On Penikese the students were a community that included their teachers more so than most schools. The outside world was impactful psychologically but less physically since most students did not leave the island for six months at a time. The winters were especially insular as far as the outside world was concerned because getting to and from the island was extremely limited. Thus the students were required to interact with each other and their teachers more frequently; their arguments, friendships, and sorrows were heightened because of their physical and psychological isolation from the outside world, including, at times, each other. There were practical outcomes of this communal awareness as well, for instance, Robb explain to one student that if a garden is not planted or a tractor not fixed no one will eat, the livestock will starve, and everyone will go hungry. Cause and effect is very important for the Penikese students to learn, as is a chain of events if they are ever to understand society and their place as individuals within that society. If this, then this; if me, then you, and us. Simultaneously cause and effect as well as Me-Thou principles (which most children learn at an early age but these students have not learned given their neurotic environments) are being taught. If public schools were more hands-on with these lessons then there might not need to be a Penikese school—it would simply be irrelevant because there wouldn’t be any troubled students, or at least the school could mitigate these students’ psychological needs before they became so ingrained. Because pre-Penikese educational systems did not expect much or require much from their students these young men were allowed to slip through the cracks. They were so used to hearing that they weren’t going to make it, weren’t worth the effort, or were just plain useless that they believed these lies and became what they were told they already were until they had trouble seeing themselves as anything other than failures. Penikese was more than a place to teach remedial math or English, it was an attempt to build up these young men, to give them a sense of positive accomplishment, responsibility, work-ethic, job skills, community, chain of events, and individual worth. These young men weren’t just taught how to build boats, weld, drive tractors, or garden, they were instilled with social morals, self-esteem, and the realization that learning could enrich their lives intellectually and economically. Unfortunately many of the students were unable to break free of their social and psychological confinements and returned repeatedly to Penikese or were incarcerated. Still some students like Bill managed to overcome their circumstances with the help of those lessons they learned at Penikese; the fact that Bill was “angry” that he left his “family” on the island is proof enough of the connection he made with the teachers and students on the island, as well as the effectiveness of the program in that he held a steady job, raised a family, owned his own home, and became a community-minded man who cared about his neighbors’ well-being (287).
Question: What would you do if you had students like those on Penikese in your classroom? How would you help them? What would you focus on more: psychological or academic growth? What activities would you do in and out of class?
On Penikese the students were a community that included their teachers more so than most schools. The outside world was impactful psychologically but less physically since most students did not leave the island for six months at a time. The winters were especially insular as far as the outside world was concerned because getting to and from the island was extremely limited. Thus the students were required to interact with each other and their teachers more frequently; their arguments, friendships, and sorrows were heightened because of their physical and psychological isolation from the outside world, including, at times, each other. There were practical outcomes of this communal awareness as well, for instance, Robb explain to one student that if a garden is not planted or a tractor not fixed no one will eat, the livestock will starve, and everyone will go hungry.
ReplyDeleteCause and effect is very important for the Penikese students to learn, as is a chain of events if they are ever to understand society and their place as individuals within that society. If this, then this; if me, then you, and us. Simultaneously cause and effect as well as Me-Thou principles (which most children learn at an early age but these students have not learned given their neurotic environments) are being taught. If public schools were more hands-on with these lessons then there might not need to be a Penikese school—it would simply be irrelevant because there wouldn’t be any troubled students, or at least the school could mitigate these students’ psychological needs before they became so ingrained.
Because pre-Penikese educational systems did not expect much or require much from their students these young men were allowed to slip through the cracks. They were so used to hearing that they weren’t going to make it, weren’t worth the effort, or were just plain useless that they believed these lies and became what they were told they already were until they had trouble seeing themselves as anything other than failures. Penikese was more than a place to teach remedial math or English, it was an attempt to build up these young men, to give them a sense of positive accomplishment, responsibility, work-ethic, job skills, community, chain of events, and individual worth. These young men weren’t just taught how to build boats, weld, drive tractors, or garden, they were instilled with social morals, self-esteem, and the realization that learning could enrich their lives intellectually and economically. Unfortunately many of the students were unable to break free of their social and psychological confinements and returned repeatedly to Penikese or were incarcerated.
Still some students like Bill managed to overcome their circumstances with the help of those lessons they learned at Penikese; the fact that Bill was “angry” that he left his “family” on the island is proof enough of the connection he made with the teachers and students on the island, as well as the effectiveness of the program in that he held a steady job, raised a family, owned his own home, and became a community-minded man who cared about his neighbors’ well-being (287).
Question: What would you do if you had students like those on Penikese in your classroom? How would you help them? What would you focus on more: psychological or academic growth? What activities would you do in and out of class?