From the Principal
Whatever you are, be a good one. (William Thackeray)
Being your best and doing your best is something that we consistently encourage from Pre-prep right through to Year 12. As educators, one of the challenges we face is to encourage students not to give up immediately when the going gets tough, to value the rewards of persistence, to help them value the process of learning and unlearning and to support their attempts to do something new before making up their minds. This is made more difficult by the so-called Yuk/Wow generation, a generalised term coined by well-regarded Australian educationalist Dr Erica McWilliam, applied to the students in our classrooms today. Yuk/Wow refers to the speed at which young people make a decision, where there is no real shade of grey between yes (wow) or no (yuk). For this generation the here and now experience is what matters; lifestyle, image and being entertained are important; and, choice, speed and chance are valued.
Does this sound familiar? If so, I would encourage you in your attempts to promote the value of persistence and perseverance. Students in the Yuk/Wow generation need to be encouraged to see the value of hard work and that success rarely comes before diligence. Margaret Mead, the famous American anthropologist said 'I learned the value of hard work by working hard'; this is something educators try to instill in students in their care. Students in this generation who do well at school tend not to be yuk/wow - they understand the value of sustained effort, commitment, consistency, attention to detail, good time management, organisation skill and an open and inquiring mind.
The Yuk/Wow generation is often not interested in failure, as a learning tool. Failure can easily become an excuse to give-up and move on. However, most successful people have 'failed' at some point and have worked hard to try strategies that would work. Students are often not prepared to challenge themselves too much in case they risk failure. This is because quite naturally we as parents and teachers do not tend to praise failure. Girls from an early age have worked out that if they want to win the praise of their teachers and parents, they shouldn't take risks or challenge themselves beyond what they are certain will lead to success. This is unfortunate because some students never avail themselves of the opportunity to reach their full potential. Therefore, it is essential that as adults we model the learning that can come from failure. We should acknowledge the failure and critique it, learn from it and stay out of the blame game. This will assist in developing that all important resilience and willingness to keep taking calculated risks.
I would hope that we could adopt an approach that values the intrinsic rewards associated with hard work. It is much more satisfying for a student, when:
- she knows she has worked hard and that she has received the results she deserves.
- she has the feeling of satisfaction that she has tried her best.
- she realises that she has gained an understanding of what she has to do to realise her potential (this is called self-knowledge).
- she experiences a feeling of contentment when she has reached a personal goal and is pleased with the outcome of her work.
Both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford offered advice on how to maintain perspective when it comes to failure. Edison said 'I've not failed. I've just found 10, 000 ways that won't work' and Ford remarked; 'Failure is the opportunity to begin again - more intelligently.'
References:
McWilliam, E. (2005). Schooling the Yuk/Wow Generation. Australian Council for Educational Research. ACER Research Publications, 1-1-2005.
The Wonderful World of Libraries
I read a blog (Why do teachers need school librarians? 5 questions to ask yourself. (elizabethahutchinson.com) about Teacher Librarians and the wonderful work they do and the manner in which they so significantly contribute to literacy amongst students. Thank you to Ms Suzanne Livett and Ms Rose Hoger for the professional and energetic ways in which they lead our libraries together with the library assistants.
Mrs Kim Kiepe
Principal