EMDC-East uses the Circle of Courage, a child-rearing philosophy of Native Americans, as an effective measure in its schools. Outlined in the book, Reclaiming Youth At Risk, Larry Brendro, Martin Brokenleg, and Steve Van Bockern, describe this century-old model which encourages and empowers youth at risk to transform and shape their own destiny.
Seeds of Discouragement
There are 4 Things that Put Youth At Risk:
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Destructive Relationships: children feel “rejected or unclaimed”
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Climates of Futility: children feeling as if they are inadequate or failures
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Discipline for Responsibility:
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Loss of Purpose: children searching for Meaning
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Destructive Relationships:
Humans are social beings that rely on each other for physical, emotional, and psychological needs. Children particularly need to feel they belong and are loved. When their needs are not being fulfilled, child learn that adults are not reliable. Educators can make a lasting effect on children. Studies have shown that “students at greatest risk of dropping out of school are those who have never been friends with any teacher.” (p. 10).
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Climates of Futility:
The way an educator labels a child, dictates how they think about that child. And how the teacher thinks about the child determines how they treat him/her. If a teacher labels a child irresponsible, they are more likely to notice the child's irresponsible actions. The teacher will then treat the child as if they cannot handle responsibility. Or if a teacher blames a child for something that goes wrong, the teacher gets irritated. The teacher’s negative emotions hinder him/her from helping the child correct their behavior. The negative behavior the teacher sees will just continue. On the other hand, if an educator develops a positive attitude toward his or her learners, their interactions will be much more positive. If an educator tries to understand the learner, they will grow to like the child, and therefore treat the child in a kind, nurturing way.
Educators must remember they are always interpreting a learners words and actions. It is important not to label a child. Searching for the underlying cause for a chil's behavior takes time, effort, and communication, but without doing so, the teacher does not know what the child really means.
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Learned Irresponsibility:
Children are citizens of the future. But they are also citizens of the present. Children can only take responsibility for things they are given the opportunity to. Children must be given a responsibility, not just reprimanded for acting irresponsibility.
To help a child become more responsible:
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Do not teach compliance…
Encourage self-discipline, self-empowerment, and the ability to think for themselves.
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Do not punish…
Teach children that being manipulative and sneaky does not get them what they want.
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Do not allow selfishness…
Teach children to expect what they work for.
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Do not allow indulgence…
Emphasize esteem, discipline, and understanding of a thing’s worth.
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Loss of Purpose:
Reclaiming Youth At Risk points out that during ancient times, people “struggled for survival.” But today, the more prevalent question is “Struggle for what?” To answer this question, many have turned to self-gratification. Whether it is intentional or not, there is a huge focus on what one can do for themselves. This self-absorption inevitably appears in schools. Teachers focus on salaries, days off, and benefits, while students compete with each other for grades, popularity, and attention.
Educators can play a huge role in helping students find purpose. Reclaiming Youth At Risk outlines three aspects of this loss of purpose:
- Work Without Meaning:
There is a great deal of materialism that is associated with working today. In many situations, the focus has shifted from hard work to earn what is necessary to careless work as a means to acquire materialistic whims.
- Misery of Unimportance:
Today’s modern society focuses on quantifying and qualifying time instead of devoting their effort to relationships.
- Depersonalization of Education:
Schools have shifted to operating like industries and businesses. But schools must “abandon yesterday’s bureaucratic or competency-based notions and become people-oriented.” (p. 30)
Instead, Reclaiming Youth At Risk finds that a “successful school, like a successful business, is a cohesive community of shared values, beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies.” Schools must find a “value system” or a “unifying theme” to establish themselves as a community.
The Circle of Courage
The Native Americans possessed the profound insight for establishing this unified community. Their methods of child-rearing and educating have been “refined over 15000 years of civilization and preserved in oral traditions, this knowledge is little known outside the two hundred tribal languages that cradle the Native American cultures of North America.” (p. 34) The Native Americans possessed a unique understanding of child psychology. This gentle, holistic approach of Native Americans educated and empowered children.
The focus of Native American philosophy is nurturing self-esteem so that children can overcome the "social, psychological, and learning problems” they encounter. Self-esteem is broken down into four basic components: onents:
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Significance: acceptance, attention, and affection of others.
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Competence: mastering one’s environment
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Power: ability to control one’s own behavior and gain other’s respect.
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Virtue: determined by cultural beliefs and values and the important people in one’s life.
Native American culture addresses each of these four components:
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Significance nurtures the feeling of belonging.
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Competence was developed when children could master their environment.
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Power was cultivated through encouraging independence.
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Virtue was promoted through the spirit of generosity.
George Bluebird drew the four components (belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity) in the form of the Native American medicine wheel divided into four pieces. In Native American culture, the number four is considered sacred. Number four represents a person standing up, encircled by four directions. The central unifying theme is a positive culture of education and youth work programs.
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- Spirit of Belonging:
In Native American tradition, the community cared for every child. All tribe members were invested in the child’s upbringing, especially if the parents were unable. For Native Americans, the true test of belonging was not by blood, but if you acted like you belonged. Native Americans used a quiet, soft spoken way of interacting with each other, as if each one was related to the next. This sense of belong included all of nature and its creatures. Stories emphasized harmony among humans and the earth.
In contemporary society, communities are dissolving. Children franticly scramble for “artificial belongings” to fill the absence of families, schools and neighborhoods. American psychologist, Karl Menninger explains that “living with and loving other human beings who return that love is the most strengthening and salubrious emotional experience in the world.” Without this spirit of belonging within the home or community, children will search for other places.
- Spirit of Independence:
Children need community and autonomy. They must know that they can determine their own lives. When youth do not understand this, they develop a sense of learned helplessness. Native Americans find the middle ground between depriving children of autonomy and pushing them to premature independence. This balance occurs by creating a type of external discipline that fosters internal discipline. This means allowing children to develop independence, yet at the same time buffering this independence with external controls. It also involves talking with children, not punishing them. Native Ameicans began talking to children about their behavior as soon as the child can communicate.
- Spirit of Mastery:
Children and adults alike strive to master their environments. When a child masters one part of their environment, this encourages them to make further attempts. When they continue to fall short, children become discouraged from trying. Native Americans acknowledged that children still need assistance even as they grow. Native American children learned through role-playing and stories. These games and stories taught the balance between work and play, self-discipline, listening skills, and observation. These activities also included morals about how to behave and how to treat others. Adults celebrated the children’s success and reminded them to use their abilities to benefit other people.
- Spirit of Generosity:
Generosity was fostered in Native American children from an early age. Mothers sent children to deliver food to the poor. In some Native American tribes, a man’s first hunt was donated to a needy family. Native American society was not communal, but Native Americans freely shared what they had. Giving was part of many ceremonies. And those who gave without reservation were highly praised.
The Reclaiming Environment
4 Parts of the Reclaiming Environment:
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Relating to the Reluctant: establishing positive relationships
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Brain-Friendly Learning: positive alternatives to help children feel capable
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Discipline for Responsibility: ways of overcoming carelessness and defiance
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Courage to Care: teaching children altruism
Relating to the Reluctant:
“Research shows that the quality of human relationships in schools and youth service programs may be more influential than the specific techniques or interventions employed” (p. 58).
Some children fear relationships with adults. These students typically:
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Have parents who are overly harsh or overly indulgent.
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Lack certain social skills (such as empathy).
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Are likely to participate in delinquent behavior, substance abuse, or premature sexual activity.
- Attachment:
At birth, children instinctively attach to caregivers. This is known as “attachment behavior.” But children develop “insecure attachments” when adults abuse or neglect them. Children are torn between their longing for adult relationships and fearful distrust. A child’s attachment behavior is quiet resilient, even when adults push them away. Educators have the opportunity to establish healthy relationships with learners who have never experienced one before.
- Reviving Relationships:
Brendro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern provide Ten Elements of Reviving Relationships with Youth:
1. A relationship is an action, not a feeling: Good relationships involve responsibility, respect, caring and knowledge.
2. Utilize a crisis as an opportunity: At times of high stress, children are more likely to develop attachments. Educators should be particularly present at these times.
3. Love the unlovable: Certain kinds of children are disregarded or despised. Yet they are the most often the ones who need the most care. These children are often the ones who:
- Misbehave
- Are less physically attractive
- Are withdrawn
- Are mentally or physically handicapped
4. End the Conflict Cycle: Often adults get caught in the trap of reacting to a child's misbehavior in the same way the child is misbehaving (yelling, pouting, taking anger out on others, etc.)
5. Earn Trust: Educators may need to dismantle the notion that adults cannot be trusted. Reclaiming Youth at Risk points out the process of developing trust:
- The child asseses whether they should trust.
- The child tests their limits to see if the teacher how the teacher will react.
- The child and teacher establish expectations for each other’s behavior.
- The child and the teacher develop their relationship over a long period of time.
- The teacher directs the child to learn during or right after a situation occurs.
- The teacher assesses the incident to determine whether to address it immediately or address it later.
- The teacher evaluates how the child is seeing a situation and addresses a situation according to the child’s perception.
6. Clarify distortions: After an educator gains more trust, they can show students alternatives to the student’s perspective.
7. Develop an Action Plan: Educators and children can problem-solve together.
8. Establish Mutual Respect: Children who receive respect are more likely to reciprocate it. There is a difference between earning a child’s respect and intimidating them into obedience.
9. Teaching Joy: Only if a teacher is joyful, can they show their learners how to be.
10. Make every child feel they belong.
Brain Friendly Learning:
Children thrive to master their environment. But often schools segment learning into subject and focuses on controlling the information instead of understanding it.
Children strive to master their environment in three ways:
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Environmentally: physically and academically
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Interpersonally: social skills
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Intrapersonally: feelings and emotions
Many children let the fear of failure hold them back or prevent them from trying all together.
Teachers must be careful not to:
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Dominate children.
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Be too permissive.
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Set low expectations.
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Push children into premature independence.
Teachers can help a child master their environment by:
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Focusing lessons on important and applicable topics.
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Keeping lessons interesting.
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Leting learners work in groups or pairs.
Discipline for Responsibility:
Conflict arises when a child wants more independence than they are given. Otto Zirker states that when youth are surrounded by walls, they “make wall-climbing a sport” (p. 80.) Adults can help children develop: autonomy and self-control.
- Automony:
Educators help youth feel responsible for their own lives. They can balance freedom and protective boundaries. When they do, youth become resilient to unbelievable odds. Reclaiming Youth at Risk provides several skills that a resilient youth posses:
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thinks for self and solves problems creatively
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tolerates frustration and manages emotions
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avoids making other people’s problems his/her own
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shows optimism and persistence in the face of failure
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resists put downs and sheds negative labels
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has a sense of humor and is able to “forgive and forget”
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builds friendships based on care and mutual support
- Self-Control:
If children are expected to be responsible and held accountable for their actions, they have no choice but to be responsible. Treating children as equals, empowers and encourages them to discipline themselves. This shifts the obeying authority to choosing how to act.
Often, children can use an edcator's help in emphasizing that they are in control of themselves. Here are some ways that educators can respond to excuses in an empowering way:
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“Expect more from yourself.”
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"I guess the choice is yours then.”
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“But aren’t you in control of yourself?”
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“But you decide how you feel don't you?”
Peer groups in secondary and late primary school are extremely helpful, especially when discussing peer pressure, family problems, drugs, alcohol, violence, and other social issues. Peer groups provide support and solutions for learners who are struggling with such issues.
Courage to Care:
The final way to reclaim youth at risk is encouraging to them to overcome the “most materialistic period of all history" by moving beyond themselves and harnessing their “wonderful and inexplicable instinct for justice.”
- Altruism:
Genuine altruism comes from empathizing with a person. This empathy is what motivates people to help each other. Personal benefit is not the cause of the action, but sometimes follows as a result.
- Caring:
Adults must care for children, and children must care for their communities. Youth can be encouraged to serve. But this cannot be through bribery, manipulation, on intimidation. “You can preach at them; that is a hook without a worm: You can order them to volunteer: that is dishonest: You can call on them: you are needed, and that approach will hardly ever fail” (p. 92.)
The Circle of Courage is a power model of positive youth development. Established by the Native Americans, it has served as a successful lifestyle of nurturing and empowering children to become confident, responsible, and altruistic people of the present and the future.
1. Franziska Racker Centers. 19/11/07. <http://www.rackercenters.org/index.cfm/page/about/circlecourage.htm>