Paul Tough is Cool Part 3: Still Nerdy

I was getting carried away with my interest in Paul Tough's recent talk the other day, so I thought I'd save my other thoughts for this post, just to spread things out a little. Here I go, nerdying out a little bit more, then I'll try to be done. Promise.

As I was saying . . .

Point the second. In response to his comments about a study done on baby rats [I believe this may be the study, or at least one related to what he discussed] where they've found that certain genes actually switch on and off based on whether the mama rat licks and strokes the baby rat in the first seven days of life, one woman asked about a related study that seemed to indicate that the administration of certain chemicals could have a similar effect on the rats' brains as the nurturance. I believe the answer was yes. And certainly, as someone who wishes that a pill would switch certain genes of my own on or off at times, and as someone who has seen the devastating effects of abuse and neglect and has wished a simple switch could heal people I care for, this is a hopeful breakthrough. And still, my heart sank a bit at the swiftness with which we would seek out a chemical to replace the love and care of a healthy relationship. Of course, creating healthy relationships is infinitely harder, but isn't it also infinitely more useful and effective? Even if a pill could reverse the brain damage caused by abuse, does that pill also surround that brain with a model of how to love, how not to pass on more failed relational interactions? How can we encourage a culture obsessed with instant gratification to choose the much much harder road in this instance??

And perhaps to that point, and to make my last point, in considering how to help children succeed, Tough contrasted studies about language development with studies about Attachment. I believe he was trying to help us shift our understanding of how to define success (the harder road worth taking, if you will)
. And yet, the whole way through, I was so certain he was building up to a point I don't think he ever made [though, my brain isn't exactly functioning on all cylinders, so perhaps I missed it, or perhaps we're supposed to wait for his book to see it]. I had seen glimpses of studies here and there [I believe this one gets at the point] that show that healthy attachment actually has a powerful effect on language development. Had he come to this as his climax, he might have helped us think about relational competence and stress management as the more valuable skills, but shown us how better language development is the cherry on top gained when you order your priorities correctly. Personally, I thought that would have been pretty cool. But his talk was still cool nonetheless.

I'm really sorry if this makes no sense because you probably were not at this talk with me, but maybe you're getting a glimpse into some interesting research studies/ideas I've found interesting. I would certainly love to engage on these questions with anyone who is interested! Comment away, Lobsters!

Paul Tough is cool Part 2: Getting Nerdy

So as I mentioned recently, I got to hear Paul Tough talk about how cool Attachment Theory. Paul Tough + Attachment = a double score in my book. If you're interested in a little sample of Tough's writings, check out this article. As I also mentioned, I was too nervous to ask any questions or make any comments in the public space after the talk, and only barely got up the guts to approach him directly. My thoughts were a bit insecure and a bit nerdy, getting into research studies I felt vaguely familiar with. If I had had more chutzpah, here are a few of the things I would have wanted to engage on:

First of all, if you don't know about Emmy Werner, you haven't had too much of a conversation with me about children or education. I'm enthralled by her work. So because that's probably true of most people reading this post, I'm gonna tell you about her now. Werner did a 32 year longitudinal study in Hawaii of children born in various circumstances, from wealthy to poor, two parents and none, homes with drug abuse or substance free, etc. [ Emmy Werner's work on Resilience.] After she sorted the babies born according to degrees of risk factors [like poverty, single parents, substance abuse], she found that a significant portion of the high-risk children actually grew up to be "competent and caring adults." Or in other words, despite being born into rough circumstances, the majority of those children were resilient. She found three protective factors that lead to resilience:

1)  Presence of a Caring Adult [Certainly consistent with attachment theory! But if not the mother, someone like a teacher or a coach or youth pastor can certainly play this roll]

2) High Expectations

3) Meaningful Opportunities [such as community service or leadership]

Her studies are certainly much more involved, but that's the nutshell as it's been taught to me. Isn't that inspiring and hopeful? Aren't those things as a community that we should be able to provide children? Even, and especially, children who may not have had positive attachments until they get exposed to a broader community, such as through a school. So cool. I think her study should be required knowledge for anyone working with children!

More later . . .

Star struck by Paul Tough

Once upon a time when I was a grad student, I had an hour long commute to campus, which means I listened to a whole bunch of NPR and PRI and APM. Therefore, I heard more than a handful of radio spots interviewing Paul Tough about his book, Whatever it Takes about Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ). I was in the middle of a degree in Social Work, a field committed to people in poverty, working in a public school after already having spent years working in educational nonprofits. I had to read the book. When my friend Emily [different Emily from my co-blogger, guess I have a thing for gals with that name!] told me she was starting to read it, I actually went out, bought it, and read it for real, instead of just dreaming of reading it some day like I do with most books I hear about and "have to read." Emily and I were so excited by the book. It is so well written, gives such a fascinating and insightful history and investigation into issues of poverty and education, and tells the story of Canada and the HCZ with both inspiration and critical evaluation. We both began to dream of a day when we could be social workers in an agency like the HCZ that integrated all the resources children would need from prenatal to college years in order to succeed.


. . . And then we graduated, and I moved, and I had a baby, and I moved again, and now I live in a very different environment from Oakland, California. I'm still finding ways to try to stay engaged in this work in my new environment with its own unique needs and challenges and strengths, but obviously, my activities and priorities have had to shift and adapt. Now, my top priority, as far as vocation is concerned, is being Sofia's mom. And I'm really satisfied in that right now. But even in being Sofia's mom, I still bring the same mind and curiosity and passion to the table that I was cultivating as a social worker. Around the same time I was getting obsessed with Tough and Canada and the HCZ actually, I was also learning about Attachment Theory for the first time, and cultivating a parallel obsession. [for more on that, check out my post Becoming Attached] Turns out that little obsession has been incredibly relevant and useful as I have been growing into parenthood.


Skip forward to last week, here in my little college town, where there was a conference put on by the Political Science department about parenting and what it takes to help children succeed. Certainly a relevant topic for me in general, but when I looked at the line up and saw that Paul Tough [author of Whatever it Takes, if you didn't catch that] was the keynote speaker, I might or might not have yelped out loud and immediately forgotten that there was any other reason to participate. A little shout out here to my awesome husband who not only alerted me to this opportunity, but then also watched Sofia so I could attend. Thank you, Husband!


So there I was in the auditorium, catching up with a friend from a book group, and there was Paul Tough, a few feet away, and I was a little bit star struck people! I hadn't even paid attention to what he was going to be speaking on, I was just there because he was there. Though, this was the third college talk I'd gone to by a somewhat famous person in as many months, and I'd been having somewhat mixed experiences, so I tried to temper my excitement.


He gave a quick synopsis of his work on his first book but quickly moved onto his new project and book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, coming out in September [yes, I have already pre-ordered it!]. But real quick, I just have to mention, he has an awesome Canadian accent, because he's from Canada, and his big success was writing about a guy whose last name is Canada. cool. Anyways, turns out, in the span of time from when I read his first book to now, he has also had a child. And he has also started to shift his priorities and concerns accordingly. Long story short, as he investigated what factors lead to children's success, he found the answers in Attachment Theory. Wah!?! Awesome! Parallel obsessions collide! 


During the time for questions and answers, my mind was brimming with so many things I would have loved to have asked or said, but I was just too excited and nervous to raise my hand. Several fellow audience members did ask really good questions though, and I found his responses maybe even more fascinating than the talk itself. But some questions were far enough off of what he'd spent time researching that he gracefully explained he did not have all the answers for them. Thing is, I actually did have some responses to offer. Again, Wah?!? Pregnancy and mothering have not entirely wiped out my brains! Score! That day was full of surprises. 


So somehow, at the end of the talk, probably because not a single soul was approaching him, I pushed passed the thumping terror in my chest and went up to him to say thanks. I even got to talk to him about one of my favorite ever research studies, Emmy Werner's work on Resilience. He even asked me to write it down so he could check it out later! Looking back on it, he may have just been a really polished, smooth presenter and experienced interviewer who knows how to make people feel interesting and listened to even if he can't wait to get them out of his way. But, whatever, I left there feeling like I was on Cloud Nine. I wonder if that was what it was like when Emily got a kiss from Jimmy Fallon? 


Well that's my story. It was so fun, and I'm so excited for his new book. Have you read his work, Lobsters? Any other Attachment-groupies out there? 


P.S. the audio from his talk is now available here if you'd like to hear it for yourself.