The 10 Priorities (from Biggest Job)

[Ursus]

It sounds like they are really trying to capitalize on the inherent failures of "No Child Left Behind."  But I'm not so sure that there is anything of substance which addresses that issue in this essay:

Classrooms of Character
Rule #1: Never kid a kid

A few months ago I sat in a Manhattan restaurant sharing thoughts on education with two seasoned New York City public school educators. The words of one of them have been ringing in my ears ever since we paid the check:

"We started talking about improving American education back when Lyndon Johnson launched the Great Society. Since then we... put a man on the moon... we removed the beating heart from one dying person and transplanted it in another to prolong life... we can communicate instantly via computer, etc. As for our schools, well, they're worse than they were when LBJ was president!"[/list]
As a society, it is time to face up to the fact that our miraculous advances in science, medicine and technology have occurred despite a regression in our schools and families. Logic demands that we be highly suspicious of the notion of expecting to continue to enjoy the former without addressing the latter. Furthermore, we must ask the deeper question: How much can we really expect to "enjoy" these advances if the end result continues to be lifeless schools and unfulfilled families?

Meanwhile, we educators soldier on in the face of test score mania, the current educational silver bullet du jour intended to ensure that we "Leave No Child Behind." If you are reading this, perhaps you believe that the focus on testing isn't going to get us where we want go. Maybe you've had students who:

• Work hard but do not meet the guidelines;
  
• Do not meet guidelines and come from families who could care less;
  
• Meet the guidelines but are not coming close to fulfilling their learning potential;
  
• Meet the guidelines but you suspect they might be cheating;
  
• Meet the guidelines but are not progressing in character development.

Perhaps you've observed schools that appear to manipulate who takes the tests and when they take them in order to "meet" the guidelines. We believe that it's time to face up to a simple truth: We care more about their aptitude than their attitude... and they know it.

My twenty-five years as an educator have taught me an essential lesson: never kid a kid. Despite the fact that they might fail to grasp the most basic math formula, they will never misread our true expectations of them. They know we have created an educational system that values their aptitude more than their attitude, their ability more than their effort, and their talent more than their character. Surrounded by signs that tell them that what they can do is more important than who they are, a growing number have come to a simple realization: If I cannot be good at being good, I might as well be good at being bad. They'd rather be bad than average.

I frequently ask high school students if they know any students at their schools who do next to no academic work and yet consistently make the honor roll. Most casually acknowledge this as common with a shrug: "Sure, some kids just have it and school rewards them." Many point admiringly to the student who is able to get the "A" with next to no effort. Furthermore, many of the students who are making the honor roll don't necessarily believe that their distinction is due to their efforts. They know that cheating is common, if not rampant, even among the top students. They know that many college-bound students, often on the advice of parents and teachers, will avoid taking a particularly challenging advanced course for fear that the low grade they might receive would hurt their chances for admission to an elite college. Regardless of their place in the hierarchy of their schools, kids know it's not about attitude. Absent an inspiring culture, the youth culture often takes over and the results sometimes turn out to be desperate, even tragic, attempts at shock-effect.

The great American movements have been fueled by the catalyst of powerful "either/or" propositions: Patriot or Tory? Blue or Gray? Equal opportunity for all OR separate but equal? For the sake of our kids, a new choice lies before us. It's time for a new view, one that values attitude over aptitude, effort over ability, and character over talent. The Biggest Job was established to help parents and teachers move their families and their schools in directions that reflect these priorities. As we forge ahead, we remain convinced of one thing: Character is inspired, not imparted. We don't pour it into kids; we help them pull it out of themselves. Our true beliefs and motivations set the stage. Attitude or aptitude? Choose today.

Malcolm Gauld
President, Hyde Schools
Bath, ME
Woodstock, CT
New Haven
Washington DC

Again, I'm not sure that Hyde School is an inherently better alternative than "No Child Left Behind."  If anything, it would appear to be a regression rather a concept to move forward on.  Trying to cram a lot of square pegs into round holes didn't work in the past, why should it work in the future?  The dogmatic "one size fits all" philosophy of Hyde penalizes and punishes those whose souls need a wider terrain.  This is not a new choice.  This one has been around for a long time.

As to the laudable ideals, I think we all know by now just how hypocritical and just how much of a failure Hyde is in trying to live up to those.  I would say they are significantly worse in that regard than some of the worst public schools you can think of.  Perhaps more importantly is the added bonus of Hyde's brainwashing techniques, so that if you are traumatized by your experience at Hyde, you are left with the take home that it is your fault, not Hyde's.  In fact, it is never Hyde's fault, according to Hyde.  At least with public school you are clear-minded enough to put the bullshit in the appropriate trash receptacle.

I also take some offense to the implication that all students going to public school are pressured into a superficial "achievement culture," and that only Hyde has the means and the inclination to get kids to strive for their authentic best.  I found Hyde's methods rewarded superficial striving more than any other school environment I have ever encountered.  And it was the kind of striving that had nothing to do with increasing my academic facilities, nor with my "preparation for life," but everything to do with toadying up to a brutal LGAT culture and increasing kids capacity to disembowel each other on a psychological level.  It was Lord of the Flies in real life.  This is the kind of "character" Hyde is trying to inspire in us!?

Ppfffttt!

[Ursus]

It would appear that the underlying reason for The Biggest Job is to provide a means of financial windfall regardless of what happens to the boarding schools.  The beauty of TBJ, from Hyde's standpoint, is that it functions much like a diet guru's marketing of his/her tried and true methods of reaching the desired goal.  

Despite the Gaulds' claim that TBJ is no quick fix, the structuring of the 10 Priorities would appear to serve exactly those ends.  Why, they even call it "the ultimate recipe" themselves!  Certainly this is why people opt for Hyde's version of the character shill game as opposed to any number of other varieties out there.  It's packaged nice and neat, with a "paint by the number"... er, a "discuss by the priority," blueprint to follow to a happy ending for both parent and child.

From their website, emphasis all theirs:

=======================================

http://www.hyde.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=50310


The Biggest Job® - lively, interactive workshops for parents, professionals, and children ages 6-18

The creators of The Biggest Job® workshops found the ultimate recipe for reaching one's highest potential. Based on 40 years of experience, the workshop's compelling and oftentimes humorous content will focus on 10 Priorities outlined in Laura and Malcolm Gauld's book, The Biggest Job® We'll Ever Have: The Hyde School Program for Character-based Parenting (Scribner).

Parents learn essential skills, critical to shaping family attitudes grounded in strong principles - principles that instill high expectations and develop the necessary tools to meet them.

Educators learn how to create dynamic, character-centered learning environments, where their students develop skills that build confidence and distinguish them from others.

Professionals hone skills they need to place families on a path that will lead them toward reaching their immediate and long-term goals.

Students of all ages experience first-hand how their attitudes, level of effort, and character are the true indicators that will determine whether or not they reach their best potential.

Using the 10 Priorities introduced in the workshops gives astonishing results. Participants from every kind of background have succeeded far beyond any expectations, because of what they learn. If you're looking for the best resource to help you, your school, or community identify and accomplish personal and professional goals, contact Pam Hardy at 207-443-7302 or http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=23657

Pam Hardy (contact noted above at Hyde for TBJ) is also the "Parent Seminar Facilitator" at the Civa School in Colorado Springs, where there is required attendance for these discussions of the 10 Priorities...

[Ursus]

Here is the page on Programs.  These are aimed at parents and teachers.  Even if your kid does not attend Hyde School, you too can enjoy a mini version of Hyde up close and intimate.  Not sure exactly what they mean with that last line that mentions educational consultants.  Are they saying that they are some sort of educational consultants?  Or are they saying that educational consultants are amongst the target audience for The Biggest Job wilderness program?

=================================

Programs

Parent and Teacher Workshop
Follow-up Program
Year-Long Community Program
60 - 90 Minute Presentation
Know Yourself, Be Yourself
Teacher Training
Staff Development and Additional Teacher Training Options
The Biggest Job Wilderness Program

Parent and Teacher Workshops

This three-to four-hour interactive workshop for parents or teachers outlines in detail the 10 Priorities. Using humor and anecdotes to teach practical skills for raising and teaching children and teens, this program gives participants an understanding of how to engage and communicate effectively with children by focusing on character development. Topics include:

• Truth over Harmony
• How to set high expectations and let go of the outcomes.
• Allowing obstacles to become opportunities
• Establishing a character culture in your home.

Click here to request more information.


Follow-up Program

This two-hour interactive workshop explores one of the 10 Priorities each month with parents and their children. The workshop begins with parents and children working separately with presenters as they review and discuss a Priority, then engage in exercises that cultivate the development of individual action steps toward personal change. The wrap-up session reunites parents and children to share personal discoveries. (Follow-up Program is also available for adults only.)

Click here to request more information.


Year-Long Community Program

A yearlong program for the entire community, offering a comprehensive exploration of the 10 Priorities. The program promises to elicit meaningful discussions, and engage participants in constructive exercises to work toward creating a character culture in the entire community. A sample package includes:

• A separate workshop series for parents, for teachers and for families
• Leadership training for parents, teachers and students
• In-service workshops for teachers

Click here to request more information.


60 - 90 Minute Presentation

Introduces parenting priorities and explains how parents can build family strength around principles and personal vision. Workshops or a follow-up program may be scheduled after this presentation. Topics include:

• Why is character development important?
• How can family and school support each other?
• What do our children really want from us?

Click here to request more information.


Know Yourself, Be Yourself

A three- to four-hour workshop for children and teens which guides them through a comprehensive exploration of three essential questions:

• Who am I?
• Where am I going?
• What do I need to do to get there?

Know Yourself, Be Yourself will get children and teens to think about the important issues in their lives. The primary objective is not finding the answers to the questions, but in steering them toward and engaging them in the process of self-discovery.

In an action/reflection format that helps students develop the courage to be true to what they discover about themselves, the topics include:

• Facing the tough issues, such as peer pressure, family-friend conflicts, bullying
• Family strengths and obstacles
• Creating a vision for the future
• Self-definition: What do I want to stand for in my life?

(The above workshop is for students while parents are in their own workshop. At the conclusion of both, students and parents do collective exercises.)

Click here to request more information.


Teacher Training

A positive learning attitude is essential for students to meet their learning goals. Done at both boarding school campuses in Bath, ME and Woodstock, CT, the Biggest Job teacher training workshops will help teachers and administrators foster postive learning attitudes in the classroom and the school. It will train teachers to motivate students to take responsibility for their learning and thus improve their academic performance. Through experiential exercises, this training will:

• Help you identify and address negative attitudes
• Teach you strategies to improve communication with your students
• Teach you how to work effectively with parents
• Provide you with tools to create a character culture and positive learning environment in your school or classroom.

Click here to request more information.


Staff Development and Additional Teacher Training Options

We accommodate the varied needs of all schools by offering off-site teacher trainings for groups. They include:

• Single and two-day introductory sessions
• One-week individual training programs to meet the needs of each specific group.
• Two-week group training programs for schools
• Long-term (one- to two-year) training and consulting relationships.
• Individually designed programs

The Biggest Job Wilderness Program

The Biggest Job Family Workshop in the wilderness is a weekend experience that will strengthen family attitudes in a beautiful mountain setting. Developed by Laura Gauld, director of Family Education for the Hyde Schools organization, these wilderness workshops have been developed over three decades of experience.

Topics include:

• Strengthening family relationships
• Learning how to set high expectations
• Getting on the same page with the family's vision
• Establishing honesty as a family priority
• Understanding roles within the family

Each family will experience outdoor activities to understand family dynamics, a time for family reflection, canoeing on scenic Flagstaff Lake and a wrap-up Maine clambake. These summer-time family workshops begin Thursday night at Hyde School's Family Learning Center in Bath, Maine, with the days spent at Hyde's stunning Black Wilderness Preserve on Flagstaff Lake in Eustis. Educational consultants to create training sessions that meet the specific needs of their group.

Dates:
New Dates coming soon.
Click here to request more information.

[Anonymous]

Educational consultants to create training sessions that meet the specific needs of their group.

  I was raised by grammarians, I never studied the fine points of English grammar myself but have an intuitive ear for it.  Kind of like what the supreme court justice said about porn, I know bad grammar when I hear it. I do not believe the quote is a complete sentence.  The noun is "consultants."
"Educational" is an adjective that modifies the noun. "To create training sessions that meet the specific needs of their group" is a phrase even though it has a verb in it.  I _think_ it is a subjunctive clause:
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C001/061.html

  A complete sentance is a complete thought. For example the fragment could be completed in the following manner:

 Educational consultants, to create training sessions that meet the specific needs of their group, have elected not to attend the Hyde sessions since the staff at Hyde have a proclivity for poor written communications.

  Hey I got to go for a four miler then I am going to listen to Lowell George sing Jimmy Webb:

http://www.amazon.com/Thanks-Ill-Here-L ... B000002KIP

[Anonymous]

Blow me, nigger.

[Anonymous]

Blow me, nigger.

That is an example of a complete sentence.  In the imperative tone, the noun is implied.

[Anonymous]

Blow me, nigger.

That is an example of a complete sentence.  In the imperative tone, the noun is implied.

 :rofl:

[Ursus]

Perhaps Hyde might do well to heed John Allen Paulos' words:

Developing character, instilling self-esteem, involving parents and arranging adequate financing are all necessary, but the deficiencies in factual knowledge and critical thinking skills remain the most troubling and irremediable. It's not surprising that some studies have indicated that despite their miserable performance on international math tests, for example, American students rank near the top when it comes to mathematical self-confidence. If we allow too many of our children to grow into gullible ignoramuses brimming with character and self-esteem, we'll be perpetrating a fraud far worse than the one with which I began this survey.
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?t=22009&start=109

They might then be better able to make comprehendible use of the imperative tone themselves, ha haa!

[Anonymous]

I assumed that the direction in the post,

Blow me, nigger.

was from Hyde staff.  It is a simple well constructed sentence despite the fact that it is expressing a crude directive, using a racial invective.

 While we are on the subject of grammar, I must apologize for my daughters post on another thread. She changed the recipient of the transitive verb to plural and forgot to change the verb.  I would also like to state that Electra's husband is not Jimmy Webb, the fine American tunesmith of such songs a "Wichita Lineman"

 Don't forest to use real sugar in your coffee, even if you microwave it .. the coffee that is.

[Anonymous]

Blow me, nigger.

That is an example of a complete sentence.  In the imperative tone, the noun is implied.

My bad.

Blow, me nigger.

[Anonymous]

It would appear that the underlying reason for The Biggest Job is to provide a means of financial windfall regardless of what happens to the boarding schools.  The beauty of TBJ, from Hyde's standpoint, is that it functions much like a diet guru's marketing of his/her tried and true methods of reaching the desired goal.  

Despite the Gaulds' claim that TBJ is no quick fix, the structuring of the 10 Priorities would appear to serve exactly those ends.  Why, they even call it "the ultimate recipe" themselves!  Certainly this is why people opt for Hyde's version of the character shill game as opposed to any number of other varieties out there.  It's packaged nice and neat, with a "paint by the number"... er, a "discuss by the priority," blueprint to follow to a happy ending for both parent and child.

From their website, emphasis all theirs:

=======================================

http://www.hyde.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=50310


The Biggest Job® - lively, interactive workshops for parents, professionals, and children ages 6-18

The creators of The Biggest Job® workshops found the ultimate recipe for reaching one's highest potential. Based on 40 years of experience, the workshop's compelling and oftentimes humorous content will focus on 10 Priorities outlined in Laura and Malcolm Gauld's book, The Biggest Job® We'll Ever Have: The Hyde School Program for Character-based Parenting (Scribner).

Parents learn essential skills, critical to shaping family attitudes grounded in strong principles - principles that instill high expectations and develop the necessary tools to meet them.

Educators learn how to create dynamic, character-centered learning environments, where their students develop skills that build confidence and distinguish them from others.

Professionals hone skills they need to place families on a path that will lead them toward reaching their immediate and long-term goals.

Students of all ages experience first-hand how their attitudes, level of effort, and character are the true indicators that will determine whether or not they reach their best potential.

Using the 10 Priorities introduced in the workshops gives astonishing results. Participants from every kind of background have succeeded far beyond any expectations, because of what they learn. If you're looking for the best resource to help you, your school, or community identify and accomplish personal and professional goals, contact Pam Hardy at 207-443-7302 or http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t=23657

Pam Hardy (contact noted above at Hyde for TBJ) is also the "Parent Seminar Facilitator" at the Civa School in Colorado Springs, where there is required attendance for these discussions of the 10 Priorities...

This is one slick marketing job.  I see that you can even buy your own Biggest Job fridge maganets!

When I was growing up, having "character" meant that you just did the right thing, even if it cost you some, monetarily or reputation-wise.  Hyde just DOESN'T do the right thing at all!  Simple as that!  Where do they get off calling themselves the experts in the character business?  Just because they trademark certain phrases they think they have a monopoly on it?  You can't trademark character, and Hyde is the poorest example of it out there anyway.

[Anonymous]

::bump::