After 50 years, Ron Scutt continues to inspire students at Stehekin School
This fall marks Ron Scutt’s 50th year of involvement with the one-room Stehekin School. He brings a unique perspective on the art of teaching and what it takes to help students succeed. He’s a passionate advocate for using developmentally appropriate methods in the classroom rather than chasing standardized test scores.
The Pennsylvania native discovered early on in his career that he yearned for an opportunity to teach in an environment that would allow him to work in a multi-age classroom, teach all subjects, and work with students for multiple years. The idea of a one-room school was high on his list.
Scutt and his wife, Kim, found the job listing for the position in Stehekin after moving to Pullman to work as dorm counselors at Washington State University. In 1976, he was hired, and the Scutts made the move to Stehekin. They raised their family in Stehekin and have become an integral part of the community.
Scutt taught at the school, which serves Kindergarten through eighth grades for four decades, retiring in 2016, then became the superintendent for a few years before returning to the classroom as a volunteer assistant.
Scutt is one of four individuals who are participating in the Elder Speak program of The Ripple Foundation. The elders have been meeting regularly to share what they have learned and they will give public presentations in Leavenworth and Wenatchee this fall.
Scutt speaks with conviction about what he refers to as the “realm of Childhood,” and the four lessons that he has learned about the art of education, which are aligned with the points of the compass. He first presented the following thoughts as a Milken Family Foundation” Teacher of the Year recipient in 1996.
Teaching – Four Points of the Compass
Like four points of the compass, four principal thoughts give direction to the art of education.
North — Venerate Childhood. Treat each child as an infinitely delicate, yet infinitely enduring gift of God.
South — Never give up on a child – ever. Always search for new ways to inspire a student to learn. Get elbow-to-elbow and heart-to-heart. Long after a student passes from your presence, lessons you have taught and examples you have set will inexplicably reach fruition.
East — Recognize that children will, if treated in a developmentally appropriate manner, slowly evolve through an orderly organic process with the richness of their personality intact.
West — Look at the education of each child as a mystery to be solved. Each day, ask questions that need to be asked. Degree by degree, answers will be forthcoming.”
The notion of developmentally appropriate education seems to be gaining some traction these days, which is an approach to teaching and learning that focuses on meeting the needs of each child based on their age, individual characteristics, and the social and cultural context of their lives.
Those principles are violated when students are pushed to increase their intellectual achievement at early grade levels, at the expense of play, the arts and social interactions that give kids a healthier foundation.
He is also critical of employing technology in schools before it is likely to be of benefit. The Stehekin School, says Scutt, has no internet connection to this day, which creates an environment where kids are working with each other rather than staring at screens.
Central to his success at Stehekin School was engaging community members in the learning process. “It’s not like it was one person running the show,” Scutt recalled. “It was me organizing things, and inviting people into the classroom; it was more of a community experience,” he added.
Building a sense of community in the classroom and also in the broader community became the key to developing a sustainable approach to education in that remote community. The success that was achieved was in helping students learn how to learn rather than simply learning facts. Learning, Scutt says, is about asking questions and searching for answers.
In the process, Ron Scutt’s approach places a strong emphasis on re-humanizing education. In my experience, that’s what the most effective teachers are doing in our schools, despite an educational system that over-emphasizes the importance of high-stakes tests that tend to dehumanize education. For more information on the Elder Speak program and its participants, check out theripplefoundation.org.
