The Thriving Student
School can be so much fun, when people get to be themselves. Instead of places where students can learn, be loved and belong for exactly who they are, sometimes we inadvertently build schools that are unhealthy, fun-less places where student identities are policed and organized around the interests of the institution, rather than the needs of the students. These are not places where students thrive.
What does it mean to thrive? Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that to thrive is to “grow vigorously,” and to “flourish.” Indeed, that is our job as educators -- to help all children learn. I believe that, in order to learn, students must thrive. They must be loved at school for their authentic selves, valued for the unique diversity and contribution they add to their school community.
For students to thrive, this also means that our schools must dig deep. Instead of leaving a child with a complex health condition at home during a camping trip to the woods, the school finds a nurse willing to go on the trip with the child. It means that when some students can’t show their screens during the COVID-19 pandemic, the school makes dozens of Zoom backgrounds for the students to use and radically transforms its participation grading so student contributions in the chat are encouraged, valued and counted. And, it means that when a transgender student has gender affirmation surgery, the school schedules PE for a later semester, giving them time to heal and decide how they will suit out for class. When we value our students for all of their identities, we can then fully invite them to share their thoughts, their views, their perspectives in the classroom. And when students lower the walls erected to protect them in an uncaring world, educators help them dive deep into their learning … and thrive.
Empathy Based. Policy Driven. Student Centered. That’s me, the Advocate for Thriving Students. I am an empathetic, policy and systems curandera who sees and reveals the big-picture, and turns stakeholders into teams who are answering a deeper calling, remaining laser focused on finding the “student-centered solution.”
My passion is helping education professionals like you figure out the best way to understand and implement health and education policy to advance equity for your students. I have an approach that can help you. First, I pair radical empathy and public policy to engage your community of experts towards finding your SCS – your “student-centered solution.” I use this approach when coaching schools on their COVID-19 health and safety planning, their transgender student accommodations or their school culture shifts to remove biases. It’s a model you can use whenever you’re seeking a student-centered solution to a hard problem.
Let me break it down for you.
What is radical empathy? Radical empathy isn’t showing up for kids because it’s your job. Rather, it’s showing up as if it’s your kid that’s struggling with virtual learning or being harassed at school.
And when I say public policy, I mean utilizing laws and policies as tools for health and education equity. When I ran school health for a major, urban school district, I took hundreds of pages of laws and policies and condensed them into an accessible and easy-to-use, 12-page transgender and gender-nonconforming policy guidance. With COVID-19, I became an expert on the health and safety requirements set by the feds and the local area, so schools could rely on me for guidance as they decided how to reopen.
What do I mean by a student-centered solution? It’s a solution designed with student needs front and center that reflects radical empathy, embeds solid public policy and has buy-in from the folks who can make the change. It’s a solution that is right, that is good, that aligns with our values, and that extends dignity and compassion to the group of students we want to positively impact.