EDUCATION


country, but it made it very real for her when a Muslim student told her that a store manager lied to her about the hiring age because he didn’t want to hire her. And it surprised Katie that the girls liked wearing the hijab, or head covering. “Even though they are obviously


looked at different, and sometimes in a negative way, every girl there said they were proud to wear their hijab because it made them feel special and unique,” she said. “I also found it interesting to hear how they are so similar to us. They go shopping at the mall, and they have sleepovers, and they text their friends, and they eat pizza. Of course they have different practices and different traditions, but they are more similar to us than different.” Because all teachers are studying the


essential competencies and applying them to their curricula, Jordan knows his students will have the communication and interpersonal skills to connect with the Muslim students. As long as they have been at OES, they have been learning to respect the dignity of others and to communicate effectively using multiple methods. “I can rely on my kids to have skills


they are picking up in English and history and other courses,” he said. “I put the kids in the situation and they use their skills from class to interact


with their Muslim peers. All we provide is the pizza.” Other teachers will


build on what Jordan has done in his class. For example, students in the International Relations class will use the Platt Global Classroom to videoconference with students in Afghanistan. Their experience in the Islam class will help them formulate questions and be more cognizant of the values of the Afghan students.


BEYOND ACADEMICS The beauty of the essential


competencies is that they apply to everything students do. The same strategies can be used to succeed in sports, to prepare a drama production, or to play an instrument. They even provide a guide for social relationships. In her role as Middle School counselor, Cindy McEnroe relates the competencies to resolving a conf lict between students. “Say you have two


When


you think about


some of the words here and what they are saying, they can be transformative.


—Chris Mader, MS science teacher


for you? What have you tried? What can you do differently to change this situation? Would you be willing to sit down with this other person and talk about this problem? If the students own up to their part in the situation, they are deepening the competency of “I take


responsibility for my actions.” If


they can get to the point of seeing the other person’s point of view, they


kids in the Middle School who are angry with each other and are busy making each other’s lives miserable,” she said. “They don’t speak to each other. They try to get their friends to take sides with them. I bring the kids in, first individually, and I ask them, is that working


8 OES MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 8


have made progress on “I recognize and respect perspectives beyond my own.” As they work out their differences, they are increasing an important skill: “I design and apply solutions.” Although the essential competencies


underlie many lessons in an implicit way, students also need to learn to explicitly recognize the skills they are learning. At the end of her work with students involved in a conf lict, Cindy reviews with them the process they have just gone through. “We are building those essential


competencies and the last step is building the metacognition around


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