Make Your Own Heroes: "The Formative Five" Book Review

There are fewer and fewer positive role models for our children.  Parents are scared to let their children idolize a particular athlete, politician, actor, etc. because we've been disappointed time after time.  In the face of this reality, schools are taking ownership of teaching character.  There are at least two great reasons for this.  First, character counts in helping students succeed after they leave school. And second, character and academic achievement are positively correlated (character.org).

I just completed reading The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs by Thomas Hoerr (ASCD, 2016).  The author sums up his feelings on character education this way: "Who you are is more important that what you know" (5).  It sounds good, but that phrase runs counter to everything that American schools have been doing for the last ... well ... forever.  If schools live out the philosophy that "who students are" as people is even more important than what they learn academically, think of how it would impact everything from report cards to conferences to daily lesson plans.

Mr. Hoerr argues that there are five "success skills" that students need to continually grapple with and refine (hence the term formative five).  They are empathy, self-control, integrity, embracing diversity, and grit.  The author describes how other character traits arise from a combination of these skills (such as courage, curiosity, or responsibility).   In discussing these five success skills, Mr. Hoerr dives into integrity vs. honesty, diversity beyond the numbers, the reason we use stereotypes, student engagement, and the role of failure.  Clearly, success skills do impact everything else we value in schools.

Some other great points to ponder from the book:
• Expanding the meaning of "whole child" from merely offering a wider curriculum to meeting the needs that allow children to become whole, actualized humans.  The Formative Five skills help a person meet the middle levels of Maslow's hierarchy - safety, love/belonging, and esteem (28-29).
• When trying to improve student's success skills, we shouldn't start by trying to change the children. We need to start by changing the culture of a school (134).  From the physical space to the relationships within it, culture is the water we swim in.  It cannot be ignored.
• "Making new mistakes" (149) is a key to moving people forward.  Cultures that make old mistakes or no mistakes at all are unhealthy.  It would be interesting to ask this question at each staff meeting: "What new mistakes did you make this week?"
• "Happiness comes from growth" (14).  Celebrate growth in students, both academically and in success skills.  Recognize students who demonstrate growth as well as achievement.

My favorite part is that each of the chapters that focuses on one of the five success skills ends with a litany of suggestions how to teach and integrate that skill into classrooms.  It would not be a big leap for a culture committee to take the ideas in the book and put together a year's worth of lessons.  The suggestions are differentiated for various age levels (including adults).

So, instead of looking for heroes outside of school to idolize, create an environment that allows students to become heroes for each other.  It is a deliberate process, but success skills can be taught, coached, and ultimately - celebrated!