"Developing School Culture Using the FISH! Philosophy"
One
of the greatest challenges that we face in “Leading Our Schools to Excellence”
and developing “Bridges to the Future” is creating environments in which staff
and students feel safe, respected and valued for their efforts. It is widely
known that building strong, nurturing and effective relationships
(student-student and teacher-student) is crucial to a healthy school culture
and inspires a unique learning environment. Finding a curriculum that will
support this vision can be difficult. I would like to share my experience with
one that meets these criteria and more.
As
the Assistant Principal of Burroughs Community School (Minnesota School of
Excellence, 2008) in Minneapolis, I have taken on the task of monitoring our
school climate and providing daily support for students and staff to ensure
that our environment is learning-centered. We are proud to use the FISH!
Philosophy, created by John Christensen and a team of educators at ChartHouse
Learning in 1997, to guide our students in taking a closer look at behaviors
and developing responsible, functional ways to make choices.
The
FISH! Philosophy was invented after Christensen observed a rare learning
environment in Seattle, WA where people were focused and everyone felt
recognized, valued and included. This community is known as the Pike Place Fish
Market. The work there can be considered quite unpleasant as the fishmongers
spend stinky, grueling 12-hour shifts stocking, selling and packing fish.
However, remarkable results occurred because these workers accepted the
invitation to:
- Be there for each other and their customers;
- Play;
- Make
someone’s day; and
- Choose their attitude about how they show up for work.
Although the original FISH! Philosophy was developed for businesses, educators
envisioned it as the very essence of what we can and do in helping our children
to achieve.
In
our adoption of this curriculum at Burroughs, we offer the following.
-
Chart Your Course! At the start of each school year or the
return from winter or spring break, we ask students to reflect on their
learning and make decisions on what they can do to support their experience.
-
Choose Your Attitude! Here we offer guidance in understanding
that while every attempt may not have an acceptable outcome; however, giving up
is not an option.
-
Be There! Being respectful of and to others is a
powerful relationship builder. We strive to set tones that will promote student
creativity in the development of ways to show respect for their peers and
teachers.
-
Play! We emphasize that learning can be fun and help students
appreciate that mistakes are an accepted part of the learning process.
-
Make Their Day! Going out of your way to serve another’s
needs is a special way to show inclusiveness of all those around you, and it
gives you a chance to build trust, which I always say is worth more than money
in the bank. One of our teachers has a poster that reads: “If someone needs a
friend, be one.”
-
Keeping FISH! Alive! We encourage students to take all of the
creative ideas that they have learned and pass them on to others even when they
are away from our school environment. I am a firm believer in actions speaking
louder than words.
Our
goal is educating the whole child. We have found that the FISH! Philosophy
provides the experiences we need in character development, building community ,and
developing positive social skills with fun and excitement embedded throughout
the process.
