Essential Lessons

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Essential Lessons

Ms. Kerry Martin, Dean of Studies

As a society, the past 10 months have forced us to examine who and what are essential. We have had to limit our movement and activities outside the home to what is essential. We have realized what jobs and workers are essential. We have reflected on what relationships and connections are essential to our mental and emotional well-being, those we took for granted and those we have always treasured.

The same is true for our Providence community. Scott McLarty, Head of School, has continually reminded all of us that as a learning institution, our primary goal during this pandemic should be to learn from it. As a result, we have focused on creating intentional opportunities and conversations to reflect on what we are learning. We are learning the truth of the adage, “necessity is the mother of invention,” but having a culture of learning and innovation to begin with sure makes it easier! The alacrity with which our faculty dove into remote learning back in March of 2020 was inspiring – in the truest sense of the word. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit genuinely moved amongst us as we held a synchronous O.L.D. to practice what it would be like teaching students while they were in their homes and the faculty were all working from their various classrooms. We did not yet know how bad the pandemic would get, so there was an almost festival atmosphere on campus that day. Walking the halls and popping my head into various classrooms, I saw teachers electrified and downright giddy with learning and collaboration. There was a palpable sense

of unity and shared purpose and the power that comes from vulnerability in learning together. Later that day as faculty and staff gathered in the MPR (remember that room?) to celebrate our successful ‘dry run,’ I was overwhelmed with pride and gratitude and felt the tears well up.

Now, ten months later we are learning that the necessity of the pandemic, as Social Studies Chair Hani Zubi '88 reflected, has “turned obligation into empowerment and even liberation.” We are learning that some of our basic beliefs about what is feasible were shackling us to stale practices and outdated policies, like when it comes to accepting initial late work without penalty. If the work is essential to understanding a concept or practicing a critical skill, then of course we want students to do it, even if they do not do it exactly when had we planned. Our grades are supposed to reflect the student’s learning process, progress, and product - not their promptness or compliance. Physical Education Department Chair Karri Kirsch put it well when she said she simply “responded to the students’ needs” when we announced the fall semester would be BOLD by immediately revamping the PE & Wellness curriculum to address the increased need for “mental and emotional resources.” While the specifics of completing work at varying paces or overhauling curriculum brings nuanced discussions about disciplinespecific pedagogical practices and needs, we are learning to embrace the discomfort that comes when we grapple with complicated issues such as those surrounding grading and pacing.

We are learning that being forced to cut down curriculum and slow pacing to focus on what is most essential illuminates the crystallized and precious core of what and how we teach. We are learning to ask, as Science Chair David Bird put it, “what do I want my students to walk away with? What do I want them to truly remember and take with them?” We are re-learning that quality will always trump quantity. Olga Barahona, Math Dept. Chair noted that “students are still learning, and in some cases the learning is deeper because the pace is slower and the opportunities for re-dos/re-takes require review and authentic learning vs. irrelevant extra credit just for points.” We are learning that slogging through the clerical and logistical complexities of best practices is worth it when we see a commensurate increase in our students’ tolerance for struggle. We are un-learning some bad pedagogical habits because it is the learning after all, not the teaching, that is the legacy of educators. We are learning that our students are our partners and they have much to teach us when we take the time to listen. Learning alongside them, with them, throughout these past ten months, has been a gift. We have always valued student voice and have sought to empower our Pioneers to use their voices to make Providence better, as evidenced by Marisa Bradfield’s recent efforts to “elevate student voice” in allowing them to take the lead in the discernment and announcement of a meaningful change in the names of the ensemble choirs. We have never more urgently needed students’ voice as we have in the past ten months. We needed their feedback and voice to make the rapid improvements to our BOLD standards and instructional practices, but more broadly, we need them to continue being voices of change and healing in our broken world. Visual Arts Department Chair Michelle Boucher '95 has observed in her students’ art that the increased personalization of assignments has resulted in students “showing us—literally—more of their lives” as we are invited into their homes each class. Our student body has stepped up and spoken out with grace and power and compassion. We have learned so much from our student activists and social justice champions and mental health advocates. I am in awe of our students; their resilience, courage, empathy, and conviction humble me.

We are learning that our emphasis on relationships and well-being, which have always been at the heart of our school’s culture, must be nurtured and strengthened and protected and can never, never be taken for granted. As World Languages Department Chair Maribel Kuklish pointed out for World Languages in particular, there is a “critical social element” to learning. While that may be overtly observable in the acquisition of a foreign language, humans are social creatures by nature and learning is an inherently social activity. Our theme for 2020-2021 is ‘Sacred Encounters’ and as James Jimenez, Religious Studies Chair remarked, “our sacred encounters are both an ongoing goal and what we are most proud of” during BOLD. Our sense of community, so essential to a healthy learning institution, does not just happen when people are nice or polite to one another. It is important to remember that authentic community does not come from and cannot survive on mere benign tolerance. It must be intentionally cultivated by a commitment to hold each other to higher standards and to hold each other up though we may stumble as we strive for them. We are learning in our commitment to becoming an antiracist school that courageous vulnerability is essential.

We are learning we are capable of much, much more than we thought. We have been cracked wide open with possibility and the singular courage that comes from no longer fearing change. The most powerful lesson we are learning, which was echoed by so many in the individual reflections and surveys and discussions is that—together—we really can do anything.