Principal Peterson's Page
Finding Our “Center” through Student-Voice
It is usually within the pages of this first newsletter of the school year that I ask new teachers to introduce themselves to our community and this year is no different (see inside for those articles). Even though I am into my fifth year here at OA, I am joining them this year by writing a piece that “introduces” my philosophies, so that parents and community members can learn a little bit about the principal at the Middle/High School and better understand why certain decisions are made.
One of the basic tenets of my philosophy is that schools must be “student-centered.” That’s an easy phrase to throw around, and all too often it rings empty in schools where adults say it often but school policy and decisions infrequently reflects anything meaningful that is actually “student-centered.” Gathering and using student-voice with fidelity in order to shape school climate and culture is a major undertaking and it cannot be done in merely flippant ways like school lunch options and prom themes.
Recent research and data reveals that a growing number of students feel isolated from school, resulting in increased dropouts and absenteeism because instead of feeling loved and welcomed at school they feel out-of-place and anxious. A solution to reverse this trend is to use student-voice as we reimagine rules and expectations at school. Rather than outdated thinking about how we can create law-and-order by using punishments to scare kids, we should be thinking progressively about how we can create a welcoming space where ALL students want to attend school at OA. My philosophy, as I’ve described here, shows up at the Middle/High School in a variety of ways.
When we made decisions about updating our dress code, it was a calculated process that took into account the needs and expressed desires of our students. Instead of spending a lot of energy and resources to police attire and punish those who violate arbitrary standards of dress that were set by generations of adults that have long been out of school, we decided to examine the reasoning and justification for certain rules. As it turned out, there were many “codes” that didn’t need to be there and caused countless incidents of strife and arguments with students who were already on the fence about attending school or not. Of course there are still some limits to what students can and cannot wear, but we have paired down the rules significantly, and because of it we are free to spend our energy on more important things that move the needle in education (things like teaching and learning).
Similarly, our “policy” regarding eligibility was re-imagined in a way that promoted inclusion NOT exclusion. When students are connected to the school through sports and activities they have lower rates of absenteeism and high academic achievement. It therefore didn’t make sense to create a system where we removed access to activities and reduced eligibility. When we created our Student Support System we not only read research about why ineligibility policies don’t work, we talked (and listened) to kids. Our processes are built on supporting students instead of punishing them, and are NOT tied to passing grades but rather effort. Any student who wants to participate in sports and extracurricular activities is free to do so, all they have to do is (1) walk through the door and (2) take advantage of the support we offer.
Bullying, harassment, and discrimination are sources of many problems in schools, and our stance here at OA is a zero tolerance for such behaviors. Having a student-centered philosophy means supporting ALL students so that nobody feels isolated and ostracized. Using racial and/or gender related slurs will be treated as serious violations of our code of conduct because they undermine the very principles of decency and kindness that schools must represent. One of the complicated aspects of these types of incidents, is that the perpetrator and their parents typically feel as if their actions were harmless. They often express indignation because they perceive that their child has been suspended for mere “name calling.” For this reason, we almost always add a layer of education to the punishment for that type of offense, so that we can teach our students about the dangerous impact of racism and intolerance and they learn that name calling isn’t harmless, because it undermines the culture of acceptance and belonging that we are striving to create.
Student centered decision making will continue to be an integral part of our processes here at OA, and I hope that some of the examples I’ve shared here offered a glimpse into my philosophy about how we can use student-voice and student-perspective to shape our culture in a way that promotes a culture of belonging.
