September 2nd
Discovering the Best Within Ourselves
Rooted in Glen Urquhart’s mission statement, “Bring peace to your world by discovering the best within yourself,” is the theme for the 2011-12 school year. An integral part of our mission statement reads, “At Glen Urquhart School we encourage children to discover the best within themselves.”
Discovering the best within ourselves is a journey that begins in childhood as children become less self-centered and more aware of the world around them. Helping children begin that journey and take steps along its way is, I think, one of the main tasks of a teacher. It’s a journey that involves more than our character. It involves our intellect, our emotions, our creativity.
As stated, the theme implies that finding the best within ourselves brings inner peace. I believe that to be true. I also believe that people are basically good and that children yearn to find all that is good within them, whether it’s in the work they produce, the relationships they establish, or the decisions they make.
Helping a child discover his or her best self has to do with belief and expectation – belief in the inherent goodness of children and the expectation that each child will find that goodness. I think the best teachers intuitively understand this. I am not interested in hiring teachers who do not understand it. A child who thinks his teacher doesn’t believe in him will not thrive. A child who is allowed to submit work that doesn’t represent her best effort will not grow.
Children who reach within themselves to find that which represents their best effort and their best decision making are much more likely to be at peace with themselves than children who are allowed to get by with less. (The same is true with adults, of course.) Doing our best brings joy, confidence, pride, and peace. Teachers who helped me do my best are the ones I remember and cherish. Those are the ones we want at Glen Urquhart. They are the ones who encourage children to find the best within themselves by believing in them and by expecting it from them.
