Teaching Curiosity

Turnaround for Children, an organization founded to address mental health issues and their repercussions in the classroom, focuses on preparing teachers and schools to structure classroom environments in a constructive way. They create opportunities for learning in rigorous ways with high expectations so that children thrive and are well cared for, helping them to thrive both academically and emotionally.

A new initiative in West Virginia is training elementary school teachers to identify signs of intergenerational trauma in their students and adjust their teaching methods accordingly.

In Baltimore, the effects of poverty hamper student's educational experience. This article looks at one school's attempt to address these education and behavioral barriers through meditation.

Last year, New York City began turning schools in poor neighborhoods into community schools—combining rigorous instruction and extracurricular enrichment with a broad social support system.

The ecosystem of D.C. charter schools that has evolved over the last two decades represents a cornucopia of creative and nontraditional approaches to education, in addition to fairly traditional college-prep schools, and is now producing some of the highest graduation rates, college acceptance rates, and average test scores in public schools in the nation.

Bangladesh schools had very low attendance because children were kept home to work and conditions were unsafe for girls, ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities. BRAC, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive NGOs, has built new schools addressing all the reasons, at home and school, that were preventing children from attending.

Belmont Charter School offers a year-round program that includes camp-style activities, work-study programs, job training, and classroom learning in small groups during the summer. Teachers still receive several weeks off before summer programming starts, and students say the summer options help them build real-world skills and explore topics that aren’t always covered during the regular school year.

Across the country, colleges and universities are changing their SAT policies and becoming test-optional campuses. That means they don’t consider test scores in their admissions process. In Washington, six universities have made the transition. Supporters say the move is meant to increase diversity and make admissions more accessible. Studies show mixed results on whether it works, but at some universities like the University of Puget, there was an increase in the students of color admitted.

In Georgia’s Bibb county, students at two schools are learning deep breathing and mindfulness from the organization, On the Same Breath. The practice, introduced by the organization and then led by teachers, gives students the opportunity to complete this practice every day for 40 days in the hopes that it will address behavioral issues and stress. It’s currently in the pilot stage for Bibb county, but the Atlantic public school system has been using it for years.

A middle school in New Hampshire has piloted a program that focuses on dividing the school into different wings and offering classes on "mental wellness, conflict resolution, and healthy ways to communicate" with the goal of better addressing the emotional wellbeing of students. The outcomes have been promising thus far, with students reporting improved effects on their mental health.