Alysia and I often discuss what implications our experiences within Chrysalis have for public education. There is a profound difference that happens to kids who spend years being controlled (because kids are basically controlled in school) by a free, creative adult as opposed to spending years in the control of somebody who has become agentic (The term Stanley Milgram, a famous experimental psychologist, used for when people give up individual responsibility and instead just fulfill the role of an agent for some organization.).
A recent example is what has happened with standardized tests where lots and lots of teachers are teaching to the test. They, themselves, know it is wrong and it shouldn’t be that way. They can even say to their students, “I’m sorry that we have to go this fast but I have to do it because of the test.” However, when they say that as an explanation, they are teaching the kids that as an adult, you have to submit, you can not be autonomous, you can not follow your own heart. You do what is told to you. This is an example of what Alysia and our mentor, Michael Butler, would call “the invisible lesson” that is happening. It is more powerful than whatever math lesson you are teaching.
I think that is what we are finding out at Chrysalis. One of the reasons we see what we call Chrysalis miracles is because the kids are surrounded by teachers who are freer to express their caring for their students and so really care about helping kids understand what it is that schools are trying to teach them. The lessons are not just being drilled into them, hammered into them because of the tests but because this concept is actually empowering. We want you to understand this enough so that you can use its power in your life so we will help you learn this. Because the kids can feel this caring within the classroom, the kids allow the teacher to have more influence in their lives. A respectful friendship develops. On the other hand, the more a teacher becomes agentic, the less power they have to make a positive difference in a kid’s life.
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