I appreciate this post greatly, because I've long felt that the bad mental health among children is heavily rooted in a bad school life. The statistic that most represents this is the dip in teen suicide rates during school closures and sudden spike back up when schools reopened during the pandemic https://abc7ny.com/covid-pandemic-teen-suicide-rates/13526479/
A major aspect of this I feel is children aren't taught to be appropriately social by adults in the early years, and that just carries on. I notice in any setting (daycare pickup, parks, kids birthday parties) that parents don't nudge their children to talk to others around them. They also don't acknowledge any kids other than their own. I am a hit parent in my kid's daycare because I say hello to all the kids there, and take the sticks and rocks they offer to me. I don't even see other parents nudge their children to talk to other adults, like even at family events. Kids, even little ones, are expected to just talk to other kids and make their own way through a social event. I notice the difference a lot because I nudge my kid to perform all the social niceties and notice she has a much easier time as a result despite being a highly sensitive child who is easily upset.
In schools, it feels important that the teachers embrace their role as leaders. I notice a lot of teachers don't do this. You've got to try to have the children securely attached to you and see you as their natural leader. This helps them greatly to not worry about their place in the scheme of things, and they are much less likely to indulge in status games with the other children. These status games seem like the thing that causes the most stress in children.
Jonathan Haidt says phones are bad because bullying of and by girls goes onto social media. But why do girls bully in the first place? He talks of this as a completely normal thing, but it is FAR from a universal experience. It is status anxiety. And it can be prevented by strong teachers creating an embracing culture, and using their judgement to tell off bullying behavior. I read here on substack about so much ostracizing behavior that people my age experienced in American schools. As an Indian, I'm like "where were your teachers in shutting down that behavior?" because I went to a pretty poor school with large class sizes, and our teachers would shut down any hint of ostracism pretty hard with just stern words. And more than anything, the attitude among the parents was that this behavior is not normal and they EXPECTED the teachers to shut it down, not see it as a character-building exercise.
Remember that in April 2011, the architect of the Common Core, David Coleman said in his webinar "Bringing the Common Core to Life" that the change to CCSS was necessary because, "...as you grow up in this world you realize that people don't really give a sh*t about what you feel or what you think." It turns out that not caring about how people feel and think DOES matter if you want to create a positive school climate. Now look at the damage done. The group that wrote the standards (behind closed doors with no public accountability) was made up of mostly test company executives. Now the same people are trying to transfer materials over to label them Science of Reading (look up Dr. Elena Aydarova's research). Thank you so much for this letter Dr. Gray. It is so important for people to know how we got to this point.
My son is a 5th grader at a small city school with 50 students per grade. The school goes up to 8th grade and many parents test out to go to larger schools for middle and high school. We've been weighing our options and considering leaving as well. However, because the school is small and promotes a strong community environment, we have decided to keep him there through eighth grade, along with his younger brother and sister. There are many high schools to choose from which can be confusing, but seeking schools with community will help narrow the choice. Thank you for this letter, it has supported my feeling about keeping my kids at this school for the strong community aspect.
Lovely piece Peter. So you can 'have your cake and eat it!' Well being and academic performance are not mutually exlusive - in fact the former is a precondition for the latter. This is precisely what I found in my research for the UK government in 2001 as part of the introduction of the "citizenship" curriculum which became known as the Hannam Report. 12 secondary schools that were more democratically participative than average showed better academic results (test scores), better attendance and fewer exclusions for anti-social behaviour than the average ffor all schools in similar socio-economic environemts.
I loved the 'fun room' at Regents Academy - students requested 20% of curriculum time and got 10% for their own purposes. I attach the latest iteration of my 20% 'modest proposal' which was well received by a group of 120 newly qualified teachers at a UK university last week.
I agree that small schools are a critically important fix for multiple reasons. Let me try to articulate some of the reasons: a big school vs a small school is like the difference between talking through social media vs talking in person. So much can get lost in interactions between humans when the volume of people gets too big. It often brings out the worst in people or at least less than the best. When humans interact in that kind of large scale it can be hard to feel emotionally safe. On the other hand, smaller groups of people allow everyone to know each other, to pull together for each other, to be more tolerant of differences, to make meaningful emotional connections to another person.
I also think the ratio of students to teachers is better in a smaller school. You want a balance between an "adult culture" for its civilizing expectations while still allowing kids to contribute to the shape of their world. A certain number of adults creates basic boundaries. Within clear boundaries kids can then freely explore and build on their own. Creating an atmosphere at school that allows kids to be deeply involved in their world's structure is vital to freeing their joyful involvement in learning. To create that safe place you need a good ratio of teachers to students. That helps create the boundaries that can set the kids free.
It has also been long known (sorry can't pull up a study here) that one of the best things you can do for a student is for a teacher to connect with them. When you work a job where you feel seen and appreciated you want to strive into that job. When kids feel seen and valued they too feel motivated to reach for new learning.
The pressure on teachers who have 200 new students (5 classes at 40 students) every year is too much. How can you really "see" 200 new students a year? How can you learn their individual learning needs and interests? Can't do it. On the other hand if the school is small then the same teacher can work with all grade levels. Then they can get to know each child over many years. Much better approach for all.
The LA area schools have seen a huge drop in public school enrollment since Covid. Many communities want to keep their smaller schools open. Unfortunately, the articles I've read suggest the plan is to close and consolidate. The reasoning is that financially they can't offer as many extras if the population is too low. Frankly, I think the most important extra is extra time building relationships with teachers and friends. (and unfortunately many "extras" have long since been cut from budgets - art, music, shop, home ec., etc)
My kids have been in small schools through out their education. Now at 15y/o they (twins) go to a school that is 8th-12th grade with a total of 100-120 students. It's a project based public school where all kids are working on both school based and personally chosen projects. Every kid is valued. Every interest is nurtured. Every kid is known by all students and teachers alike. It's not perfect but it's pretty damn good. My kids have the option of a larger local school with more offerings. The only thing they miss at their small school is band. A friend goes to the larger school and talks of endless social pressures and prejudices. Our little school has an incredibly diverse group of kids who all belong. And because it's small the teachers can really help each kid pursue their individual interests.
One caveat. For 6th and 7th grade my kids attended a small traditional public school. In this school kids had the same 3 teachers for 6-8th grade. 6th grade was fantastic. Great teachers. Happy curious kids. 7th grade all the good teachers left (covid pressures from parents) and the new teachers were really the pits. I got frustrated, bored, demoralized kids. So, even in a small school adults can screw it up. Ha!
I wonder if the culture war intruding upon education is a causal driver of mental issues at school. Telling kids they may be born in the wrong body, that climate change will destroy the earth in the next 10 years, that merit is fake and equity is all-important, that the country is irredeemable due to genocide, racism, etc could be expected to have some effects.
It amazes me that we are still debating what is necessary for children to learn. Creating a healthy school climate where children feel safe is not a new concept. Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Thank you for ringing this bell, Peter. My hope is one day, it will be heard and cause systems to change - not as a one-off experiment but based on an understanding of human development. Children are our hope for the future!
Thank you again Dr Gray. Two things stuck with me because I too, have felt it. 1. The extremely difficult tasks to keep the original concept of the school when new staff come in. I am in this position now . Five years in and I now have a new set of educators and I find it extremely difficult to keep to the original idea because, even though it is isn the values and expectations , you cannot really make others view it the same way those that set the pillars did. Is there an advice on this? 2 the mandatory size of the land where we are in order to get the licence to operate. Currently it is at 2 acres of land. It becomes too expensive to keep it operational with just 60 children in an environment where people won't pay for children to have enquiry based learning and play. Thank you. Cristina
I appreciate this post greatly, because I've long felt that the bad mental health among children is heavily rooted in a bad school life. The statistic that most represents this is the dip in teen suicide rates during school closures and sudden spike back up when schools reopened during the pandemic https://abc7ny.com/covid-pandemic-teen-suicide-rates/13526479/
A major aspect of this I feel is children aren't taught to be appropriately social by adults in the early years, and that just carries on. I notice in any setting (daycare pickup, parks, kids birthday parties) that parents don't nudge their children to talk to others around them. They also don't acknowledge any kids other than their own. I am a hit parent in my kid's daycare because I say hello to all the kids there, and take the sticks and rocks they offer to me. I don't even see other parents nudge their children to talk to other adults, like even at family events. Kids, even little ones, are expected to just talk to other kids and make their own way through a social event. I notice the difference a lot because I nudge my kid to perform all the social niceties and notice she has a much easier time as a result despite being a highly sensitive child who is easily upset.
In schools, it feels important that the teachers embrace their role as leaders. I notice a lot of teachers don't do this. You've got to try to have the children securely attached to you and see you as their natural leader. This helps them greatly to not worry about their place in the scheme of things, and they are much less likely to indulge in status games with the other children. These status games seem like the thing that causes the most stress in children.
Jonathan Haidt says phones are bad because bullying of and by girls goes onto social media. But why do girls bully in the first place? He talks of this as a completely normal thing, but it is FAR from a universal experience. It is status anxiety. And it can be prevented by strong teachers creating an embracing culture, and using their judgement to tell off bullying behavior. I read here on substack about so much ostracizing behavior that people my age experienced in American schools. As an Indian, I'm like "where were your teachers in shutting down that behavior?" because I went to a pretty poor school with large class sizes, and our teachers would shut down any hint of ostracism pretty hard with just stern words. And more than anything, the attitude among the parents was that this behavior is not normal and they EXPECTED the teachers to shut it down, not see it as a character-building exercise.
Remember that in April 2011, the architect of the Common Core, David Coleman said in his webinar "Bringing the Common Core to Life" that the change to CCSS was necessary because, "...as you grow up in this world you realize that people don't really give a sh*t about what you feel or what you think." It turns out that not caring about how people feel and think DOES matter if you want to create a positive school climate. Now look at the damage done. The group that wrote the standards (behind closed doors with no public accountability) was made up of mostly test company executives. Now the same people are trying to transfer materials over to label them Science of Reading (look up Dr. Elena Aydarova's research). Thank you so much for this letter Dr. Gray. It is so important for people to know how we got to this point.
My son is a 5th grader at a small city school with 50 students per grade. The school goes up to 8th grade and many parents test out to go to larger schools for middle and high school. We've been weighing our options and considering leaving as well. However, because the school is small and promotes a strong community environment, we have decided to keep him there through eighth grade, along with his younger brother and sister. There are many high schools to choose from which can be confusing, but seeking schools with community will help narrow the choice. Thank you for this letter, it has supported my feeling about keeping my kids at this school for the strong community aspect.
Lovely piece Peter. So you can 'have your cake and eat it!' Well being and academic performance are not mutually exlusive - in fact the former is a precondition for the latter. This is precisely what I found in my research for the UK government in 2001 as part of the introduction of the "citizenship" curriculum which became known as the Hannam Report. 12 secondary schools that were more democratically participative than average showed better academic results (test scores), better attendance and fewer exclusions for anti-social behaviour than the average ffor all schools in similar socio-economic environemts.
https://www.progressiveeducation.org/impact-of-student-participation-by-derry-hannam/
I loved the 'fun room' at Regents Academy - students requested 20% of curriculum time and got 10% for their own purposes. I attach the latest iteration of my 20% 'modest proposal' which was well received by a group of 120 newly qualified teachers at a UK university last week.
Derry, it's great to see you here. As you point out, the evidence is not lacking. If only the powers that be would pay attention to it.
The natural decline of such schools intrigues me the most.
School climate is vital to the well-being of students and the school as a whole. Thank you for this post!
I agree that small schools are a critically important fix for multiple reasons. Let me try to articulate some of the reasons: a big school vs a small school is like the difference between talking through social media vs talking in person. So much can get lost in interactions between humans when the volume of people gets too big. It often brings out the worst in people or at least less than the best. When humans interact in that kind of large scale it can be hard to feel emotionally safe. On the other hand, smaller groups of people allow everyone to know each other, to pull together for each other, to be more tolerant of differences, to make meaningful emotional connections to another person.
I also think the ratio of students to teachers is better in a smaller school. You want a balance between an "adult culture" for its civilizing expectations while still allowing kids to contribute to the shape of their world. A certain number of adults creates basic boundaries. Within clear boundaries kids can then freely explore and build on their own. Creating an atmosphere at school that allows kids to be deeply involved in their world's structure is vital to freeing their joyful involvement in learning. To create that safe place you need a good ratio of teachers to students. That helps create the boundaries that can set the kids free.
It has also been long known (sorry can't pull up a study here) that one of the best things you can do for a student is for a teacher to connect with them. When you work a job where you feel seen and appreciated you want to strive into that job. When kids feel seen and valued they too feel motivated to reach for new learning.
The pressure on teachers who have 200 new students (5 classes at 40 students) every year is too much. How can you really "see" 200 new students a year? How can you learn their individual learning needs and interests? Can't do it. On the other hand if the school is small then the same teacher can work with all grade levels. Then they can get to know each child over many years. Much better approach for all.
The LA area schools have seen a huge drop in public school enrollment since Covid. Many communities want to keep their smaller schools open. Unfortunately, the articles I've read suggest the plan is to close and consolidate. The reasoning is that financially they can't offer as many extras if the population is too low. Frankly, I think the most important extra is extra time building relationships with teachers and friends. (and unfortunately many "extras" have long since been cut from budgets - art, music, shop, home ec., etc)
My kids have been in small schools through out their education. Now at 15y/o they (twins) go to a school that is 8th-12th grade with a total of 100-120 students. It's a project based public school where all kids are working on both school based and personally chosen projects. Every kid is valued. Every interest is nurtured. Every kid is known by all students and teachers alike. It's not perfect but it's pretty damn good. My kids have the option of a larger local school with more offerings. The only thing they miss at their small school is band. A friend goes to the larger school and talks of endless social pressures and prejudices. Our little school has an incredibly diverse group of kids who all belong. And because it's small the teachers can really help each kid pursue their individual interests.
One caveat. For 6th and 7th grade my kids attended a small traditional public school. In this school kids had the same 3 teachers for 6-8th grade. 6th grade was fantastic. Great teachers. Happy curious kids. 7th grade all the good teachers left (covid pressures from parents) and the new teachers were really the pits. I got frustrated, bored, demoralized kids. So, even in a small school adults can screw it up. Ha!
Still smaller is definitely better for schools.
I wonder if the culture war intruding upon education is a causal driver of mental issues at school. Telling kids they may be born in the wrong body, that climate change will destroy the earth in the next 10 years, that merit is fake and equity is all-important, that the country is irredeemable due to genocide, racism, etc could be expected to have some effects.
It amazes me that we are still debating what is necessary for children to learn. Creating a healthy school climate where children feel safe is not a new concept. Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Thank you for ringing this bell, Peter. My hope is one day, it will be heard and cause systems to change - not as a one-off experiment but based on an understanding of human development. Children are our hope for the future!
What a wonderful case study.
Thank you again Dr Gray. Two things stuck with me because I too, have felt it. 1. The extremely difficult tasks to keep the original concept of the school when new staff come in. I am in this position now . Five years in and I now have a new set of educators and I find it extremely difficult to keep to the original idea because, even though it is isn the values and expectations , you cannot really make others view it the same way those that set the pillars did. Is there an advice on this? 2 the mandatory size of the land where we are in order to get the licence to operate. Currently it is at 2 acres of land. It becomes too expensive to keep it operational with just 60 children in an environment where people won't pay for children to have enquiry based learning and play. Thank you. Cristina