We asked local independent schools to talk about how they teach non-academic skills essential for future success, such as persistence, teamwork and resilience. Their responses were included in our Independent Schools special section.
From Eaton Arrowsmith School:
There is a hidden curriculum at Eaton Arrowsmith School.
One in which persistence, resilience and leaning on the emotional support of one’s community is modelled and encouraged on a daily basis.
Our students, who have struggled with academic and/or social learning disabilities throughout their lives, are with us for three to four years in order to re-wire and strengthen the weaker networks of their brains that have been the root cause of their learning challenges.
Every day, through the use of the Arrowsmith Program, our students work on what is hardest for them. They dive into the weaker areas of their brain, and through targeted, repetitive cognitive exercises, they strengthen their learning capacities.
In the Arrowsmith Program one cannot compensate or accommodate for learning challenges. In essence, our students are tying their good hands behind their backs and are working to strengthen their weaker hands.
The levels of the cognitive exercises that our students work on are set just slightly above where their learning capacities are, thereby enabling them to set reasonable goals and achieve success.
Success breeds success, as they say, and so our students continue to confidently challenge themselves as the days go by.
Changing one’s brain is no easy task, however, and so there are times when frustration rises to the surface. Our students, however, are surrounded with incredibly supportive peers, who delight in leaving motivational sticky note messages on each other’s desks, and by teachers who embrace failure, seeing it as a chance for learning and growth.
The final component of our EAS team are our parents and caregivers, who are the providers of support, encouragement, hugs and high-fives. It is little wonder that one of the most frequent pieces of feedback we receive from the schools to which our students transition is regarding their incredible work ethic and tenacity of spirit, in other words, the products of our hidden curriculum.
