Back from hiatus...Yesterday, a piece on NPR's Morning Edition neatly summarized a beginning of the school year lesson for us all.
As heard on Boston's NPR station WBUR, "'Children Succeed' With Character, Not Test Scores" pretty much made the argument for why brain science supports what resiliency studies and character education have been saying already: love 'em up and let 'em go, they'll be better for it.
Paul Tough* make this argument in How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character. His interview is a clear, cogent, loving, and well-argued.
He is, also, a parent of a toddler.
Being allowed to fail, and knowing you are an okay person who has others to watch your back, is an important part of growing up.
Experiencing individuation from your parents is another significant part of the growing up process.
[Don't believe me? Watch the current cycle of America's Next Top Model: College Edition and see what Victoria does in Episode 2. Her "closeness" to her mother is psychologically unhealthy.
It is the antithesis of what Tough argues....]
Character-building failure is not encouraged in the high-stakes testing model of education we are experiencing now.
I've had that, and a company of supporters to help me through...
I guess that makes me, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Mattie in True Grit, among others, great company!
*Anyone besides me notice the fabulous appropriateness of his name??
