For some, Turning the Tide (the recent report from a wide range of US Colleges) will be revolutionary. For us, it’s a powerful endorsement of alignment between our values and what institutes of Higher Education are seeking (the full report is here; executive summary is here. Please do read!). All the quotes in italics here are taken directly from that document.
Our position as a community has always been that there is no tension between our holistic, values-based education and pathways to future academic and professional success. Simply put, all the non-academic ‘extras’ we do are not extras; they are intrinsic to your sons’ and daughters’ growth and success (which is why, of course, we have the five equal elements of our Learning Programme). In particular, we know that a moral focus supports and enhances student growth. But we know that in an increasingly competitive world, messages about concern for others are commonly drowned out by the power and frequency of messages from parents and the larger culture emphasizing individual achievement. And we know how destructive this can be as pervasive pressure to perform academically at high levels and to enter selective colleges takes an emotional toll on students and often squeezes out the time and energy students have to consider and contribute to others.
We know from our outstanding College and University outcomes that institutions of Higher Education value our students’ breadth, and so we are delighted to see this approach unambiguously adopted and endorsed in this recent report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, representing more than 80 key US stakeholders. Most importantly, the report recognizes that there are multiples ways to help young people become more generous and humane in ways that benefit not only society but students themselves.
What really strikes me about this report is that it goes so far beyond simply philosophical statements. The specific recommendations show the direction of College admissions officers, and what they’ll be looking for – and it’s a very, very well UWCSEA-aligned direction. They recommend that students undertake at least a year of sustained service or community engagement… Just as important, it’s vital that the admissions process squarely challenges misconceptions about what types of service are valued in admissions. Some students seek to “game” service by taking up high-profile or exotic forms of community service, sometimes in faraway places, that have little meaning to them but appear to demonstrate their entrepreneurial spirit and leadership. The admissions process should clearly convey that what counts is not whether service occurred locally or in some distant place or whether students were leaders, but whether students immersed themselves in an experience and the emotional and ethical awareness and skills generated by that experience. Prioritizing Quality—Not Quantity—of Activities is the basis of our Service programme and why we encourage engagement with a single project over many years.
Perhaps even more striking is the way that the report actually addresses the type of activity; we also encourage young people to consider various forms of community engagement, including working in groups on community problems…. these types of activities can help young people develop key emotional and ethical capacities, including problem- solving skills and group awareness, as well as greater understanding of and investment in the common good. Rather than students “doing for” students from different backgrounds, for example, we encourage students to “do with”—to work in diverse groups for sustained periods of time on school and community challenges, groups in which students learn from one another. Importantly, these experiences of diversity should be carefully constructed and facilitated. This is almost an exact description of our Global Concerns projects, of our Local Service partnerships, of our Initiative for Peace programme and of our of links with local action groups.
I sometimes have the sense that our explicitly moral Mission is seen by a few as a bit of an outlier to the serious business of preparing students for the best possible future. The former is tolerated as long as the latter is in place. Of course, it is firmly in place. But as this powerful report makes absolutely clear, it is in place because of, not in spite of the values we hold. We should celebratethis as the unmistakable endorsement that it is.
