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- [00:02]
Podcast Announcer
This show is a part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to your favorite. You'll get brand new episodes of all your favorite shows sent right to your device and you'll help us know that you're out there listening. Never miss another episode by going to podcast hillsdale.edu subscribe. That's podcast Hillsdale Edu subscribe or click the Follow or Subscribe button on Apple podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.
- [00:46]
Podcast Host Intro
Welcome to the Hillsdale College K12 Classical Education Podcast, bringing you insight into classical education and its unique emphasis on human virtue and moral character, responsible citizenship, content, rich curricula and teacher led classrooms. Now your host, Scott Bertram.
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Scott Bertram
Thanks for listening. The Hillsdale College K12 Classical Education Podcast is part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. More episodes at podcast hillsdale.edu or wherever you get your audio. You also can find more information on topics and ideas discussed on this show and at our website, k12 hillsdale.edu. we're joined by Mike Roberts, he's headmaster.
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At Hillsdale Academy here in Hillsdale, Michigan. Mike, thanks so much for joining us.
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Mike Roberts
Thanks for having me. Again, Scott.
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Scott Bertram
Talking today about the necessity of summer break. Now I'm sure students might have real obvious answers to the necessity of summer break question, but we'll talk about it for students, for teachers, for administrators, and yes, for, for parents as well. Starting the student side, why is summer break so important for our students?
- [01:57]
Mike Roberts
Sure. Well, summer break I think is essential for our students as we think about the whole of education. And that may sound kind of like a contradictory statement, right, that summer break is important for education. But it is. And today there is some discussion, you know, around the country about year round school. And I have, I have always been a defender of the summer break. And as we think about the students point, I think that will help us understand why those 12 weeks or so are so important. And this idea that students need rest and they need to renew and they need to restore before they jump back into another year is, is really, really important. I think a lot of this goes back to the necessity that we all have to live lives well and to receive the benefit of our education, we must make room for leisure. And so this idea of sort of an active rest, you know, there's, you know, I think summertime for its own sake might not be a great answer, but how you could use those 12 weeks can be a huge benefit to the ends of a classical education. As we're aiming for our students to become wise and virtuous. I really think that this is a pivot point in a point of every student's education each year, that they need it in order to benefit from the next 36 weeks when we have school.
- [03:35]
Scott Bertram
So you mentioned there is not just an idea, but in practice year round schools with various types of schedules, of course, for those who argue, well, look, you don't have a break, you don't lose that knowledge, you can just keep rolling forward. It's gotten better for the students. What is that difference between the classical approach to have this break, to have this opportunity in schools that are prioritizing rigor for its own sake.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
- [04:00]
Mike Roberts
So the goal of education is not to just do lesson upon lesson upon lesson in more and more content. The idea of course is, you know, can we deliver this education to students, pass on things to the next generation, especially make sure that we have the skills that are needed for like reading and writing and math accomplished. Can you do that along with this break? And I think the answer is yes. But the piece on this is there is. Then what do I do with my summer? I think that's the big question. It's hard to argue, of course, that it's like working out, right? If you work out consistently, you will achieve great things. But again, if you don't change up that workout, if you don't allow for some rest, if you don't change that routine, the opportunity for things to be unhealthy, the idea for you to put yourself in a position of burnout and to just kind of do rigor for rigor's sake, in the end, that takes the life and the joy out of education. So I think this idea in one or two weeks is just not enough. In a lot of these programs that are talking about year round school, they do have breaks of one to two weeks. The problem there is you're always ramping down and you're always ramping up and you can't find that rhythm for what leisure can be in the summer without putting a significant chunk in there for all people that need it.
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Scott Bertram
So how can a well spent summer break support our goals for classical education?
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Mike Roberts
Right. So again, what we want to fight against, when we talk about the idea of rest or leisure, we're not talking about doing nothing, we're not talking about just being idle. We're not talking about sleeping in until noon and we're laying on the couch and eating chips and just watching tv. TV mindlessly. So if you flip that and start thinking about, well, what do we do with our time and this idea of Active rest and this idea of leisure that allows for contemplation about what did I just learn this past year.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
You know, and the ability to use that time well. So this is where, you know, we think a lot about summer reading. Not to just fit another literature book into the sequence and push the students to read and write about it, but no, to read something of value that they can do without a teacher. And this is, you know, all ages. Right. So all of our, our students, K through 12, will read or be read to. You know, I think it's fair to point out that the discussion about how to use your summer, it's going to look a little bit different for Our K through 4 or 5 and a little bit different for the upper school kids. And I think we should be thinking about the age of the child and what is right there. But, but still to have a plan in a purpose to continue to learn, but to learn in a different way. Again, it's reading, it's getting outside. The idea of summer camp, the idea of clinics, the idea of travel, the idea of your parents partnering with us and doing some things with the children during the summer, all of these things can reinforce the great learning, the great knowledge that the students received. You know, so imag learning about the founding of our country, but taking a trip out east to go see these places and the students can put these things together.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
Or at least to be able to read about those things in a leisurely way. So I really just want to kind of push back against the lazy American summer and think more about this active rest and, you know, what students can do using that time well to grow and develop. The other thing I have to throw in for students when you're at a certain age, but even the young ones to work in a different way, to work at home or to do something in the workforce that is something that helps prepare our young people for a long time, long term, you know, learning, contributing, serving, I think these types of ideas that we don't have the opportunity to do that during the regular school year. If you think about what you miss out on that 36 weeks, let's think carefully then about how we can do some of these things over those 12 weeks.
- [08:24]
Scott Bertram
So should schools be involved with providing optional academic programs or suggested academic programs? To what extent should schools be involved in sort of saying, here's an idea for how you can spend this summer?
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Mike Roberts
I think this, what you said is right on the idea. The point of the school giving some ideas is great. And so whether that's a summer reading list or, or making sure that families understand the opportunities that exist within their school summer, whether it's sports related or science camp related or something else in the community. To be a bridge, to pass on these different opportunities for them is really important. But we have to be careful that we're not just turning it into another requirement and we're not just scheduling the summer or that the school is replacing the family over the summer. So giving ideas and giving some inspiration is excellent, but I think we have to be careful about what we require. I would push back on that.
- [09:24]
Scott Bertram
We'll come back to the family idea in just a little bit. Mike Roberts with us, headmaster at Hillsdale Academy, talking about the necessity of summer break. What about the necessity of summer break for teachers? Why is it important for them? How do those breaks perhaps help a teacher's ability to rest, reflect and prepare?
- [09:44]
Mike Roberts
No, that's right on. They need that opportunity to be at their best year in and year out. We hear all the time that teachers only work so many months of the year and sometimes there's a knock on that profession. When I think of our teachers, and I think teachers across the country, especially the way we're doing things in classical education, I have the utmost respect for the work that it takes to be a teacher, to be on each and every day with the students and to carry the curriculum and to carry this into the classroom and to do so with joy. If they don't have a summer to reflect and contemplate on how their year went and make new plans moving forward, I just fear the burnout and the cycle of joy would probably just be a huge problem for education. And so this idea of rest and restoration, it's not just resting. It's about coming back better, having an opportunity to think. So our teachers, you know, we have summer reading too. We read something together and come back. It's on an important topic, something we could be thinking about together for the school year. We'll be, we'll use part of the summer for summer conferences. We'll have our teachers at Hillsdale College. K12 classical conference will attend other places. This is an opportunity to meet other educators, to think about your craft, to read different books, but also just again to, to go back to this idea of leisure for our teachers, that they have this opportunity to do some things with their mind and their bodies. That is not the general routine of what we're doing. So teachers, teachers need this break, but teachers are not off like for three months. That just doesn't exist. But it is different and that you don't have to report. It's not that seven to five o' clock job or whatever. Teachers work longer hours than that too.
- [11:37]
Scott Bertram
I will say I was not a teacher in a classroom until I arrived here at Hillsdale and teach in the journalism department and realized very quickly how important the summer break and even the winter break was. Because you have to be very prepared. I mean, so many things happen during the course of the academic year that are unexpected or something's changed or you're sick or whatever might come up to be able to have that preparation to fall back on, but also to reflect and realize, oh, that didn't work as well as I thought it would. I got to change this for next time. Or in journalism, this is changing very quickly in our world. I have to add this section and take this out. You've got to have time to sort of have those big picture discussions or thoughts in your mind.
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Mike Roberts
No, that's right. And you know, we're also asking teachers often to teach something new or there's some variable that's coming at them. And so that opportunity to prepare and to plan. But I keep going back to this idea of contemplation, this idea to think, to be able to kind of quiet the mind, have sit in some silence and evaluate what just happened over the course of the past year. If we don't allow for that, we're not going to be at our best as teachers. And they can accomplish a lot more if we give them this active rest period.
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Scott Bertram
And hey, what about administrators, headmasters and people like that? Why is summer break so important for them?
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Mike Roberts
Well, it's, you know, again, anyone that's part of school, I think needs this sort of reset. We have this unusual business where there's always a start to a new year, you know, where, you know, sometimes in the workforce there isn't this, this natural start, but in education there is, right? Coming back and ready to do things. It's always a new crop of kindergarteners, right? Everyone is always, you know, up a grade, you always have new staff. There's this new beginning. And rarely does one year look exactly the same as the next. And so for administrat, there isn't the summer break where you're off of work as much maybe as the students and the teachers. Most administrators are working throughout the summer, but even there it's a different sort of work. The job is very different when the students and the teachers are not in the building. And that is your total focus as an administrator is being available for them, therefore, the summer allows for the planning and again the evaluation and to do so, I would say, at a leisurely pace where it's not just taking care of the urgent and surviving one event to another. You're able to put together hours and days in serious thought into big decisions. And I love that part. I love the summer months. It's almost a totally different job, I'll tell you. By August, I want teachers and I want students and I want parents back. But that opportunity to work, work together with my administrative team and to do so at a pace that is sustainable and also to grow ourselves. Right. This is our time to, to go to conferences, to read. I'm always trying to read books that our students are reading in literature and in history and, and go back to some of those to be more prepared for the school year. So I, I found that I, I find that a satisfying leisure.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
To do that as well.
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Scott Bertram
How, I mean, maybe a little more specifically, do you spend your summer break? Do you have personal professional goals you're trying to check off during those course of the months? How do you sort of refresh and find yourself more motivated to again begin that school year in August?
- [15:17]
Mike Roberts
Right. So yeah, there's sort of a rhythm to, to administrator summer. But you know, you're. The first week or two, this is that ramping up, ramping down principle. The first couple weeks you're spending with teachers, you're spending with and maybe some student wrap up, that takes about a week or two to sort of just tie up all the loose ends. Maybe there's some things that still have to be accomplished or finished in different reports like that. And so the first two weeks is pretty focused on ending, ending the school year well. And then, you know, for us, especially a lot of people in classical education, June has turned into conference month. So whether that's the Hillsdale College K12 conference or other ones nationally, this is a popular time to bring administrators together. And I find this enriching to go talk to another headmaster that's doing the exact same thing that we're doing or something similar, and to have the opportunity to hear from others, learn from others, just have dinner with others. So that sort of takes you through that. So the goal there, that usually sets up a lot of my goals for the rest of the summer. As I'm thinking about what do we want to implement for next year? What do we need to do to prepare our teachers? Well, what are some of the things our culture of our school is going to need? And so you spend the Summertime, thinking about those things and planning and preparing, intentionally thinking a lot about in service when our students come back.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
So for me, it's an evaluation, but also going to do some professional development myself, which I can't do during the school year as much, a little bit, but not as much. And then all of that just puts you in planning mode and it's just about preparing. So July to August, it's all eyes forward. A lot of times I'd say for administrators, it's reflection in June and looking forward in July and then August, you ramp up to the beginning of the year. So, yes, every summer I'll set goals for what I want to read, what conference I want to go to, and what sort of projects do we need to tackle to implement next year for our school year?
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Scott Bertram
All right, let's talk about parents and families. Why is summer break so important for the students to be with that family?
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Mike Roberts
Well, in classical education, we're talking all the time how we are in partnership with parents. And I'm a parent too. And so the lift that parents have to partner with us, just making sure that their children have what they need throughout the school year and just the being present and kind of all in to help when needed. Sometimes that's providing a studious environment at home, sometime that's reading to your child. Sometimes that's, you know, being available for questions on homework, but also to support them. And we all know what activity load our students have, right? Activities are part of education. So whether it's the play or sports or some sort of leadership development, as Quiz bowl, we are, as parents, we're driving all over the place and we are helping make sure that our kids have what they need for their education. So in the summertime, the schedule can change for us too. Now our role with our child, we get to spend more time with them in a different way. We're taking on other responsibilities. And so as we think about areas that we want to help our children grow, we can do so in a way that's not so scheduled. And a parent needs that break, too, from the rigor of being a parent to support school to then shift towards, again, I'm going to say, a more leisurely pace in the summer that allows even for parents, I mean, how many of us think about, okay, next school year, we're going to change a few things in our routine. We're going to have a couple new ideas for this child or our family. And I think that's really essential because I think we'll burn out the Family. If we sustain a school year pace for 12 months.
- [19:22]
Scott Bertram
And again, we don't want to give specific homework or specific instructions, but if we were to maybe describe how parents can think about their role over the summer and how they can support their child's education during those summer months, how might they take that approach?
- [19:38]
Mike Roberts
Right. So, again, I do think it's good to be intentional. I find that the first couple. A word of caution, the first week or two can be tough. Anytime you change, transition, and there's change. I don't know. I remember from experience, especially with younger children that transition from school, not into school. So one, be patient. Right? So parents need to be patient with that, but also have a plan. Again, you know, what would be a productive and a healthy day. And this is, you know, taking our children to the library, providing extra books for them. Some students do need some extra work. The teachers recommend, like extra math facts or maybe have to work on grammar or something that needs a little bit of work. And so being available to do that again at a leisurely pace. But just be thinking about the routine. We want kids outside. We want kids playing. We want kids using their finding hobbies, you know, using their brains, you know, where can we take them in our communities to learn? So I just think all of those things are really important. So planning is key. So what we want to do is just avoid the television and the iPad and something else.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
And just this mindless entertainment.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
That is the sort of thing that would not be using our summer. Well, now there's time and place for that.
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Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
And there's more time in the summer for that. But this is, you know, I think parents can be really thoughtful about how they kind of organize and structured the day to an extent. Again.
- [21:16]
Interviewer/Co-host
Right.
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Mike Roberts
I'm not saying we need a wall chart with every hour, you know, planned out. That might take the joy out of the summer for your child as well.
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Scott Bertram
Mike Roberts is headmaster at Hillsdale Academy here in Hillsdale, Michigan, as we talk about the necessity of summer break. Mike, thanks so much for joining us here on the Hillsdale College K12 Classical Education Podcast.
- [21:40]
Mike Roberts
Thank you for having me.
- [21:41]
Scott Bertram
I'm Scott Bertram. We invite you to like us on Facebook. Search for Hillsdale College K12 classical education. You also can follow us on Instagram hillsdalek12. That's hillsdalek12 on Instagram. Thank you for listening to The Hillsdale College K12 classical education podcast, part of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network. More at Podcast Hillsdale. Edu, or wherever you get your audio.