Bill Frisell's new album ("Big Sur") was heralded with a short documentary about its impulse and inception: Frisell's retreat to an isolated coastal ranch in Central California. In the video, he describes the influence of the place, the dramatic and evocative landscape, and how it ultimately became the subject and theme for the…

A recent survey by MetLife explores the opinions and experiences of principals and teachers at K-12 public schools regarding their responsibilities and challenges as leaders, the changing role of principals, faculty satisfaction, and Common Core Standards implementation. The findings of this study present independent schools with an opportunity to…

Independent school students are the most teachable in America: they are typically bright, motivated, and well behaved, and they typically come from supportive, upper-middle-class families. Plus, they are generally placed in small classes and their teachers generally have small pupil loads. Given all this, the essential question is not whether the…

Affinity groups are places where students build connections and process "ouch" moments from their classes. Children talk about the isolation they sometimes feel. The relationships students gain through race-based affinity groups enable them to feel less alone with their emotions and help them build a stronger sense of self. At the same time,…

Few children have had the chance to travel alone anywhere, certainly not to the store or the playground. Few have the opportunity to get even a dash of street smarts: to practice getting themselves out of even a minor jam, to develop wayfinding skills, to navigate their neighborhood and choreograph their day--all valuable components of school…

What does it mean when a school, having rejected a child who applied for admission, explains that he or she just "isn't a good fit" with the school? At times, it is not clear how the decision to prevent a child from enrolling is best described as a lack of fit, particularly if the school's goals and priorities (a) correspond to what most parents…

Amid all the controversy about how to improve America's schools, the importance of strengthening collegial collaboration among teachers has drawn almost unanimous support. However, what schools have instead of collegiality is congeniality. Congeniality is about getting along well, being friendly, warm, and supportive. Schools are full of good…

This past May, the author was more dismayed than surprised to read the "New York Times" article about the scores of parents who are enrolling their three- to five-year-olds in Junior Kumon enrichment programs. As some parents interviewed for the article expressed, their motivation in doing so was either to keep their children from falling "behind…

People are confronted with escalating, interrelated global problems: climate change, growing extinction rates, economic instability, a looming energy catastrophe, depletion of resources, and an ever-growing population of people, each of whom requires food, water, shelter, and a job. Clearly, people need to create better, sustainable, and…

This article examines two independent schools as case studies for educating for sustainability, and shares what they have learned, what works, and best of all, what can be replicated elsewhere. Midland School--rigorous, rustic, and full of heart--is a small college preparatory boarding school on almost 3,000 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley in…

In December 2009, the author traveled to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for a week-long workshop, "Educating for Gross National Happiness." At the invitation of the royal government, international participants joined with local teachers, principals, and students to discover ways that Bhutanese schools could better support the country's commitment…

The inkling was there all along. Back in 2005, in "A Whole New Mind," author Daniel Pink included design--"utility enhanced by significance"--as an essential aptitude for the 21st-century learner. Some attentive independent school educators began looking around. If forward-thinking independent schools are to produce new minds, they maintained,…

They are everywhere: young people who refuse the narrow label of "student." Of course, they take care of schoolwork, but they also look outside of themselves and see a world full of need--and they want to help. This article features short profiles of adolescents--students, athletes, musicians, community activists, inventors, scientists, and…

In his book "Five Minds for the Future," Howard Gardner argues that schools should teach students to think in the manners specific to particular disciplines. Teaching students these ways of thinking--these conceptual frameworks so that they are able to gain deep insight into a topic and use the skills to solve other complex problems--should be,…

Bob Uecker, the Milwaukee Brewers' quipping radio broadcaster, makes his brief and lackluster career as a major league catcher the subject of much of his humor. About catching the knuckleball, Uecker famously said, "I always thought the knuckleball was the easiest pitch to catch." Of course, there is an even better way to catch a knuckleball, and…