With a tip of the cap to Dr. Stuart Shanker, Canada’s renowned self-regulation author, speaker, clinician and researcher, I have been thinking about how the chicken and egg riddle fits with schoolhouse norms. Stuart raises heritage chickens at his home in the country. They are beautiful birds, wonderfully self and co-regulating, laying rich, organic eggs…and tasting really good as a main course. They also remind us of the age-old debate about the chicken or the egg?
Now from the farmhouse to the schoolhouse. Which comes first, dysregulated and dysregulating students who disrupt the learning environment or the environment that causes some children to tip into dysregulation. Let’s look at a few important aspects as we consider this puzzle:
Back to the riddle: chicken or egg?; behavior or environment? By encouraging more curiosity and less old school certainty, our kids are supported to explore their assets and we get closer to fulfilling our mandate in education: We Build Human Capacity. |