Integrity: Learning as/from children BY KERRY JACOBSON, SUPERINTENDENT
D
uring the many months of our strategic planning process — the time when the SAS mission was crafted — many words were considered for inclusion in the mission statement itself. Each word and each concept was discussed for its clarity, directness, and importance. No word was included by chance. One word that gathered much attention was integrity, as in: “Shanghai American School inspires in all students … a commitment to act with integrity …” Integrity is not an easy concept to define, but it is one of those ideas that are evident when you see it. In a dictionary, integrity will include qualities of honesty, moral principles, and being “of good character.” It comes from the same root as the word integrate — both words capture the idea of “wholeness.” Integrity will presume that a person acts with consistency and conscience… in an integrated fashion. To me, integrity has always meant that we do what we say we will do. Perhaps the best way to think about integrity is through the words of others: • “Real integrity is doing the right thing,
knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey
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• “A great man is always willing to be
little.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Time is always right to do what is
right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
• “I am different from George Washington.
I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can, but I won’t.” – Mark Twain
When confronted with difficult dilemmas regarding schools, my father used to advise me: “Kerry, if you make your decisions based on the true needs of children, you will be right.” In many ways, I believe that children are often our best moral compasses, our real leaders when we strive to lead lives of integrity. Some years ago, a story that illustrates the power of children to educate us all about integrity, came from a basketball game. Two rival schools were competing in a hotly contested game with loud and raucous crowds supporting each team. The score seesawed back and forth all the way through the final quarter. As time was about to expire, the home team was behind by one point and one of their players took a final shot. The ball rolled tantalizingly around the rim, fell away, but was tipped in by a teammate. The referees signaled the two points and the home crowd went wild in celebration. The referees quickly looked at the clock and realized that time had
expired sometime during this last sequence. Because of the intense noise of the fans, neither official was able to hear the buzzer that signaled the end of the game. Neither could determine whether the tip-in had occurred during game time or not. The referees approached the scorer’s table, where a somewhat disconcerted 17-year-old high school student operated the clock. Fans from both schools hung over the railings emitting menacing catcalls. The student was enrolled in the home school and his face clearly betrayed the pressure of the moment. However, he clearly and forthrightly, if also hesitantly, stated that the time had expired before the tip-in had occurred. The referees waved off the last shot, giving the victory to the visiting squad. The two intense coaches huddled with the officials, who explained the results, the observations of the student timer, and the final outcome. The referees fully expected a tirade from the hometown coach. Instead, the coach walked to the table, wrapped his arm around the student timer, broke out into a wide smile and said to the referees, “Guys, I’d like to introduce you to my son.” In school, opportunities for the practice of integrity are many: timeliness in projects, honesty in footnoting, assisting a classmate who is struggling, asking for help when needed, holding the door for others, cleaning up one’s own messes in the art room or cafeteria, or sitting by someone new at lunch. Each action that we take that reflects our core values also builds our character and creates integrity within us. Integrity is within ourselves, making us who we are. Integrity grants us the freedom to live our dreams. H. Jackson Brown, Jr., puts it well: “Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”
Mission Shanghai American School inspires in all students: • A lifelong passion for learning • A commitment to act with integrity and compassion • The courage to live their dreams
VOL 4, NUMBER 5: FEBRUARY 2013