Empathic Consciousness--Ross Grade 8
The Ross School Eighth grade curriculum creates leaders capable of tackling global challenges.
About You
About You
First Name
Mark
Last Name
Tompkins
Twitter URL
http://twitter.com/#!/rossschool
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Ross School
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, NY, east hampton, Suffolk County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States, NY, east hampton, Suffolk County
Is your organization a
Non‐profit / NGO / Citizen sector organization
Your role in Education
Teacher.
The type of school(s) your solution is affiliated with
Private (tuition-based)
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
How long has your solution been in operation?
Operating for more than 5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
The need is to transform the way curriculum is delivered to the 14-year-old of today.
We need strong secondary school students who have the emotional courage and the analytical skills to wrestle with a world on the precipice--one can now say this without hyperbole.
The rite of passage, the mitzvah, the confirmation of today take place when they do because they are compelled by human development. 8th grade ends childhood and, when done right, delivers a young adult with an empathic consciousness and the capability of navigating a global ecumen.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
The solution is nothing less than a curriculum based on the study of the evolution of human consciousness. When properly led and challenged, 8th graders are highly social, cooperative and interdependent. Their world is a deeply interconnected one. The problem is that their teachers and their curriculum today are not.
Asking students to trace the development of human empathy from the rise of the great theological civilizations through three industrial revolutions to the global, biospheric consciousness of the 21st century will engage students with the pressing urgency of now rather than ‘looking at history in the rearview mirror' as one of our mentors has often described the typical approach to curriculum.
It won’t be hard, it is only a matter of changing the entire way we teach and understand the world.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
A curriculum designed by Poet William Irwin Thompson and Chaos Theorist Ralph Abraham which examines the evolution of consciousness operating within a complex dynamical model is in place at a lab school on the eastern end of Long Island, New York.
Using an integrated curriculum and a team teaching approach, we study the medieval period.
We never actually use the word “Empathy.” Instead, every unit and every stage of every project asks students to know themselves more deeply and to use this knowledge to connect with others.
Six Units:
VOICE--Students study the life of the prophet Mohammed, the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates and life in Medieval Spain to prepare for the in-depth study of one of the luminary figures of this era. Students write a memoir in the voice of one of these doctors or engineers or poets and portray them for their peers.
TEAM—Students spend three days and two nights away at a high ropes facility.
ACTION—Students and teachers help set up a homeless shelter run out of a local house of worship and raise money by jumping into the Peconic Bay in February.
DIALOUGE –Students work with Young American Writers Project to draft a one-act play for two actors of their age, the best of which are produced in a professional theater setting.
SELF--In the style of artist Sharin Neshat students do photographic portraits with their maxim written somewhere on or near them.
DIVINATION—In the tradition of the Vikings, we read runes. We also do some conflict resolution work with Beowolf and the Wendel.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Our competitors are everybody and nobody. No one else teaches history using a model based on the evolution of empathic consciousness. On the other hand, everyone else has a curriculum for 8th grade and for K-12 overall.
Our model involves partnering with groups like the “Young American Writers Project” and the Bryn Mawr Mountain Retreat—competitors in the sense that they are doing the same sort of work with 14-year-olds as we are. Our challenge is funding—finding the money in our budget and paying them. We have to raise these funds with donations from outside the normal tuition stream.
Now that you have thought out your entry, help us pitch it.
Define your company, program, service, or product in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
The Ross School Eighth grade curriculum creates leaders capable of tackling global challenges.
Identify what is innovative about your solution in 1-2 short sentences [136 characters]
We don’t teach empathy, we live it until it changes our consciousness.
Social Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Over the past twenty years, over 1,000 students have passed through the Ross School 8th grade and graduated from our High School. Close to 18% of these graduates are the first in their family to attend college. These graduates will bring a service-oriented, empathic consciousness with them to the colleges and universities to which they matriculate. Like many in their generation, they will emphasize green thinking and sustainability in their studies. The difference is that they will be leaders amongst their cohort.
What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?
We want to continue to make the 8th grade year at the Ross School one in which students experience strong partnerships with service organizations like Peconic Community Council, challenging creative projects like those offered by the Young American Writers Project, and leadership retreats like the one offered by Bryn Mawr Mountain Retreat. Reaching outside the classroom whenever possible and connecting disciplines in a way that demonstrates our own professional capacity for cooperation and integration is empathy in action for us.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Our growth as a grade is tied to the growth of our school overall. We will continue to focus first on the students in our care.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Finish this academic year in a way that honours the curriculum’s goals
Task 2
Brainstorm with Young American Writers Project on source for underwriting for their program.
Task 3
Enter/apply for at least one more grant to get us towards our goal of $18,000
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Secure a source of on-going funding for the Bryn Mawr Mountain Retreat and the Young American Writers project for the Ross 8th g
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Seek out members of our community who can link us with sources of ongoing underwriting.
Task 2
Deepen our relationship with Peconic Community Council and the East Hampton Methodist Church.
Task 3
Form a partnership with Young American Writers Project to help promote them and help them explore underwriting opportunities.
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world [125 words]
A student arrived in our class who was traumatically mute. Using the team of teachers in the grade in partnership with the other students in the class, we were able to gain the trust of this young woman and then reawaken her ability to speak. This ability to connect and the courage to do it is at the core of the program we have evolved. The big picture is about the evolution of consciousness. The day-to-day program is about believing in and celebrating the ability of 14-year-olds to help the world became a smaller and more empathically connected space.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
What type of team (staff, volunteers, etc.) will ensure that you achieve the growth milestones identified in the Social Impact section? [75 words]
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
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