Searching for the Shangri-La School
Shangri-La is the mythical, utopian paradise in James Hilton’s novel The Lost Horizonhidden away from the world. It’s an imaginary paradise where life is practically perfect and harmonious. It remains unaffected by the conflicts and confusion in the outside world. It’s the place where the grass is greener on the other side of the fence that keeps out all the conflict, confusion, and crises that plague the world.
In education, we desperately seek the Shangri-La School. For parents, that’s the school where their child will receive a high-quality education from a highly effective teacher who will address and meet their student’s individual and unique needs. For teachers, it’s the school where the children are well-behaved and wanting to learn, where the leadership respects and supports their teachers, and where their time and effort in teaching will be compensated and rewarded. For students, it’s a place where they will be engaged and encouraged to learn and feel safe and secure academically and socioemotionally. For politicians, the Shangri-La School is the academic system that will resolve the issues and problems plaguing education and therefore deserves the utmost support administratively, politically, and fiscally. When we discover that Shangri-La School, we feel like Dorothy and her friends as they approach Emerald City down that Yellow Brick Road as the Optimistic Voices sing to us how we’re out of the woods, out of the dark, and out of the night.
So what is this Shangri-La School, where is it, and what’s the Yellow Brick Road we need to take to get there? There’s an idea of what that school is like and where it’s located. Some believe it is located in the higher socioeconomic areas of our community. Some believe it is owned and operated independently from a public school district as a non-profit or for-profit charter school. There are some schools that appear or even boldly proclaim to be a Shangri-La School because everything seems so perfect.
Lately, the Shangri-La School is considered to be a private school, and families should not be prevented from sending their children to such these “perfect schools” because they cannot afford the tuition. To resolve federal and state governments are pushing for developing “Yellow Brick Roads” funded by school vouchers that will use public monies to cover the tuition for families who want to send their children to these private schools that are considered to be Shangri-La.
However, much like the ancient city in Lost Horizon, the Shangri-La School is more of a mythical ideal. It’s that “perfect place” where we want to go, to work, or to send our children. It’s that wish fulfillment where all our issues and problems will be resolved. It’s also that place we want to run away to when we feel disappointed, disheartened, or dissatisfied with the school where we are currently enrolled or employed.
Unfortunately, the Shangri-La School does not exist because no school is truly “perfect”. Every school has their own set of circumstances, issues, problems, and situations they encounter. How the school and its staff address and respond to these problems and situations gives the impression that the school must be “perfect”.
However, there are Shangri-La Classrooms.
A Shangri-La Classroom is that beacon shining brightly even in the darkest and most depressing environments. It’s that classroom where students are not only demonstrating proficiency and growth according to state assessments and school benchmarks but also showing and telling the depth and extent of their learning insightfully and in their own unique way. It’s not necessarily a “fun” place, but the learning experience is fun in that it is educational, enjoyable, and exciting.
A Shangri-La Classroom is rigorous in that “each student is expected to learn at high levels, and each is supported so he or she can learn at high level, and each student demonstrates learning at high level” (Blackburn, 2008). Expectations are high yet attainable. The work is demanding and difficult, but the learning experience is challenging and complex. Students are encouraged to meet and exceed these expectations. They are also prompted engaged in thinking deeply and expressing and sharing their learning insightfully and in their own unique way. The teacher is an instructor, a facilitator, and an encourager for learning. A rigorous classroom can become Shangri-La for the students and teacher by asking good questions that will challenge students to demonstrate higher order thinking and communicate depth of knowledge. Instead of presenting items to answer, tasks to do, and activities to be done, provide students with an experience driven by a good question that will not only prompt and encourage them to develop and demonstrate their talent and thinking but also take with them and remember beyond that day or year in the Shangri-La classroom.
A Shangri-La classroom is student-centered and student-centric. The goals and objectives are the same, but one size does not fit all. The learning experience is differentiated in that the instruction is designed based on the learning needs of different groups of students and modified or adjusted to meet the needs of these groups. The instruction is also individualized in that it is customized to target the interests and needs of the individual learner and accommodations are made when necessary or needed. The learning is also personalized in that students are provided the opportunity to choose how they want to learn as well as encouraged to express and share their learning in their own unique way (Bray & McClaskey, 2013).
A Shangri-La classroom is a healthy, safe, and supportive environment that “enables students .., to learn in powerful ways” (Budge & Parrett, 2012). Both students and the teacher feel comfortable, confident and curious to teach and learn. Their ideas and input are respected and valued and they respect the opinions, perspectives, and thoughts of others. Barriers are broken down and relationships are established and fostered between peers. A healthy, safe, and supportive classroom can become Shangri-La for the students and teacher by creating a learning environment where all are engaged, encouraged, empathetic, and empowered to teach and learn from each other. Every individual in that room and what they contribute to the learning experience are essential. Their ideas, opinions, perspectives and thoughts have value and worth. They may be critiqued, but they are not criticized or even chastised for who they are or what they believe.
A Shangri-La Classroom is not without its share of problems. However, how those problems are addressed and responded to by both the teacher and the students are what will sustain the positive and productive atmosphere, culture, and environment. Conflict, confusion, and even crises become learning opportunities and deepen not only academic and self-knowledge but also understanding and awareness.
Most importantly, a Shangri-La classroom is where students want to be and want to go. For them, school is not just a place to learn skills or stuff. Every day presents a new opportunity for students to learn or do something they might never have done before or even experienced in their lives. Students never feel ashamed of who they are or what they can or cannot do. They feel as if they belong, and they recognize and realize they are important and valuable members of their class. They are also motivated to come to class, to be present, and to participate because they feel challenged yet safe in doing so. They also never want to miss a day of class because they never know what the experience will bring or have them accomplish.
The Shangri-La Classroom is much easier to find than the Shangri-La School. Why? Because all it takes is one teacher to decide that their classroom will be a learning environment that is rigorous, healthy, safe, supportive, and student-centered and centric. How that teacher conducts themselves and treats their students will influence how students not only feel about being in that class but also how they feel about themselves. In a Shangri-La Classroom, it’s the teacher who truly has the ability and power to make that learning environment a heavenly paradise not only for their students but also themselves.
If you’re looking for Shangri-La in education, look no further than your classroom. Create that paradise of learning for your students and yourself. Hopefully, your colleagues will recognize, realize and respect what you’re doing and turn their own classrooms into a Shangri-La. If enough teachers do this, then you will create a Shangri-La School and make that hopeful ideal an actual reality for all stakeholders.
Erik M. Francis, M.Ed., M.S. is an author, educator, and speaker who specializes in teaching and learning that promotes cognitive rigor and college and career readiness. . He is also the author of Now THAT’S a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning published by ASCD. He is also the owner of Maverik Education LLC, providing academic professional development and consultation to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities on developing learning environments and delivering educational experiences that challenge students to demonstrate higher order thinking and communicate depth of knowledge.