In previous newsletters, I unpacked some staggering statistics related to teenage feelings of isolation and loneliness

To briefly recap:

• 52% of students report feeling no one cares about them (American College Health Association)

• 61% of students feel seriously alone and invisible (Harvard Graduate School of Education)

• Gates Foundation research shows students number one reason for giving up on school is they feel no one cares about them

• Teen suicide rates go up during school weeks and school year (Scientific American)

• 83% of students say school is a significant source of stress and anxiety (American Psychology Association)

• Teenagers report feeling lonelier than even elderly shut ins in nursing homes

What that tells me is that our students are suffering from a serious epidemic of loneliness, with devastating impact

In this previous newsletter on mattering, I made the case that schools must do all they can to ensure students know they matter

In today’s newsletter, I want to argue that schools must practice a radical pedagogy of hospitality for the sake of our students

Practicing Radical Hospitality

The idea of radical hospitality can be understood as putting intentional effort and emphasis on making people feel welcomed, valued, and valuable.

It is a deliberate going above and beyond what is “required” to create a culture of belonging that is felt in every aspect of the organization

It is embodying a practice that makes sure everyone feels seen, everyone knows they belong

There are places in our world and in our lives where we feel we deeply belong. Places of welcome and community that let us know we matter

Those places for many of us show up as our local coffee shops, neighborhood bar, indie bookstore, church or synagogue

In these places, we “have a seat”. We are regulars. We show up and people know our story, our history, what makes us “us”

They like us as we are, warts and all

These places practice (perhaps consciously, perhaps not) what I think of as radical hospitality

It’s a little like the 80s tv show Cheers: every time a regular showed up at the bar, the entire place in unison shouted out that person’s name

No matter how hard the day at work or the troubles at home, there was a place where “everybody knew your name…and they’re always glad you came”

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Here’s my point: schools should practice hospitality and welcome with at least as much intentionality as our bars

What does radical hospitality look like in a school?

At a bare minimum, it means we should get to know our students beyond the number, test score, or GPA

We should stand at the front door of our classrooms with a smile, a fist bump, and an acknowledgement of them as persons in their own rights (not merely as means to our ends)

It means having micro-conversations with them as they enter our classroom, asking how their JV soccer match went, how they did at the band concert, if they had a good time skiing on spring break, how driver’s ed is going, et cetera.

It means getting to know them well enough that we are able to enter into their world just for a moment as we welcome them into the communal world of the learning space

It means catching students doing Good and calling home to celebrate it with their parents

It means honoring their birthday, the day they get their driver’s license, the big play they made in football, the work they put in trying to learn the material, the courage it took to do an oral presentation in front of the class, how well they did in the school play

It means checking in on them, asking how their weekend went, seeing if they are ok when they are quiet, letting them know we see them and care about them

It means creating space for student voices to lead the learning, to direct the culture, and to speak into the direction of their own education

It means noticing them as crucial parts of the school ecosystem, ensuring they know they matter to us, seeing us as educators react with genuine happiness that they are there

For all of us, it might mean rethinking how we talk about students both to their face and behind their backs in the faculty break room

It might mean recognizing that the “difficult” student in third hour is struggling with extreme self doubt, that the “hard to reach” student in last hour is dreading going home to an explosive home life. It is acknowledging the humanity in the humans that populate our classrooms, halls, lunch tables, and gymnasiums.

Elementary schools do a great job of this by and large, but somewhere along the way, our emphasis shifts from communal belonging to individual achievement…and what gets lost is the sense that students believe they matter beyond their GPA and test scores

I am convinced, if schools adopted the intentional hospitality, warmth, welcome, and sense of belonging our bars, coffeeshops, churches, and rec leagues create, we would see more engagement and more connection from and between those who spend their time there

We all want to belong, to know we matter. It is the deep, fundamental craving we have as human beings: to know we are valued and valuable to others.

Schools that practice intentional radical hospitality go a long way towards both meeting that deep human need and creating spaces of welcome and joy.

We should practice radical hospitality in our schools until the idea is so normalized it no longer seems “radical” at all but is as second nature to our understanding of what “schooling” means that students come to expect that school is a place where everyone knows their name…and everyone’s glad they came

READY TO CREATE AN ECOSYSTEM OF RADICAL HOSPITALITY AT YOUR SCHOOL?

If you would like to take the next step towards seeing that vision come to fruition at your learning site, feel free to reach out! I love working with schools and school leaders who are ready to see education reimagined

From one-on-one dream sessions, to consulting with your team, to sharing at your site, I am passionate about helping you reimagine learning in your educational community.

My work exists to help schools tell a better story for students, educators and the world. If I can help in any way—from workshops, consulting calls, professional development, keynotes, or year long cohorts—let me know!

Check out my website: https://www.drscottamartin.com/

Want a tangible resource for doing something bold and imaginative in education?

Grab a copy of The Edupreneur’s Field Guide. In this book, I bring to you all the wisdom, struggle, insight, hardships, challenges, obstacles, and opportunities I have learned from starting Odyssey Leadership Academy to help you tell a better story in education!