Academic Expectations

By CHARLES DEBELAK

My experience in education has taught me to never question a child’s capacity for high achievement and excellence. Year after year I am reminded of the strength, intellectual power, and the potential for excellence, hiding within children, waiting for the opportunity to blossom.

But my experience has also taught me that these hidden potentials may never see the light of day. Why? Because these potentials require opportunity. Opportunity is like a playing field. It invites participation. It offers the chance to discover abilities and talents. Opportunity answers the request of potential, “Let me grow. I want to grow. I can grow.” Potentiality becomes actuality if children are given opportunities to grow and flourish. Without opportunity, potential lies dormant.
 
Yet there is more to this picture. Meaningful opportunities must be based upon meaningful expectations. If expectations are low, then performance and achievement will be low and potential undeveloped. But if expectations are set high then one’s performance and achievement enable the discovery of a pathway for continuous growth which leads to realized potential. Greater achievement and greater growth blossom in the company of greater expectations.
 
“Greater Expectations” is the title of William Damen’s book subtitled “Overcoming the Culture of Indulgence in Our Homes and Schools.” William Damon, a professor at Stanford University is America’s leading thinker on the moral development of children and adolescents. “Greater Expectations,” published in 1995, exposed the low standards of expectation that children confront within our homes, schools, and throughout our culture. The challenges Damen addressed continue today, and in some cases, expectations have fallen even further.
 
In an educational setting, the cornerstone of meaningful achievement is setting realistic expectations. Realistic expectations drive achievement. Whether in the classroom, on the athletic field, or in the music room, if you take a peek behind excellence you will find meaningful expectations. When expectations are set realistically high, achievement soars. When expectations are set low, achievement lags. Expectations create an environment that determines whether talent and potential have the opportunity they need to blossom.
 
“KEEP ‘EM BUSY AND PRODUCTIVE FROM MORNING ‘TIL NIGHT” 
When my wife and I began our parenting lives in the mid-1970s, we, like all responsible, thoughtful young couples panicked! We were certain that something we would do or say would permanently traumatize our children and thwart whatever potential their young lives held.
 
After pouring over parenting books and articles, I raised a skeptical eye. “How do I know what these people are saying is true? What do their kids look like?” With these questions, a light bulb went on. Maybe the best thing I could do is to ask experienced parents whose children became noteworthy young people – accomplished, considerate of others, socially adjusted, and even charming. “I’d be happy with that!” I said to myself.
 
Fortunately, we had such dear friends. This couple had raised four beautiful children and so I asked “How did you do that?” expecting a well-researched and detailed plan. Embarrassed and with humility (probably part of their secret) they told us, “From the time our children were pre-teens, we kept them busy from morning to night. It cost us money; it cost us time. But we made sure their waking hours were engaged in healthy activities and in positive environments.”
 
“That’s it? That’s all you did?” I wondered skeptically at the time. But now, if you were to ask me about their comments 40 years later, I could speak endlessly and in detail about their “folk” wisdom.
 
Sure, I believe children need “space,” they need “downtime,” and they need to relax. But always and only in measure. In fact, the happiest young people I have known through my 45 years of being a teacher, coach, and mentor, are those who have filled their life with purpose. They spent their time and exhausted their energies on meaningful activities – school, sports, music, theater, art, and helping others.

This article was written for the Birchwood community by Head of School Charles Debelak. His writing provides parents with information about sound educational principles and child development issues gleaned from history, contemporary research, and his 50+ years of educating, coaching, and counseling children, young adults, and parents.
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