children from the pain of failure. At those moments, if we ask ourselves how we're impacting the development of our child's character, we might choose to allow them their moment of failure, and focus on encouraging them to get back up.
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