Over the summer a couple of fellow teachers and I have been pecking away at two major consolidations of TAS's programming. One is the Contemplation Concentration (CC), which I put into some context in the previous post. The other is an over-arching Art and Music curriculum.
One way of looking at adolescence is that even in the breeziest teenager these years are somewhat chaotic magnifications of adult life. Many deeply held beliefs and nearly unshakable habits are created during this time, partly as a function of neurology, partly as one of social and familial roles. Strong emotions create something of a whipsaw trajectory; these arise as the limbic system comes into its own. Judgment, perspective, functional empathy, and foresight are somewhat weak; this develops only as the frontal lobe becomes more dense and more connected with other regions of the brain.
None of these regions develop in isolation. The brain evolved to be profoundly shaped by its environment, which is why no genetic explanation for the vast range of normal behavior will ever be adequate. Conversely, this same brain-nature defies simplistic explanations based on social and environmental influences. Teenagers spend enormous amounts of time involved in school, and it is essential that this last, vast shaping opportunity not be wasted.
The word to keep in mind is "integration". This doesn't refer to a curriculum thoroughly determined, vetted and systematically relating one aspect of life to another, but rather a richly supportive emotional and social environment that makes each student's own integration and healing both possible and optimal.
Teenagers crave variety, change, action, movement, trust, emotional charge, stories, and seeing themselves reflected in a world they help create. This is the momentum one must work with, not against. A teenager's brain generally lacks the capacity to hold a stable self-perspective and to then analyze that perspective. This may be why a great variety of experiences seem to slip by your average teenager without comment or thank you. Their brains are furiously processing multiple layers of experience; to speak of them in real time or just after is nearly impossible for most kids.
This means that these experiences are certainly not wasted. Nor are they being stored for later use. They are being integrated below the level of awareness, and this requires time and space that is both nurturing and unobtrusive.
This is where having both a contemplative and an applied art program comes in. Each program has elements of action, academic study, and contemplation; the difference is in the proportion of each and how the student is brought into a new level of awareness.
All TAS students are required to take four years of art. The CC program is voluntary, as it requires a degree of maturity to participate in. Taken together they should frame a student's experience during these years in a powerful, enduring way.
One way of looking at adolescence is that even in the breeziest teenager these years are somewhat chaotic magnifications of adult life. Many deeply held beliefs and nearly unshakable habits are created during this time, partly as a function of neurology, partly as one of social and familial roles. Strong emotions create something of a whipsaw trajectory; these arise as the limbic system comes into its own. Judgment, perspective, functional empathy, and foresight are somewhat weak; this develops only as the frontal lobe becomes more dense and more connected with other regions of the brain.
None of these regions develop in isolation. The brain evolved to be profoundly shaped by its environment, which is why no genetic explanation for the vast range of normal behavior will ever be adequate. Conversely, this same brain-nature defies simplistic explanations based on social and environmental influences. Teenagers spend enormous amounts of time involved in school, and it is essential that this last, vast shaping opportunity not be wasted.
The word to keep in mind is "integration". This doesn't refer to a curriculum thoroughly determined, vetted and systematically relating one aspect of life to another, but rather a richly supportive emotional and social environment that makes each student's own integration and healing both possible and optimal.
Teenagers crave variety, change, action, movement, trust, emotional charge, stories, and seeing themselves reflected in a world they help create. This is the momentum one must work with, not against. A teenager's brain generally lacks the capacity to hold a stable self-perspective and to then analyze that perspective. This may be why a great variety of experiences seem to slip by your average teenager without comment or thank you. Their brains are furiously processing multiple layers of experience; to speak of them in real time or just after is nearly impossible for most kids.
This means that these experiences are certainly not wasted. Nor are they being stored for later use. They are being integrated below the level of awareness, and this requires time and space that is both nurturing and unobtrusive.
This is where having both a contemplative and an applied art program comes in. Each program has elements of action, academic study, and contemplation; the difference is in the proportion of each and how the student is brought into a new level of awareness.
All TAS students are required to take four years of art. The CC program is voluntary, as it requires a degree of maturity to participate in. Taken together they should frame a student's experience during these years in a powerful, enduring way.
No comments:
Post a Comment