Cotton Bryan

 A few of my core beliefs as a high school teacher:

    1.  Life beyond high school demands that students know how to use their minds well (as college students, as citizens, as workers, as family members, etc), so the activities of high school life should provide ample teaching, coaching, and practice in using the mind to grapple with material that is complex, rich, and meaningful.

    2.  Students should come away from their high school experience with confidence in their abilities to navigate the ambiguities and complexities that life presents.  The study of literature and the practice of writing are two of the
most powerful tools in honing this intellectual confidence. 
   
    3.  Teachers must have a passion for their subjects that is contagious.  I want my students to observe daily what it's like to have a deep love for something.  If they don't come away with a love for English literature exactly, then I hope they, at  least, come away with a strong impression of what true passion for a subject looks like.

    4.  The way adults in a school behave--the way they interact, communicate, solve problems, make decisions--teaches students how to interact, communicate, solve problems, and make decisions.   The attitudes and values we model as adults are a major part of the curriculum, not a fringe after-thought.

    5.  Adolescent learners can thrive in a small school where students are known well and cared for by their teachers and peers.  Conversely, the anonymous learner (not really known well or cared for by anyone on campus) can be at risk of an education that is flimsy, ephemeral, and superficial.

    6.  Adolescents have a lot to figure out about life's big questions.  Their schooling should facilitate the search for understanding.



A few of the steps I've taken on my path to The Woods:
 . . .  Jacksonville, Florida (childhood)  . . .  High Rocks Camp in Brevard, NC (counselor)  . . .  National Outdoor Leadership School (student)  . . .  Sewanee, The University of the South (student)  . . . Elk Canyon Ranch in Montana (fly fishing guide)  . . .  Hammond School in Columbia, SC (teacher & coach)  . . .  Klingenstein Summer Institute (fellow)  . . .  Carolina Friends School (teacher & coach) . . .  National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowship (fellow) . . .  Harvard Graduate School of Education  (student) . . .  The Woods (teacher, director, assistant principal)