Summer time — and the living is easy! Wait! In the short growing season in Wisconsin that is called summer, the outdoor plants beckon for attention. While I always appreciate their lush foliage, a pruning tool is never far from my hands these days. Pruning insures vitality, controlled growth, and even increased blossoms in the botanical world—but it doesn’t come easily for me. I am dismayed at cutting off any part of a plant! However, the past two summers have brought wind storms during which Mother Nature used her own pruning techniques—and I’d like to avoid any future recurrence!
Pruning is also a prerequisite for trainers! I get so enamored of a training design—like Building Developmental Assets in School Communities — that I lose sight of the enduring understandings. Wiggins and McTighe define this as information which is worth knowing for a lifetime in their Backward Design curricula development. Content which I find interesting and engaging activities or stories are so tempting to add to the design. The reality is that my time frame doesn’t grow with the content—and sometimes those embellishments might detract from the main message (and the enduring understandings). Participants can get confused with too much trivia! Sometimes, however, I need to prune the original content so that I can replace it with more dynamic processes.
Recent pruning of my deliveries has been possible by using two pruning tools. The questions of “Is there a simple way to capture the enduring understanding of asset building?” and “Is it concrete?” have been invaluable in pruning some of the excess in my training events. I won’t say it isn’t painful because I still want to give that great example and tell that great story! But I’ve been getting comfortable with those questions as pruning tools.
The enduring understanding of asset building is related to Search Institute’s mission. “Create a world where all children are valued and thrive.” This vision gives focus to the training design—and all of my decisions about content and activities are impacted by this. It’s a simple message which translates to greater complexity as we bring it to life!
Bringing asset building to life means being concrete — giving specific and practical ideas. As a trainer, I realize that I have a fabulous opportunity to model adult role modeling (asset #14). That modeling includes all the other 39 assets which remind me to speak the unifying language of Developmental Assets.
There are also three shifts in mindset that are so critical to our work. The shift from diagnosing youth’s problems to identifying strengths has been aided by the addition of the concept of SPARK. Helping young people to find, claim and live their passion is strength-based! Check out the Sparkcatcher and you’ll find more information!
Another shift is recognizing the vital link of relationships in this work. While there truly are valuable programs in many parts of the world, the people within the programs are what cause them to succeed. During a training event, I need to model the fostering of asset-rich relationships and permit participants to connect with each other. Thankfully, it’s not about adding a program but rather a way of being!
And the third shift is moving from incidental to intentional asset building. Surely we affirm and validate participants for current positive actions in helping youth grow. Yet, we want to s-t-r-e-t-c-h their thinking and actions. Writing their commitments, establishing a check-in partner, and providing a visual reminder are all ways to help participants keep asset building on their radar screen!
In a great resource available at Search Institute called Speaking of Parenting: Introducing Developmental Assets to People Raising Kids, blossoming and pruning are linked to brain development.Within different parts of the brain, neurons go through growth spurts and the dendrite branches blossom, becoming ready and able to make connections. Experiences with the world—from sport to music to talking about assets—build and strengthen the bridges between neurons. The neurons actually overbloom to give each person the best possible chance at making connections. When the neurons don’t link, however, the branches wither and disappear. Essentially, they prune themselves back.
Asset building promotes positive youth development—and our training events can be pruned so that the brain blossoms rather than prunes. Let’s make connections for and with our participants!
