Educators

Since raising children is one of the most important responsibilities in every community, education is one of the most essential resources.

As an Educator, you know that without the involvement of parents/guardians, families and other significant people and resources in the lives of children, schools are unable to solve all their problems. As such, you may be disadvantaged in creating conditions that support the healthy development of the whole child.

The old story of the school being responsible for everything has not worked in the past and surely will not work in the future.

The most important story to get right is the one about how we educate and help our children come of age. When we get that story “RITE”, we get our future right.

Together, with the community, we can change the story and transform the future.

Some steps you can take as an Educator to start the conversation, include:

• Become familiar with some of the language of rites of passage and associated activities. You will then be able to recognize where patterns, symbols and forms of initiation and rites of passage are already occurring in your school? Think clubs, athletics, the rituals surrounding induction into Honor Societies. Real, authentic rites already exist that have emerged within your own school community.
• Ask where rites of passage exist in ways that compromise healthy development and lead to potentially devastating outcomes?
• Become more conversant and proficient in the methods used to organize your school and community to join collaboratively in designing rites of passage. Invite other people to visit our site and learn together. Explore other methods such as:

Trinity of Inquiry – for assessing existing approaches and resources.

• Asset mapping for Rites of Passage
• Community Readiness for Rites of Passage
• Conditions for Educating & Raising Children through rites of passage designs
• How rites of passage promotes all 40 developmental assets and social-emotional learning

Visit our Learn More section for additional resources and support.