CONTACT US:
Saturday / October 12

Creating a New Vision for Peace and Hope During COVID-19

Paradox rules at the moment. Even as we are socially isolating indoors, skies are clearing as we have halted toxic pollution. Although we have become more and more concerned about our children’s time on their digital devices, classrooms have gone virtual. And parents who have been stressed out over how to work and spend time with their children, are home now with their families 24/7.  

Even as we are faced with the urgency of using masks, gloves, and sanitizers, we can appreciate how they keep us safe. We are, in essence, “in retreat.” If you have ever had the luxury of participating in a retreat, you may be able to recall the wonder of the silence, the joy of putting life on hold, and the sense of peace and calmness that can arise by taking the focus off of the everyday busyness and centering in on what matters most. In retreat, we sometimes pray for the planet, take time to observe life’s smallest giftsthe gift of breath, the gift of a bird singing outside our windowand give thanks for all we have. Even in the midst of the many trials we have today, we are seeing expressions of gratitude, kindness, and caring for one another. It may be a city cheering for healthcare workers as they change shifts, industries switching production to increase our supply of protective masks, or neighbors leaving food instead of books at the neighborhood small libraries. At home, it may be the joy of seeing a young child’s delight in learning, the expression of satisfaction when a child knows that they got it! Things parents can sometimes miss in the evening 40-minute homework routine. 

During this time when people are not coming together for our many routine meetings, families and friends are meeting on Zoom or through Facetime to chat. Children are asking questions, and families have opportunities to show their strength, concern, and caring for their loved ones. 

Visioning During this Timeout from the Ordinary 

During a timeout from the ordinary, we sometimes are able to gain a distance that increases our objectivity and gives us new insights. When we are hurrying to put together six hours of lesson plans, grade assignments, and prepare for standardized tests, it is sometimes difficult to find time to reflect, to consider the good and the not-so-good, the areas where improvements are needed. 

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, to become more.” 

Rosabeth Moss Kanter 

An appeal to our better selves… to become more. During this time of paradox, it may well be that with a little reflection that we could start to shape a vision for our schools, our children, our communities, that might far outstrip what we might have imagined a few months ago. Even in the midst of despair, we might be able to use our timetime given to us that has a new rhythm, a new pace, new possibilities— to begin a process of taking in the good, building on the gratitude we have, the acts of kindness we are seeing, to envision a restart. A restart, a chance to rebuild, reconnect, and revise, for greater well-being. 

As we vision, let’s consider: 

  • Lessons on resilience. Richard Gerver (2013, 2015), an educator and provocateur, described how to help children prepare for the challenges of the future. In 2020, we are living those challenges today. What are we learning? 
  • Consider your dreams. The innovative, unimaginable, hopes for the future. As we are living with the unimaginable practice of social isolation, during a time of unimaginable stress for many, what are the previously unimaginable hopes and dreams you have for education, our schools, our communities? Not knowing what the future holds allows us to open up our minds, lean into creativity, and imagine possibilities that don’t yet exist.  
  • Hot Air Ballooning. In our book, Visioning Onward: A Guide for All Schools (Mason et al, 2020), we describe an exercise called “Hot Air Ballooning.”  

Imagine you are floating over your community 10 years from now. Imagine that we have successfully passed through these months of living with COVID-19. With this success, there have been adjustments. What do you see? What is your role in this change? Who is by your side bringing your vision into reality with you? 

  • Enhanced learning capacityWith mindfulness, executive functioning (memory, attention, decision-making, cognitive flexibility) improves. Envision how communities, families, leaders, and everyone has begun to practice mindfulness techniques to relieve their stress. With this could come clearer thinking, greater understanding and compassion for the other, and improved decision-making. How might this influence our future? 

Collective Efficacy 

We believe the best visions are inclusivethey consider many and are developed by many. This is part of what Jennifer Donohoo (2016) calls “collective efficacy.” The best visions may well arise from a time of introspection, sharing, dialoguing and debating, reflection and revision. Who knows, it might be that the visions we will have for education will be sharper, more focused, and in a word, “greater” because of this time-out in 2020.   

As you take the time to beto be with family and to be with yourself, we encourage you to also take time to reflect on the good and to consider new ways of teachinglearning, and beingMake room to consider how to leverage whatever small learnings and gains we make during this time for the greater good for tomorrow. 

To learn more about visioning, including our 8-step iterative process, explore our book Visioning Onward. 

Bill Gates shares some related ideas in a recent post. 


References

Gerver, R. (2013). Creating schools that prepare for the future. Retrieved from http://www.debats.cat/en/debates/creating‑schools‑prepare‑future  

Gerver, R. (2015). Creating tomorrow’s schools today: Education‑our children‑their futures (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. 

Donohoo, J. (2016). Collective efficacy: How educators’ beliefs impact stu‑ dent learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. 

Mason, C. , Liabenow, P., & Patschke, M. (2020). Visioning Onward: A Guide for All Schools. Corwin Press. 

Written by

Christine Mason, Founder/CEO Heart Centered Learning®—CEI Established in 2010, the Center for Educational Improvement (CEI) has joined with a number of leaders in mindfulness;science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM); neuroscience; and social emotional learning to advance 21st century learning in schools. CEI focuses on innovations, building exemplary schools and principals, conducting professional development, and undertaking research to create exemplary learning environments. Heart Centered Learning® is CEI’s signature approach to social emotional learning. Heart Centered Learning includes five elements (5 Cs) that lead to compassionate action—consciousness,compassion, confidence, courage, and community. Through these 5Cs, students become equipped with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, feel and show empathy for others, resolve conflicts nonviolently, think creatively,and overcome obstacles to succeed in the classroom and in life. The visioning that is recommended by CEI builds off of Chris Mason’s (CEI’s executive director) earlier work. From 2011 to 2017, CEI worked with a team of principal leaders to develop our conceptual design for increasing compassion in schools. In 2017, CEI piloted our approach, including an instrument for guiding schools in implementing heart centered visions with schools in Pennsylvania,Massachusetts, and West Virginia. As we worked with these pilot sites, we formalized our process for helping schools implement their visions for 21st century learning in ways that are responsive to the social-emotional needs of students. CEI is currently expanding our efforts to build compassionate schools. Chris is a coauthor of Mindfulness Practices: Cultivating Heart Centered School Communities Where Students Focus and Flourish (Mason, Rivers Murphy, & Jackson, 2018) and Mindful School Communities: The Five Cs of Nurturing Heart Centered Learning (Mason et al., in press), which serve as primers for school leaders to develop mindfulness–compassion protocol. CEI recently conducted a validation study for an instrument we have developed to help cultivate compassionate schools (Mason et al., 2018). The instrument,the School-Compassionate Culture Analytic Tool for Educators(S-CCATE), drives a process for reviewing a school’s strengths and needs to begin to consider a vision for a compassionate school. That process is being used as a part of a project with Yale University’s Program for Recovery and Community Health and its Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative, which Chris is directing.

No comments

leave a comment