I got to be a “fly on the wall” while the upper school faculty discussed the meaning of “rigor” (and its place in our mission statement) yesterday. It was a real treat for two reasons.

It was a pleasure to see that despite the many details still to be fleshed out over the course of the spring, the reports from the small group discussions indicated big areas of nearly universal agreement. The sense of the room is that rigor happens when students are active, fully engaged learners of something that is important to them. It can be arts, or science, or literature or anything. What is important is the student’s level of engagement, the student’s ability to “lose” himself/herself in the subject. Kind of like being in the flow for an extended period of time. The challenge may not always be pleasant — there may be an element of anxiety or struggle or even pain in rigor — but it leaves the student with important new knowledge and a sense of accomplishment.

The second great thing to see?

The faculty modeled rigor in their meeting. Active, fully engaged members of a discussion of something that is important to them. It was a wonderful “show, don’t tell” moment for this observer, and I appreciated being able to see it.