Someone recommended I read a paper by Profs. Daphna Oyserman and Mesmin Destin on a social psychological framework called Identity-Based Motivation (IBM). The model offers not only an explanation for poor educational outcomes among certain populations (especially for low-income black and Hispanic boys), but it also offers a modest but proven method for closing the gap between students’ desire to do well and actual academic attainment. (more…)
I’ve been trying to learn about effective ways other people have come up with to teach financial literacy to youths, and this brought me back to how my parents taught me about money management. Each of my parents, I realize, taught me different lessons that still guide me today. (more…)
One of the joys of working with youth is being there when they suddenly lay themselves bare. Most educators would consider this phenomenon nothing less than a minor miracle. I don’t mean this in a “let’s talk about our feelings” way, which not everyone responds well to. Besides, I am Read more…
The funny thing about the name E. chose—Heaven’s Battle Front—is that his is a peaceful tribe. They are not warriors, but explorers, he said, and anyone over 16 (who grew up in the tribe) could join. E. described the tribe as a large, family-like community that was divided into sub-tribes, Read more…
D. is the oldest in the group. Since he is 21 he no longer has a dedicated mentor, but Rachael, the group facilitator, still has him participate in the activities while helping him transition to more of a leadership role. Rachael thought that D. would get the most out of Read more…
(Lots of posts today because so much has happened in the last few days.) Two days ago I attended a Wesleyan event featuring Lara Galinsky, who makes a living helping individuals follow their path to fulfilling work. She has a saying that HEAD + HEART = HUSTLE , where ‘head’ Read more…
When I designed the Tribal Rites of Passage workshop I wondered if any of the young people would choose to imagine their tribe along ethnic lines. It wasn’t something I actively wanted to avoid or encourage, but during mentor training I mentioned that to help their partners think about the tribes they belonged to (or wanted to belong to), they should be somewhat creative in asking questions. Where do you fit in? What type of people do you admire? Do you participate in any sort of community? Whatever tribe they chose, I wanted it to be something deeply meaningful, rather than just an automatic or default answer.
C. was the only one in the group (aside from one of the adults, and I’ll get to that later) who wished to define her tribe ethnically. (more…)
If A.’s ritual was infused with a spirit of adventure, B., the second young person to present, described a rite of passage that struck me as intensely personal. The ritual was for boys 15 and older (without an age cut-off). B. joked around that girls don’t have to go through Read more…
The first person who presented—let’s call him A.—decided just to stand up and describe his ritual without any visual aids (he and his mentor both claimed to be “unable to draw,” and since content was my first priority, I saw no reason to object). He was the one I mentioned Read more…