Hopefully, we all want more for our children than mere functionality. Yes, the 3 traditional Rs and the 5 21st Century Cs are worthy goals. When I examine my most fervent wish for my daughter, however, it is that she finds joy and fulfillment. Does school truly help children to find joy and fulfillment?

The graph above comes from Dr. Gayle Privette, who in the 1980’s thought to consider Peak Performance and Peak Experience together. It was Privette’s observation that an environment focused entirely on performance without consideration for the emotional experience could very well nurture a Driven Worker, but a worker that was bored, worried or depressed. She represented this result in the lower right quadrant of his diagram.

Privette considered as well the hedonist pursuing pleasure without regard for performance or accomplishment, recognizing that such an individual would find no expression for their particular genius. Privette mapped this result at the top left of his diagram.

According to Privette, only under a condition that took responsibility for both peak performance and peak experience could individuals find Flow and self-actualization. This was how to find both satisfaction and joy.

What does this mean for school?

Surely, school is a place that demands peak performance. The daily barrage of assignments, exercises, lectures, conversations, and examinations are accepted as a given. Our politics seems ever more concerned with performance, with student testing displacing school and teacher credentials as the only trusted measure of excellence. When does school systematically take responsibility for peak experience however? When does it embrace joy in equal measure to performance? When do we even suggest to students the profound possibility of ecstasy: overwhelming, exuberant pleasure in accomplishment?

Perhaps…
it is time for our politics and our public schools to embrace performance and experience together.

Your thoughts on this journal post are highly valued, as I continue to build and refine my perspective on schools and the school environment. Please share your own experiences and perceptions of the school environment below!