One of our pet conundrums here at Tinicum Art and Science is striking a dynamic, but ultimately, balanced approach to our students' social and intellectual development. For instance, most of our students are coming off of highly stressful, if not traumatic, experiences at school. It is well established in the neuropsych literature that chronic, childhood stress is a major predictor for serious "at-risk" behavior.
What, then, is a logical way to reduce stress? Reduce the stress at school. We have found that. this, in turn, reduces the stress at home.
By reducing the social, academic, and intrapersonal stressors a student's relationships improve in quality and variety, giving rise to the (accurate) perception of a supportive social network, thus increasing resilience and further reducing stress. Such a student is much more likely to then take on social and intellectual challenges at school.
But what if that process takes a long time? Do measurable academic and intellectual skills lag behind, and if so, how big of a problem is it?
On the other hand, if we prematurely or overly emphasize intellectual development might this, in some students, short circuit the process described above?
Our tendency is towards the social, which we do very well. Yet, we are consistently trying to spiral up a more academic approach and better execution of higher level skills. Any thoughts?
Soon I will post a few summaries and comments regarding research being done in this area.
What, then, is a logical way to reduce stress? Reduce the stress at school. We have found that. this, in turn, reduces the stress at home.
By reducing the social, academic, and intrapersonal stressors a student's relationships improve in quality and variety, giving rise to the (accurate) perception of a supportive social network, thus increasing resilience and further reducing stress. Such a student is much more likely to then take on social and intellectual challenges at school.
But what if that process takes a long time? Do measurable academic and intellectual skills lag behind, and if so, how big of a problem is it?
On the other hand, if we prematurely or overly emphasize intellectual development might this, in some students, short circuit the process described above?
Our tendency is towards the social, which we do very well. Yet, we are consistently trying to spiral up a more academic approach and better execution of higher level skills. Any thoughts?
Soon I will post a few summaries and comments regarding research being done in this area.
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