Familiar Ground: Traditions That Build School
Community
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An inspiring new book from the Northeast Foundation for Children describes
how a school staff uses traditions to weave a school of individual students,
staff, and families into one community.
I have just finished reading Familiar Ground: Traditions that Build
School Community, by Libby Woodfin, with contributions by Northeast
Foundation for Children Staff (Northeast Foundation for Children, Greenfield,
Mass., 1998). This 73-page book describes how a school staff uses traditions
to weave a school of individual students, staff, and families into one
community. And the focus is on all-school traditions, not those
of a single teacher.
A glance at the Table of Contents brings the realization that this book
covers unfamiliar ground -- ground seldom written about or addressed
directly. Listings in the Table of Contents include The Knowing of Names,
All-School Games, Greetings, and the Magic Penny Ceremony.
WHY ARE TRADITIONS IMPORTANT?
At Greenfield (Mass.) Center School, the staff uses all-school traditions
to teach children how to be part of a community and to see
themselves as valued members of that community. In the book's introduction,
Roxanne Kriete writes:
"Many traditions, described in this book, help children at Greenfield
Center School feel that they are on familiar ground. Learning about each
other through traditions like All-School Meeting and Mountain Day … builds
our community. In the spaces where we feel most comfortable we are able
to offer the gifts and venture the risks that the best learning requires.
We are on familiar ground."
"The sense of community is strong, even palpable. But this sense
didn't just spring full-blown from being a group of people occupying the
same place at the same time. It was built upon many small and specific
moments of learning the same verses to songs and sharing traditions, memories
of times together and stories often-told."...
"Some of our traditions are once a year events; some happen
every week or even every day. They give us ways to greet each other, to
learn about each other, to sing and celebrate and say goodbye. These events
mark our comings and our goings and affirm our common interests in the
time we spend together."
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Names and greetings are very important at Greenfield Center School.
And the using of names and greetings indicates how much community members
share with and care for one another. The importance of all school members
-- from oldest to youngest and from persons of authority to those with
less authority -- is affirmed.
One yearly, school-wide contest is "Name the School." This does not
mean the school building, it means naming all of the individuals in the
school. Multi-age teams of students name -- during the weekly all-school
meeting -- each and every individual. The youngest children begin by learning
the names of their team members and becoming friends with the older children.
The contest demands time for children to go around to other classrooms,
learning the names of teachers and students. Greenfield Center School
is a school where this is important and so, the time is made.
The tradition began when the school was much smaller and individual
students "named the school." Today, the school has 180 students and twenty
staff members.
What could be better for students than to feel part of a place where
they know everyone and everyone else knows them?
ALL-SCHOOL MEETINGS AND ALL-SCHOOL GAMES
All-School Meetings, held every week, are an integral part of life at
the school. A different class hosts each meeting. Visitors are greeted
and their names made known, birthdays are recognized, and announcements
made. These meetings are
"...special gatherings, a routine that children know. They know
that they will sing, they will share, and they will see the whole school
gathered in one place. It is routine; yet it is special because it provides
a time once a week when our entire community comes together to enjoy and
appreciate each other."
All-School Games is another tradition at Greenfield Center School. "Once
a week for half an hour at a scheduled time, students go to the room of
their All-School Games teacher, and from there the group goes outside
to play games. Teachers choose games that are appropriate across a broad
range of ages." Again, this tradition demands time, and because it is
an important part of the community, time is set aside. Children become
part of another class (their All-Schools Games class) and another group
of children -- of many ages -- with whom they bond. Older children teach
and help younger children and share the fun of the games together.
ANALYZING TRADITIONS
Each year new events and old traditions at Greenfield Center School
are carefully analyzed because people there "…have learned that traditions
without purpose are hollow and do not -- in fact, should not -- last.
"We must constantly examine and reexamine our traditions. They
must have purpose; they must make sense; and they must be sustainable
within the constraints of our resources of time and energy. When these
measures are met, traditions allow us to pass on what we know and what
we care about. At Center School we have built our traditions around creating
and sustaining a sense of community and meeting the most vital needs of
that community.
"But we must remember that schools are, like all human communities,
dynamic organisms. The community whose needs we are meeting doesn't get
defined once and tidily stay that way. Some changes are predictable and
foreseen; others swoop upon us."
WHAT CAN YOU LEARN FROM FAMILIAR GROUND?
Every school is different, but every school can benefit from becoming
a community. The ideas in Familiar Ground might open new avenues
to community at your school. The authors express that wish.
"Some of our traditions might transplant beautifully and thrive
in your school's climate; some might not be suitable at all. We invite
you to borrow and adapt any that appeal to you, just as we have borrowed
and adapted from many sources over our almost twenty years as a school.
The specifics don't so much matter. What does matter is the commitment
to make time and space for the hard work and great rewards of an all-school
community life. To be part of a group of people who can depend upon each
other for what they need is, after all, quite a goal."
As a common starting point for teachers at your school, Familiar
Ground could form the basis of a staff workshop on creating school
community. Planners of charter schools and magnet schools could find ideas
and support for new and creative ventures. This book will warm the hearts
of teachers and administrators -- and get their creative juices flowing
as they remember…
"In the spaces where we feel most comfortable we are able to
offer the gifts and venture the risks that the best learning requires.
We are on familiar ground."
They will also learn what the Magic Penny Ceremony is.
Familiar Ground: Traditions that Build School Community, by Libby
Woodfin, is published by the Northeast Foundation for Children. The book
is available from NEFC by calling the Foundation at 1-800-360-6332. (Order
book #122W8, $7.50.) Familiar Ground is the second book in The
Responsive Classroom Series. The first book in the series is Off to
a Good Start: Launching the School Year -- Excerpts from the Responsive
Classroom Newsletter (#121W8, $7.50). Quantity discounts are available.
The Northeast Foundation for Children, a private, non-profit educational
foundation, works to improve the quality of classroom teaching through
its professional development programs, summer workshops, long-term collaborations,
and teacher resources. The foundation operates a K-8 laboratory/demonstration
school, The Greenfield Center School, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, as
a place to try new methodology and classroom practices in furtherance
of the Foundation's goals. The Center School provides opportunities for
educators to see developmentally appropriate teaching practices and the
various components of The Responsive Classroom's social curriculum integrated
in a mixed-age classroom.
In addition, the foundation publishes The Responsive Classroom,
a newsletter for teachers, three times a year (January, April, and August).
Subscriptions are free to educators. To initiate a subscription, mail
(to ensure that they have accurate mailing information) your name; your
address; your city, state, and ZIP; your title or grade level taught;
and your school name to Northeast Foundation for Children, 71 Montague
City Rd., Greenfield, MA 01301.
Teaching
Children to Care
An article about the responsive classroom concept from teachers in Cortland,
New York. Topics include classroom organization, guided discovery, the
morning meeting, rules and logical consequences, choice time, an assessment
and reporting to parents.
NGFS Social
Curriculum
New Garden Friends School created a social curriculum that is developed
from the program "Teaching Children to Care" and "The Responsive Classroom"
from the Northeast Foundation for Children. This curriculum is based on
the idea that children must learn the positive skills necessary for successful
and caring interactions, just as they learn any other subject matter.
Pretzels
A weekly activity that allows the exchange of compliments and criticism
among the students in your class can help resolve conflicts and teach
children how to properly handle conflict. (A July, 1997, Education World
LESSON PLANNING article.)
Case
Studies Focus on Teachers' Everyday Problems Is "I'm bored!" one of
your students' favorite expressions? Are name-calling and play-fighting
problems that you face every day in your classroom? Follow six classroom
teachers as they struggle to understand and find workable solutions to
these and other everyday problems in a new book from author Ruth Charney.
(A July, 1997, Education World BOOKS IN EDUCATION article.)
Originally published 04/27/1998
Links last updated 07/26/2006
I have just finished reading Familiar Ground: Traditions that Build
School Community, by Libby Woodfin, with contributions by Northeast
Foundation for Children Staff (Northeast Foundation for Children, Greenfield,
Mass., 1998). This 73-page book describes how a school staff uses traditions
to weave a school of individual students, staff, and families into one
community. And the focus is on all-school traditions, not those
of a single teacher.