Altruism and Generosity

"Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference." -Coach John Wooden

"You can't live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you." -Coach John Wooden

"One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." 

-Proverbs 11:24, 25

(bold emphasis added)

Questions to ask myself and then my students:

• Am I grateful?
• What do I have to be grateful for?
• What would I miss if I didn't have?
• What can I do to pass on that sense of blessing?
• How can I be generous to others?
• What can I do today to make someone's day better?
• How can I add to the good in the world?

“Social-Emotional Learning: Why Now?”

SEL (social-emotional learning) teaches “soft skills” to students and taps into the altruistic side of individuals as part of education. The reasons are many and vary in depth. Superficially, SEL is meant to decrease school stress and generally create a kinder, more ‘human’ atmosphere at school. Digging deeper, one can see that it does indeed tap into who we are as people and as with any change in thought, has the potential of changing the purpose of school.

I often ask this. What is the goal of school? What should my kids be able to do? Why are they here? How are they best served here? SEL partly answers that as it provides a value system which umbrellas school. We could say that while we are here to learn, the primary purpose is to be better people, to nurture others, to be aware of the needs of others.

I think of John Wooden’s quote, “You can't live a perfect day until you do something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

Questions to ask myself and then my students:

• What are my motives?
• Is it important to help other people who can’t help you back?
• Why?
• Do my decisions show that I value helping others?
• What have I done today that would lead someone to believe I believed it was important to help others for no other reason than it is valuable?
• Do I have to be “paid back” for every good thing

Classroom Ideas:

1. Write thank you notes to people at school you appreciate.

        This will take some thinking ahead to create quality thank you notes. By quality, I mean ones which are specific. We discuss what specific details are. For example, “I really appreciate you” may be a true statement, but it’s not specific. “Thank you for cooking great meals for us. I love the beef stroganoff on rice and your homemade rolls” stands as a specific example.

2. Read stories about generous an altruistic people.

Florence Nightingale

        Stories, I have found, communicate better than any lecture I can give. People have done great things! They’ve given their time, love, emotion, work, and even lives for great causes large and small. What inspiring material there is available to us! Take advantage of these fascinating resources!