I recently shared this meme on Facebook, so a number of you may have seen it there already. If not, this digital poster is a good reminder to all of us that kids need specific lifeskill help.
The daily headlines reveal a world that is (in Glasser’s words) “hanging by a thread.” From unspeakable acts of hatred to opioid addiction (both in today’s news), humans struggle with how to cope and how to get what they want. We leave school only to throw ourselves into self-improvement – knowledge about good food choices and how to prepare it; knowledge about staying fit and how to create and maintain a fitness plan; and insight and skills when it comes to psychological health, to name a few. Billions are spent each year on learning what are really basic life skills. So why are we not focusing on these areas in school? Wouldn’t these areas represent essential learnings?
More and more I am seeing school districts and schools focusing on the deeper needs of students, acknowledging in the process that learning occurs at a much lower rate when emotional needs aren’t met. Educational journals are documenting the success of schools and students that are benefiting from Social & Emotional Learning (SEL). It has become clear to many that the “soft skills” (collaboration, emotional literacy, empathy, social intelligence, etc.) are anything but.
Within this updated context, that context being a new awareness of the need for social and emotional skills, including the ability to monitor and improve our own psychological health, the principles of Choice Theory have so much to offer. Those of us who have a knowledge of Choice Theory just have to share the ideas with our students. Even just a simple focus on the Basic Needs and the concept of the Quality World would go a long way toward students becoming more self-governing.
As I write this I am struck by the need for a semester long Choice Theory curriculum to be created. Somehow, I have a feeling that this has already been done, so I am anxious to hear from those of you who have created such a unit plan yourself or who have discovered a Choice Theory curriculum that somebody else created. Chris Sequeira has done something like this in Oregon and certainly Ivan Honey has created a Choice Theory curriculum in Australia. Let’s share a bit on this. I know a lot of you are hesitating to teach your students Choice Theory because you don’t feel like you are a Choice Theory expert. Choice Theory ideas are too important to hold back on. And don’t forget that –
He who does the teaching, does the learning.
The Better Plan . . 
Jim, When I was a practicing professional, I supervised a group of thoughtfully chosen peer counselors; our program was based on the description Bill presented in The Quality School. My students got the very same training we gave in basic and advanced weeks; to this day, I hear from many of them who are using the powerful Glasserian theory and practice in their own lives. They knew about suicide and addiction intervention, asking self evaluation questions, genetic intensities, discouraging deadly habits and encouraging connecting habits (ways of thinking and doing). They knew the difference between organized behaviors and reorganizing, and Choice Theory was their textbook. They trained either at my house or at the high school on Sunday afternoons or evenings so no one had to give up their interests (eg sports, drama, other). Someone once said we are all defined by the best things we have done in our lives; if so, I have to say this was one of the best things I ever did in my working life.
Love this idea, that being to offer the students the very same coursework that is given in a basic or advanced Choice Theory class. Love it. They are totally capable of understanding and appreciating Choice Theory chart elements. I look forward to tinkering with how the curriculum would be paced over the course of a semester.
I haven’t done it yet, but somehow when you talk about how teaching students about Choice Theory being one of the best things you ever did, somehow I get that.
Jim: To get more specific, when we would study genetic intensities and learned behaviors eg, we would have a guest trainer—usually a speaker from WISE (Women in Service and Education, an association here who works tirelessly to assist abused women) or New Beginnings (a similar organization). We would take what we learned from them and process it through the Choice Theory filter (pardon the expression!). I taught the kids how to teach assertiveness skills (as different from accommodating or competing and choosing aggression) and we did loads of work re conflict resolution. We had “Ally” signs up, had transpeople as guest trainers, assisted kids who wanted to come out to their parents (always on Friday afternoons when the school was nearly deserted!). We combined Glasserian psychology with the work of Lefevre and participated in kind, non-critical interventions (alcohol and/or drug abuse and addiction) along with family members and teachers. We studied the “falling in love” phenomenon and total behavior–including phenylethylamine, and we studied depressing as a choice (and a total behavior); again, we developed intake info and supervision guidelines for intervention and communication. The biggest mistake we can make in schools is to fail to recognize that many teenagers are morally developed with strong empathy skills. FYI, the school did recognize the value of the experience, and students were awarded a service learning credit but the program was noncompetitive and ungraded. The program was part of Counseling Services in the school and had its own office with a posted roster of peer counselors and times available. I developed and supervised the program from 1991 until I retired in 2010 and actually took 2 peer counselors with me to Dublin to offer a workshop at a Glasser Convention there.
That’s a really great idea, and one that could have such an impact. I’m unofficially launching a campaign to get you nominated for Secretary of Education to get that implemented!
Fortunately, there are wise and passionate educators trying to bring this kind of change into schools as we speak. My hope is their energy and commitment will carry the day and bring about the change needed. You know, it seems to me that society, in general, is staring to realize that so many assumptions about mental illness are just not accurate. It will make it easier for schools to be progressive as society allows them to be progressive. Still, though, there are schools and school districts that are moving ahead as change agents and not waiting for society’s approval. I definitely tip my hat to them.