Inspiring Issue
I have not read a more profound and inspiring educational publication than the December 1998/January 1999 issue of Educational Leadership. The authors identified the missing link in our educational system—spirituality. This issue should encourage every member of ASCD to include spiritual growth in the educational reform movement.
—Deborah J. Barrett, Assistant Superintendent, Wapato, Washington
Spirituality in Adolescents
Having read Rabbi Harold Kushner's book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, I was thrilled to see Marge Scherer's interview with him ("Is School the Place for Spirituality? A Conversation with Rabbi Harold Kushner," December 1998/January 1999). His views are inspirational, especially when he talks about adolescents. Developing spirituality within is one of the core components of a successful stress reduction program I have established for teens. Although the program is secular, over 80 percent of the participants say that this aspect is important to them. We call it an inner locus of control.
—Daphne Grad, Matlock Academy, West Palm Beach, Florida
The Spirit of Education
The December 1998/January 1999 issue on "The Spirit of Education" emphasized a subject that is dearly needed to keep balance in public education. For me, head and shoulders above the other articles in quality of insight, balance, and understanding of constitutional, spiritual, and psychological issues was "Averting Culture Wars over Religion" by Charles Haynes.
The perception of Charles Suhor in "Spirituality—Letting It Grow in the Classroom" was naive and uninformed by reality. His invocation of extrasensory experience lacks perspective. As a psychologist and a Christian, I have read and written widely and deeply in that field. I am appalled that the gap between the humanities and the principles of science remains so wide that such tripe could be seriously proposed.
—Richard Kahoe, Woodward, Oklahoma
Positive School Climate
The September 1998 issue focused on a timely issue: developing a positive school climate. The interview with Herb Kohl, "The Discipline of Hope," was important in light of the paths that many schools are following. Whether the issue is content standards that limit creativity, vouchers that eliminate the "public" from public schools, school-business partnerships with their alleged benefits, or ineffective teacher education programs based on government mandates, schools are reflecting a society whose focus is narrowing rather than broadening, excluding rather than including, and ignoring rather than caring.
The reforms suggested by Kohl are challenging because we must understand many variables, such as race and class, before we can dramatically change teaching and learning. Today's thinking offers simple solutions: more content increases learning; competition increases motivation and performances; technology reforms schooling and better prepares students. But the quick fix just doesn't work. Our task, inspired by Kohl, is to believe that school "can be different from what it is now."
—Steve Grineski, Moorhead State University, Moorhead, Minnesota
