Self-Realization in a School Community

"The quest," writes gifted educator Anne Marie Roeper, "is to discover who is the child rather than how the child will fit my expectations." This idea of Self-Realization has also been praised by psychologists like Abraham Maslow and educators like J. D. Walters. "The perfecting of one's self," writes Confucius, "is the fundamental base of all progress and all moral development." And, according to the Bible, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." The School of Choice is a spiritual community dedicated to the self-improvement of all of its members.

Our school always places each child’s well being first; we are here to help all children equally to realize their potential. “What a man can be,” writes Maslow, “he must be. This need we call self-actualization.” We think tutoring is great; yet we would not sacrifice gifted children to sacrifice their own development by tutoring when they need challenges. The self-actualizers we are training—people like Goethe, Lincoln, Jane Adams, Socrates, etc.—have strong personal value systems, unflappable temperaments, a realistic orientation, spontaneity, creativity and gaiety, sympathy for others, autonomy in decision-making and a serene dedication to a mission which lies beyond self. We teach social skills like concentration, diplomacy, courtesy, justice, empathy, friendship, and serenity amidst life’s challenges. Gifted students will realize their potential best in their own community:

"Children who must constantly defend themselves do not make strides socially. Rather, they need to find others with similar interests, from which friendships develop..we have seen the best social development in gifted children who attend schools or full-time programs for the gifted. Because they are accepted by others and are confident that they fit in, they learn how to be good friends. Surprisingly, they seem to be more tolerant and open to others with diverse backgrounds, interests and abilities than gifted students placed in heterogeneous groups." (Gilman, p. 10)

Students will advance intellectually and score high in college entrance requirements, but they should also find long-term physical development, emotional serenity, social harmony, and spiritual enlightenment. Our judicial committee and student council meetings teach children to solve social problems themselves, thereby training themselves for adult interaction. We don’t just teach English and Math, we teach common sense, empathy for others and practical logic. We do not see our students just as receptacles to hold knowledge; we acknowledge them fully as human beings.

Our classical curriculum teaches the essence of wisdom gleaned from the wisest philosophers, theologians, poets and scientists. The eternal principles children learn are not just facts about President Garfield or salt molecules; children here learn how to live well—how to dream and realize dreams, how to succeed and gain confidence in social situations, how to laugh with others and be creative. We teach truths from all religions and secular creeds—honesty, integrity, perseverance, empathy, non-violence—knowing that our teaching will reinforce the religion or creed that the student brings to us. J. Donald Walters writes:

The lesson of adolescence, ultimately, should be to strengthen not the ego, but the will, as a stepping-stone towards true maturity. This stepping-stone should be viewed with humility, as but one of many, by crossing all of which the adolescent will be able not only to understand, but also to feel himself part of, the universal reality that surrounds him.

We qualify them to think for themselves and act as they see fit in our professional society. Every child is unique, individual and special. We encourage them for their strengths and tailor our education to meet their preferred learning methods. Neither the teacher nor the parent can, in the long run, order students to think, vote, work or pray without making the student unhappy and unproductive. Though we support the child’s free will, we are not child-centered. Like Montessori, our teachers assign projects that recognize learning differences and creatively reward initiative and ability. On the level of character and personality, we are developing the whole child.

Our approach is individualized but highly disciplined. With our high teacher-student ratio, students get the help they need to accomplish difficult tasks without undue pressure. We set parameters and goals, but give kids the ability to choose projects within those parameters that help them use their asynchronous abilities in non-sequential order. We love children and help them to find the mature discipline needed to succeed in professional society—a society based upon expertise and education. Television, video games and senseless conversation are too tempting for children without strong values, and we must show children deeper and more useful ideas. As responsible adults, we gently, subtly, guide gifted students to make responsible educational choices that expose them to the world’s greatest ideas.

The School of Choice is a spiritual community: a voluntary community of teachers, staff and students who gather to learn not just facts, but also a core of higher ethical precepts. While our country lauds test score achievement and, paradoxically, grouping gifted students with slow or disruptive students, we teach self-realization and personal fulfillment. Thoreau once wrote “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Yet the gifted children we teach divine their own ends, and they will produce accordingly. Now they have a great educational choice.