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Classroom Video:
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Wise Practice
by Educator Kimberly Wise, M. Ed. with
Richard Levine.
"Have you ever been away from home to awake in a strange place with a start? My first experience in a core city school evoked such a feeling. Never had I witnessed such a deep and broad level of disrespect.
Not only was it considered normal, but it was also expected as a means of control.
I begged to differ. Then I did."Kimberly's book: Wise Practice: Affective Education in the Inner City shows teachers of young children, and parents and all educators, how to teach the skills of self-respect and social responsibility.
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The best predictor of academic achievement and social adjustment is emotional intelligence. Most of us were raised with the belief that punishment enables self-responsibility; a paradigm which regards humans as innately bad, prone to violence and destructiveness, and in need of appropriate external control. But another model, one backed by science and years of experience teaching in the inner city, understands that human beings make the best choices when in touch with their hearts and exposed to accurate information. For thirteen years Kimberly Wise, together with faculty and staff, taught relationship and affective education skills to over 1200 students in grades pre K-5, in a neighborhood known for drug dealing, violence and prostitution. Using her "TEAM Discovery" curriculum, which she designed to foster self-empowering physical, emotional, and team skills, the children blossomed. Disciplinary infractions declined, tests scores rose, and teacher attrition rates reversed. |
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