Board visit to Park Forest Elementary

One of the more enlightening things that we get to do as school board members is to visit our schools. Recently, we had the opportunity to visit Park Forrest Elementary. 

One of the first things that you notice as you enter the school’s main hallway is the “Park Forest Elementary School Constitution”. PFE is a democratic school, meaning that the entire school community – including, and especially the students – establishes the rules and standards by which the school will be governed. The actual constitution, written by students (with some adult guidance) is posted below. 

Not a bad place to go to school, right? One of the things worth noting is that adult leaders would be hard-pressed to come up with a better set of school-wide rules. (Which is how it’s typically done.) But there are significant benefits to having students so involved in the process, the most important of which is that it provides them with an opportunity to begin to take responsibility for their own education, starting with their school environment. 

It seems unlikely that these will become the kind of students who spend thirteen years simply doing what they’re told (also known as “playing school”) and then suddenly wondering what they’re supposed to do with their lives. (Assuming, of course, that we allow them to expand on their experience throughout their middle and high school years.) Hopefully, they will develop the sense that they have a measure of control in their own lives (“agency” is the educational vernacular), as well the knowledge that they can make a difference in the community around them - and eventually the community beyond that. 

This has potentially significant implications. This sense of agency will be an essential disposition in a world in which the path to ‘success’ is not clearly laid out (as it was for many of my generation); in which they will have to create their own jobs, based on their particular set of skills and interests. 

But beyond that, the current state of our fractured democracy is due in large part, I believe, from our society’s move away from Ben Franklin’s vision that public education would be the vehicle through which we “create citizens who could make wise political decisions.” The learning of democratic skills cannot wait until after our students have graduated. That’s too late. 


Another thing I noticed was the poster on the door to the counselor’s office: Mindful Breathing with Yoda (my favorite Star Wars character). Yoda is the school symbol for the set of skills that students learn as a way of maintaining their equilibrium and staying focused in class. Obviously, this is particularly important for the students who don’t stop to think before they act, or who struggle with being emotionally overwhelmed and the ‘inappropriate’ behavior that often follows. 

Sit Comfortably - Close Your Eyes - Breathe In With Your Nose - Breathe Out With Your Mouth - Focus Your Mind On Your Breathing - If Your Mind Wanders, Bring It Back To Your Breathing - Breathe In / Breathe Out - Practice Makes Perfect 

This is the kind of practice that provides ‘space’ to think before you react. But here’s why I think this is particularly important: these are skills students will still be able to use twenty years from now. (Unlike say, when one receives a “prize” for good behavior. As any psychologist will tell you, when the external motivation for a particular behavior ceases, the behavior ceases shortly thereafter.) 

While I would concede that the ‘prize’ model could have value in addressing a chaotic situation, that’s not what we have here. So if we’re going to make the effort to address occasionally problematic behavior in school – which we should – we might as well teach the students something useful while we’re at it.