At our annual talent show, a group of students teamed up with
three students with intellectual disabilities to sing a Justin Bieber song. At
the end of "Baby, Baby," the audience of elementary students
spontaneously gave these students a standing ovation. I had been in on the
planning of the act but the students took all the initiative and responsibility
for coordinating and managing rehearsals. The positive response that they
received from their community of peers was theirs to enjoy. My emotional tears of pride
were maybe just a bonus.
One of my professors in my leadership program had us read Catching Up Or Leading the Way by Dr. Yong Zhao. In one of the chapters, Zhao talked
about talent shows and he inspired me to think about them differently. Up until
reading his points and discussing them with cohorts, I found talent shows to be
mostly tedious. Typically, a couple of students have impressed me with acts that are
the results of major commitments; dance routines that have been explicitly
choreographed and piano concertos prepared for an outside-of-school recital
have been highlights in years past.
Zhao provided me with a
different outlook on the talent show tradition. He writes that "Talent shows are just one example from American education,
which has traditionally created a culture that
respects individual differences, endorses individual interests, and supports a
broad range of talents” and goes
on to say that “For a nation, a broader definition of success and of what
talents are valuable, beyond academic performance in a few subjects, preserves
and cultivates a diversity of talent. Such diversity is essential for
adapting to changing societies and economies.”
The Bieber act clearly provided students with
an opportunity for powerful inclusion but there were other acts that promoted
important skills for students in 21st century schools. For example, a group
of girls performed a dance. I am certain that this dance would not win platinum
in a competition, but these girls choreographed it, independently practiced it, adjusted
for each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and continued their performance even
when there was an awkward moment when no one could remember a few measures and
moves. From this experience, they developed initiative, resourcefulness,
collaboration, perseverance, empathy, innovation, and creativity.
Another one of my students had vacillated between wanting to play a piano piece
and preferring to remain in the audience. Ultimately, he played. For him, he
demonstrated all of the aforementioned skills and a significant amount of
courage, too. Do these skills sound familiar? Many of them are at the core of
21st century schools’ updated mission statements.
Beyond developing these skills, participation in last week's talent show provided additional opportunities. For one
student (and I am sure for others whom I don’t know as well,) the talent show
provided inspiration to come to school. Although her absence rate had been
exorbitantly high throughout the year, for the two weeks before the show, she
was there every day, making every rehearsal. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Additionally, she completed almost all of her work during that time because
rehearsals were during recess and she didn’t want to be finishing assignments
at those times, a classroom expectation.
As a parent and as a teacher, talent shows
have seemed long. Sometimes, really long.
However, I am finding myself really agreeing with Zhao and even furthering his argument in favor of talent shows because they offer such opportunities for acceptance,
risk-taking, and inclusion. Bravo.
No comments:
Post a Comment