Decoding Education
Decoding Education
Diverse peers, empathetic culture
How a school culture based on empathy and excellence helps students break down cultural silos and prepare to thrive in a global workforce.
On this episode:
- How children motivate one another
- Peer mentorship across grade levels
- How diversity breeds empathy
- Student reflection: growing beyond the family's cultural silo
- CHP's loyal, respectful, goal-oriented students
Decoding Education is the podcast that brings together research, experience, and community voices to answer your burning questions about preschool through grade eight education. Brought to you by Cedar Hill Preparatory School in Somerset, New Jersey.
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Tori Marchiony:
Hello and welcome to another episode of Decoding Education from Cedar Hill Preparatory School in Somerset, New Jersey, the podcast that brings together research, experience, and community voices to answer your burning questions about preschool through grade eight education. I'm Tori Marchiony, a content producer who is fascinated by all things education. I came up through a top ranking public school system where I earned an IB diploma before getting a bachelor's at a public university.
Ahead, you'll hear a conversation between myself and Cedar Hill Prep’s brilliant founder, Nandini Menon, who is nearly finished earning her EDD in education. Specifically, mind, brain, and teaching from Johns Hopkins University. So I bring a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm while she brings the real expertise.
Nandini Menon:
You know, I do a lot of community work, and anything to do with education and children, I will set up frameworks. I will do that because they're still to become adults. So they need lots of support systems. They need to be heard.
Tori:
And I think they need to be pushed not just by teachers or so-called authority figures, they need to push each other. And like you said, children are always watching each other. And when I went into the International Baccalaureate program, I heard about the things going on in regular classes, or even just honors classes. The behavior wasn't there, the focus wasn't there, the teachers would have to spend so much time corralling the students. And because we got to go in with an agreement – we're all here to learn, we all want to push ourselves – we all left that program being the best that we could have been.
Miss Nan:
That's the key word, and I cannot tell you how important peer to peer learning is. So in our instructional pedagogy at Cedar Hill Prep, we have teacher modeling, because we can tell you how it should look like. Whether it is print, whether it is oracy, like what- how the children speak, or the outcomes we're looking for. But what we find is when we make that instructional pedagogy teacher modeling followed with interactive methods, where we have think/pair/share, we have peer to peer learning, and when we have group work, it is so beautiful to hear that language. We have children pulling up other children, every child recognizing the strength of each other, and helping each other get better. And do you know they become lifelong friends.
So yesterday, we had our debate meet. I have a large debate group. I had nine alumni coming from a school where our graduating class may be 23-30, so imagine how small we are. To have my alumni reach out and say, “We're coming!” They look out for my students. So we have relationships that are fostered across grades, because for children, their older grades are the heroes and heroines. So you're teaching mentorship, you're teaching- the peers are valuing better peers, and they want to be with them. That's a school culture. So when I see school culture, it's about that. And it is about peer to peer learning. In the end, that's what a lot of parents want too, being with better peers. So that- but we also need to make sure our child is a better peer. And one more thing about this, a culture of empathy knows no color.
So my children at CHP are the biggest advocates for the school, because they don't look at each other and differentiate them by ethnicity. For them, they are one. The parents may try to do it! But like I tell them, “Go educate your parents.” They may live in cultural silos, but our children don't. They are so good at supporting each other. And sometimes I get so sad when people look at the diversity in our school, and actually see that as a problem because they don't want their child in a diverse school. And I wonder, Where do you think the world is headed?
Look at the corporations around us. Are they singularly choosing specific cultures? No. Everyone around the world is celebrating the mind, celebrating what you bring to the table. So the more multiculturally embracing we are, the more we enjoy each other for their being and the less we see the shades that we are. You know, I call it a wrapping paper. Our faces are wrapping paper, we are all different shades. Are you going to judge my mind… by my wrapping paper? Are you going to be prejudiced against these children just because of their skin color? Or are you going to give their mind a chance?
Student Voice:
When talking to my parents, the disconnection between us that I find most irritating is the lack of exposure and education of other non-Indian people’s cultures and customs. The reason for this is not because they don't want to learn, but perhaps they're a bit too comfortable in the Indian quote unquote “crowd”.
When visiting countries in Europe for example, rather than going to restaurants to taste authentic French or authentic Italian food, the first restaurant to Google for is one that serves Indian food. It is reasonable to understand that one is comfortable with the people that they share the same culture with, but it is another to always remain sheltered towards one ethnicity rather than take opportunities to expand one's mindset about other cultures. Because America is such a diverse country, in order to properly learn about all of the issues and act on them, it is crucial to understand other people's customs and ways of life. For this reason, I really appreciate being sent to a diverse school where there are enough Asians that I can comfortably represent my culture, yet there are also enough Hispanics, African Americans, and Caucasians whom I can learn from as well.
Miss Nan:
I just think when we keep our intentions simple and sweet, and if all of us in a school had the same value system, we are preaching the same thing. And apple doesn't fall far from a tree.
I see this across many of the other private schools around us too. Our children after eighth grade go to other private schools. Those schools love our children.
They are very empathetic, they are leaders in the other schools, but they continue to foster better friendships in those schools, and they pay it forward to our school. So I believe 10 years from now, there are all these young adults that I know that I am sure are making a difference in this world. Because none of my children that I know of who have graduated from CHP are unintentional. They have goals. They are empathetic, they are kind and they are so good to each other. They are loyal to each other, and they are most respectful. And they come to visit us just because they wonder how we are doing. Could I ask for more?
Tori:
Thank you so much, Ms. Nan, and thank you audience for listening. Be sure to tune in next time. If you're considering private education for your child, your next step is finding the school that's the best fit for their specific needs. And the best way to do that is to get on campus for a tour. Cedar Hill Prep is currently enrolling for the 23-24 academic school year, so be sure to check out the link in our description to sign up for an open house or call 732-356-5400 to book a private campus tour with CHP’s admissions director Donna. We can't wait to meet you. Until next time, this has been Decoding Education from Cedar Hill Prep School. Thanks for listening.