One of the most unique aspects of Acton Academy, and part of what culminates in such powerful leadership skills, is the agency children have over the operations of their studio. The guide is responsible for creating the schedule, setting up the "games", and upholding guardrails (safety, and respect for the space and each other), however most other rules governing how the studio operates are crafted by the learners themselves, in a democratic fashion. This came up a couple of times this week and I felt it was worth sharing.
In one instance, there was the issue of a magnatile castle built during Spark Play (the hours of unstructured free play the children have each afternoon). Four of the learners were involved in the construction of this elaborate structure, and two more were enjoying playing with it. Our policy to date has been that everything is put away during studio maintenance, however on this particular occasion, I was faced with 6 heroes who did not want to dismantle it, and 2 who did. I know what I wanted to see happen, but this is not my studio and it was not posing any safety hazard. We decided to complete the rest of studio maintenance and then regroup on the carpet afterwards to discuss it as a group. We opened the discussion with a vote: "Would you like to see magnatile structures dismantled every day during studio maintenance, yes or no?" Once we took the vote, we then went around presenting our reasoning. When one hero said "it took a really long time and we're really proud of it!", I responded (borrowing a term from one of our studio favourite books), "what if everybody did that? What if someone completed all of the puzzles in studio, was really proud of their work, and didn't want to clean them up during maintenance?" Without missing a beat, she replied "but puzzles will always come out the same. We won't be able to build this exactly the same again." Hmmm. She had a point. I asked a learner who had voted to dismantle for his reasoning. "Because I want to smash it." I asked whether he could build another tower to smash with the remaining tiles and he said no, there weren't enough square pieces. Hmmm. This brought up another point. I asked those who'd voted no, "Do you see value in taking structures apart so the materials are available for others to use tomorrow?" The response was "no, because most of us want to keep using this." It went around like this a few times, and after everyone had voiced their reasoning we took another vote. In the end, the group voted to keep the castle up for now. They then had a choice to move on to Drop Everything And Read, or help their studiomates build another tower from the remaining tiles to smash. Many enthusiastically chose the latter!
A similar situation arose the next day, when two of the heroes arrived at school with big smiles on their faces and wads of pink gum in their mouths. Their father asked if it was ok to chew gum in the studio? I responded that from the guide's perspective, our concern is safety so as long as they are upright and not running while chewing it, I couldn't see any reason to object. Interestingly, a couple of the other learners overheard this and objected to gum in the studio. I suggested we bring it up that morning at Town Hall (a Friday morning tradition where learners bring forth issues in the studio and offer solutions, then vote), as the day was about to begin. We all gathered on the rug and opened up our Town Hall with the question, "Would you like to allow gum in studio, yes or no?" After voting we then went around and gave our reasoning. Those who objected sited things like, "it's distracting", "gum gets left on surfaces or stuck to things", one of the children told the story of her last school where every locker had gum stuck to the handles and was met by a unanimous "eeeewwww!" from her studiomates. I decided to push back a bit on this. I asked one of our youngest (and particularly candy enthusiastic!) learners who had voted no, "But V, imagine this. It's the day after Halloween and you got a whole pack of gum, your favourite - Hubba Bubba! Would you still feel the same way?" She thought about it for a moment and then responded "Yes, because I can eat as much as I want after school! And it's too distracting to see other people chewing gum while I'm trying to do my work." I asked the learners who'd voted yes why they wanted to allow gum chewing in studio. They responded with things such as "I know not to swallow gum....I like the way it tastes!....I'll put it in the garbage when I'm done." After everyone had a chance to voice their choice and their reasoning we took another vote. The group had decided - there would be no gum in studio. For now.
The topic of these discussions may seem simplistic but the lessons they're imparting are powerful. These children are learning the important life skill of being able to articulate your point in a convincing manner, listen to others with an open mind, engage in respectful debate, the importance of actively participating in democracy, and how to be gracious no matter the outcome. In addition, they have ownership over these rules. They weren't enforced upon them, they came up with them as a collective.
Along with all of that deep, experiential learning, these heroes continue to forge ahead on their reading, writing, and math skills. We hit multiple milestones this week; two of our learners moved on from the early reading program we use and jumped forward to the next level, and thus onto a new studio map! Moving up in these programs signifies a big leap in learning, and these two were so excited and proud to be able to tackle this program, where just 3 months ago they could not. Then, one of our youngest learners began his trek up Mt. Bob! He independently read his very first BOB book and then went on to read 3 more that same day! He's been working so hard and the effort and perseverance are paying off in spades.
I wonder if these heroes might have been partly inspired by the story of incredible perseverance we heard this week; the true story of Colin O'Brady, famous for his solo, unsupported trek across Antarctica in 2018. Colin became the first person to cross the continent from coast to coast without assistance, setting a world record. His story is one of resilience and overcoming adversity - he faced significant challenges, including a life-changing burn injury earlier in his life that had doctors convinced he would never walk normally again. We were all captivated as we watched this short clip about this feat of endurance, mental toughness, and yes, perseverance. His incredible accomplishments emphasize the power of the human spirit to push beyond perceived limits.
In the words of Colin O'Brady, "He who says he can, and he who says he can’t are both usually right."
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