Monday, March 7, 2022

(7/31) Joy from Kindergarteners - Who Doesn't Want Some of That?!

7 of 31 - SOLSC 2022


Summer of 2020 my daughter did a virtual musical called Super Happy Awesome News. I sometimes have one of the songs surface without realizing it until I find myself singing. Today it's the theme song. When I realized what I was singing I paused to figured out why and realized it is because of this NPR story. Have you seen it? It is Kindergarteners bringing joy to the world through a hotline called "Pep Toc".

What would you give someone as words of encouragement? What would be the pep talk you need to hear today? Have you taken time to be surrounded by laughter - better yet to create a room full of laughter?

With people fighting in lots of places on the planet; the house down the block, the kids on the playground, politicians everywhere, the countries you are praying for - what are you doing to bring joy to the world?

We are in the midst of planning for next year's PD. After looking at data from a student survey we found that open mindedness is one the characteristics in our Profile of Graduates that they rated themselves lowest. I believe that open mindedness is one of the ways to bring understanding among people and therefore increase the likelihood of joy.

How do we facilitate the growth of open mindedness? Is it through allowing for more discussion and debate from a different of perspectives? Is it encouraging people to look at a variety of opinions? I'm not sure those will move the needle without first delving into finding our own biases followed by being comfortable with cognitive dissonance in a safe environment. 

The building of community is the foundation of this work. Each person has to feel safe to be able to express what they believe and what they don't understand in order to be able to have an open mind. Once there is a safe space and self awareness I hope we can truly hear the opinions of and experiences of others. Perhaps then we will be able to find ways to bring joy as well. In the meantime, why not call for a Pep Toc?

2 comments:

  1. "I'm not sure those will move the needle without first delving into finding our own biases followed by being comfortable with cognitive dissonance in a safe environment." I think you may be onto something here....and here, "Once there is a safe space and self awareness I hope we can truly hear the opinions of and experiences of others." So many nuggets to ponder in this piece. Thank you for your thoughts today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading. In the writing my thoughts became more clear. #onemorereasontowrite

      Delete