Development and Articulation of my Personal Leadership Platform

All children deserve to live in a joyful, healthy, prosperous and peaceful world. Dewey believed that the business of education is to "train children in co-operative and mutually helpful living" - in other words, to help them to live peacefully in community. I agree with Dewey because the ability and motivation to connect, co-exist and equitably cooperate with others (cross-culturally), are some of the most important inner skills we can help children develop and master for lifelong success in today's world. They, along with other 21st Century skills like creativity and humor, are the foundation for further learning, healthy interpersonal growth and the ability to thrive and be a happy member of a larger society throughout their lives.  

     Humans are highly social creatures and children are born with an innate desire to connect with others and their world. Depression, violent behavior, dropping out and some mental illnesses are too often caused by isolation and the inability to connect with others, nature and their inner selves.  Furthermore, children find more meaning in schooling when it relates to that which they come from and are attached to - themselves, their families and the larger society and world they are part of. Thus, educational programs should include ample opportunities for students to deepen connections with themselves, learn how to cooperate with others in a multi-intelligence way, explore and learn from their existing community (visits to local natural and cultural spaces), meeting and learning from real community members, and applying academic principles to real-life challenges or opportunities for positively influencing or exerting the change they wish to see in their home, school, local and/or global community.  ​