David Friedli : High School Educational Philosophy

The instructional and activity program of Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation High School has been influenced heavily by the landmark resiliency research of Dr. Emmy Werner. Dr. Werner identified three key components of children who grew up under adverse circumstances but who became successful, resilient adults who were healthy and productive.

Dr. Werner's research with indigenous people on the Hawaiian island of Kauai determined children who grew up with three overarching structures around them were able to overcome adversity and "bounce back" after disappointing and sometimes life-threatening circumstances.

The graphic below shows the three components of High Expectations, Caring and Support, and Opportunities to Participate.

resiliency crop small:

The resiliency research of Dr. Werner indicates the three areas must be in balance for children to benefit. Any imbalance causes problems within the system and does not promote healthy maturity in young people.

High expectations without caring and support results in a "winning is the only thing" mentality.
Caring and support without high expectations is often defined as "enabling" or "doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons" or "insincere self-esteem".
Opportunities to participate without high expectations does not end in any meaningful results nor does it foster commitment, teamwork or interdependence.

(For more information, see Vulnerable But Invincible: a Longitudinal Study of Resilient Children and Youth, by Werner, Emmy E. & Ruth S. Smith. McGraw Hill 1982. This book is currently out-of-print, but is available through used sources on-line.)

Examples of each area in Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation High School are listed below:

   High Expectations                  Caring and Support                  Opportunities to Participate
challenging academics           guidance services                      extra curricular activities
discipline and behavior          cultural programs                        student council
dress code                              lunch & breakfast program          daily Circle-Up
verbal literacy                          health services                           Umoⁿhoⁿ Cultural Language
written literacy                        Alternative Education                   vocational skills
community service                  day care services                       entrepreneurship opportunities
state-wide assessment            drug/alcohol prevention              mentoring projects/cross age tutors

Learn more about resiliency through this PowerPoint. You must have PowerPoint installed on your compter to view this link.

These guiding questions can help focus and remind all partners in the educational process how they can help young people be most successful.

This Page was last update: Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at 3:52:05 PM
This page was originally posted: 2/22/06; 4:03:18 PM.
Copyright 2008 David Friedli

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