Use of Great Books in the Development of Assertiveness

We have asserted the essentiality of assertiveness in the development of character (2001, 2002). The young person, to live a successful life, must develop the ability to recognize worthy goals and to be actively involved in life so as to bring those goals to completion. The successful student is the one who makes things happen that are beneficial. Beneficial goals are completely premeditated. The student best prepared to imagine goals of worth has developed a strong understanding of and commitment to goodness, truth and beauty, recognizing these as self-authenticating, compelling ends. Assertiveness Begins with Principles The mentors who spend the most time with students are the teachers. As education is a dialogic, interactive enterprise, assertiveness is something that students "catch" in their day-to-day interaction with teachers and with one another when teachers establish an assertive educational climate. An assertive educational climate, however, begins not with teachers, counselors and psychologists, but with principals. Although it is true that any school, without reference to strength of the principal, will have some teachers who are outstanding, the principal alone is in the position of authority to establish an assertive educational ethos that permeates the entire school. In 1990, when effectiveness in public education was at an ebb, two remarkable educators, Drs. Donald and Louise Cowan (1999), of the Dallas Institute for Humanities and Culture, responded to the educational crisis by establishing and leading a summer institute for principals. The Cowans were aware that one of the reasons for the deterioration of education had to do with the places that administrators, including superintendents and principals, sought solutions to the crisis in the classroom--namely, books and seminars on better management strategies. The Cowans believed that to seek answers in the techniques of management was to exchange one crutch for another. They recognized that effective education takes place when principals, who are life-long learners, actively interact with teachers. The positive interaction of life-long learners is what creates the climate conducive to the cultivation of assertiveness as a byproduct of education. Education is an interactive relationship. When teachers in the educational relationship consistently assert their own enthusiasm over their own learning, a spark is kindled in the hearts of the students as individuals and the entire school as a community of learners. When interactive enthusiasm on the parts of principals and teachers persists, the spark can give way to the flame that fills the consciousness of students throughout the entire school. The spark of assertive learning begins with principals. The Cowans knew that if education was to be rekindled, the principals would have to be renewed as educational leaders. They themselves would have to become assertive life-long learners. Assertiveness and the Classics The Cowans began the rectification of the problems in education in Dallas. With the blessing of the Superintendent of the Dallas School Board, the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture offered two-week seminars for principals. Enrollment was voluntary and took place during the principal's vacation. Ninety one percent of the principals participated. They read and discussed classics from literature. The classics they selected were important for at least two reasons. First, the classics feature characters struggling with and acquiring their own assertiveness. The classics of literature focus on characters in the crucible, heroes facing their greatest tests. Reading them, we witness the successes and failures of leaders examining their own choices, exploring limits and constraints, facing hazards and consequences, and reflecting on the reasons and moral grounds for their actions and the situations in which they find themselves. In great literature, we are witnesses to the successes associated with positive assertiveness and the liabilities of negative assertiveness. …