Attitude Will be Everything: One Teacher’s Thoughts on the ‘20-‘21 School Year
“Focusing exclusively on what is in our power magnifies and enhances our power. But every ounce of energy directed at things we can’t actually influence is wasted...”
The last five months have been difficult for school-age children and their families, and it appears that there will not be a complete return to normal anytime soon. As political and educational leaders debate the ‘20-‘21 school year, the only thing that seems certain is that there is widespread disagreement and anger.
How, then, do we best prepare our children to learn this academic year? Several basic principles from the 2,000-year-old Stoic philosophy can help.
What we control and what we do not
The most important and powerful practice in Stoicism is differentiating between what we can influence and what we cannot. If we can help our children understand what aspects of the school year are up to them and which are not, our children can focus their attention and efforts properly.
It may seem frightening to explain to a child that they don’t control whether or not they’ll be able to physically go to school this fall, or if there’ll be a football season, but this balances out when we explain that they do control their attitude and how they choose to respond.
As bestselling author Ryan Holiday explains in The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, the phrase, “This happened, and it is bad,” is actually two impressions. The first—“This happened”—is objective. The second—“It is bad”—is subjective.
As states and school districts unveil their learning plans for the fall, they are almost certain to be unpopular. Complaining, arguing, or simply giving up are choices that are likely to waste time and energy. To see the whole situation as a challenge and to make the best of it is also a choice—one that is up to us.
As the school year approaches, we can benefit our children (and ourselves) by persuading them to focus on the following three concepts.
Be proactive
Whatever the new school year looks like, the first of Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People applies. As Naval Ravikant wrote a few years ago, “Free education is abundant, all over the Internet. It’s the desire to learn that’s scarce.”
Covey writes that proactive people do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a result of their conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feelings.
The great motivational speaker Jim Rohn put it even more simply: “Either you run the day or the day runs you.”
Choose “alive time” over “dead time”
Social distancing can lead to extraordinary amounts of free time. Given the choice between leading busy, involved lifestyles with different activities and friend groups and, say, learning from home every day, most children would probably choose the former. But time spent at home does not need to be “dead time.”
Bestselling author Robert Greene has written of the concept of "alive time" vs. "dead time." Dead time is time spent sitting around waiting, refreshing our social media feeds, watching TV, or applying judgements to things we don’t control. Alive time is when we are actively learning, researching, and creating.
As summer turns to fall, we can help our children to appreciate that they live in a time where learning opportunities are nearly limitless, and what a shame it would be to waste time in sadness or anger.
Focus on effort, not outcomes
Previously, school officials deployed testing and grading systems that had been crafted and adjusted for many years. While still imperfect, these systems were largely agreeable and determined to be fair.
Now? Well, as a middle school history teacher, I can tell you firsthand that I’m reinventing everything this year. As I write this, I’m in the process of setting up my Google Classrooms and grading structures. How will I assess student learning? How can I have my students take a test and know they’re not cheating? How long can I expect my students to listen to me lecture on a Zoom call before they start browsing their TikTok feeds? I don’t have good answers to these questions, and I assume most teachers don’t either.
It’s entirely possible that our children do everything right—listen carefully to instruction, complete the assignment diligently, submit it properly—yet still receive negative results. It’s possible that some teachers will be overly demanding. We can assist in this area by helping our children develop systems (effort) instead of goals (grades). Circling back to Stoicism, our children directly control the amount of effort they put into a given assignment. Once it is submitted, the outcome is out of their control.
As we prepare our children for the new school year, we can borrow from Stephen Covey and remind our children that while they don’t control state and district-level decisions, they do have a responsibility—that is “response-ability”—to choose how they respond. This alone gives them plenty to work with.
A career educator, Sean Galvin holds a PhD in Education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master's in Education from the University of Michigan. Currently a middle school teacher for Battle Creek Public Schools, he has taught and run student mentorship and enrichment programs at both the high school and middle school levels. His dissertation covers the role of mentorship and student incentives in driving learning outcomes.