A story in this week’s Journal discusses a new program in the Revere schools, The Leader in Me. According to the news article, “The Leader in Me, which started in September, teaches students life skills consisting of seven-steps: Being proactive; begin with the end in mind; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergies; and sharpen the saw.”
We thought to ourselves as we were reading this story, “What a wonderful program this appears to be,” because it truly expands what the notion of an “education” is all about.
Whether someone may be “book smart” does not necessarily determine success in life. Numerous studies have shown that the most significant predictor of success among college students of similar aptitude is not the schools they attend, but their level of conscientiousness.
And what is conscientiousness? It means attending classes, getting work done on time, and staying out of trouble, which implies respecting oneself and others. These are life skills that are inclusive of, and develop, a person’s character.
Public schools in Massachusetts do a great job of churning out students with high test scores on standardized tests, but they fall short in developing the skill-set that is needed to turn those high scores into success in life.
The Leader in Me program seems to be a move in the right direction in this regard. Indeed, it struck us that this is a program that would be beneficial for the adults in our community, as well as our children.
