The Formative Five:Teaching for Success in Life

Philippines Education ConferencePrivate Education Assistance Committee

Pasay City, Manila

November 29, 2017, 8:15-9:15

Thomas R. Hoerr, PhD

www.thomasrhoerr.com

trhoerr@newcityschool.org

@TomHoerr

Are there differences between success in school and success in life?

Live to learn!

Yes!

Ken Jennings won 74 consecutive games on Jeopardy a television quiz show, earning $2,520,700.

He was then defeated by IBM’s Watson computer.

Yes!

A report from the World Economic Forum says: “65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.”

In 10 years, just about everything will be made closer to you and perhaps by you with a 3-D printer: parts for appliances, furniture, maybe even clothes. Now experimenting is being done to create body parts.

Yes!• Daniel Goleman: “… At best, IQ

contributes about 20% of the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80% to other forces.”

• Paul Tough: “What matters most in success is a list that includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit, and self-confidence.”

Scholastics should

be the floor,

not the ceiling.

Who you are is more important than what you

know.

Live to learn!

“Principal Connection,” Educational Leadership, January 2008

“What standardized tests cannot do – indeed, what almost no test can do – is capture a child’s essence. Tests don’t speak to the internal factors that play a major role in life success: curiosity, effort, resilience, and compassion.”

New City School’sPage 1

Success Skills•Empathy

•Self-control•Integrity

•Embracing Diversity

•Grit

How did I determine The Formative Five?

1. Empathy

“The art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of others, understanding their feelings and perspectives, and using that information to guide your actions” (Roman Krznaric).

Walt Bettinger CEO, Charles Schwab

“We have to teach empathy

just as we do literacy” (Bill

Drayton)

“Empathy is the most

important back to school

supply for teachers” (Homar

Tavangar, Edutopia)

Empathy is also needed at home, in the work place, and in the teachers’ lounge.

“Who’s the Bully On Your Staff?” (“Principal Connection,” Educational Leadership, February 2013)

2. Self-control

“The ability to delay gratification and resist temptation is an acquirable cognitive skill” (Walter Mischel).

Self-control is an aspect of success in every domain.

• "Technology of interruption has outpaced the technology of concentration" (David Coleman, President of the College Board).

• Willpower is a learnable skill, something that can be taught the same way that kids learn to do math and say ‘thank you’” (Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit)

3. Integrity

Integrity is firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values; incorruptibility. It stems from honesty, and is a higher, more public form of action.

• Brene’ Brown: “Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them”

• Jim Thomas: "The major difference between honesty and integrity is that one may be entirely honest without engaging in the thought and reflection integrity demands."

Brittany, Mimi, and thebirthday party

4. Embracingdiversity is

understanding that the

differences among us should be recognized,

appreciated, and embraced.

“Diversity is not just about the differences you like”

Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core

• “Evolutionary theory holds that our ability to sense when we should be suspicious has been every bit as essential for human survival as our capacity for trust and cooperation” (Daniel Goleman).

• “We need to reach that happy stage of our development when differences and diversity are not seen as sources of division and distrust, but of strength and inspiration” (Josefa Iloilo).

5. GritGrit is tenacity, perseverance,

hanging in, and not ever giving up.

November 18, 2011 NYT by Paul Tough

“The Character TestWhy our kids’ success – and happiness – may depend less on perfect performance than on

learning how to deal with failure”

What if the secret to success is failure?

•"The biggest reason for success in entrepreneurship is not brilliance. It's not creative genius. It's the simple ability to not quit when things are really bad" (Leila Janah, NYT, “Corner Office,” 4/23/17).

•“Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo!” (John Sinclair).

Grit is:Passion + persistenceovercoming boredom

overcoming frustrationovercoming failure

making new mistakes.

Teach the attitude of grit

Kinds of

mistakes

What do they mean

for us?

They are

Live to learn!

Kinds of

mistakes

What do they mean

for us?

They are

OLD mistakes We repeat our errors and

do not learn from our

experiences.

Dumb

Live to learn!

Kinds of

mistakes

What do they mean

for us?

They are

OLD mistakes We repeat our errors and

do not learn from our

experiences.

Dumb

NO mistakes We continue to use the

same approach. We are

error-free but little

learning takes place.

Not smart

Live to learn!

Kinds of

mistakes

What do they mean

for us?

They are

OLD mistakes We repeat our errors and

do not learn from our

experiences.

Dumb

NO mistakes We continue to use the

same approach. We are

error-free but little

learning takes place.

Not smart

NEW mistakes We try new ideas and

strategies and learn from

our experiences.

Brave and

wise

Live to learn!

Make NEW

mistakes

Five Formative Five General Strategies

1. Highlight the Formative Five at the start of school year

2. Focus on one Formative Five skill every week or month

3. Take a cultural approach to the Formative Five

4. Use the halls and walls to educate and reinforce

5. Inform and engage students’ parents – do with, not to.

The take-away…

Who you areis more important

than what you know.

Comments or questions?

I’d love to hear from you! trhoerr@newcityschool.orgwww.thomasrhoerr.com@TomHoerr

Live to learn!