The View From My Window: How Do We Empower Girls? Courtney Martin Shapes our Thinking
Courtney Martin, author and journalist, recently spent two days at Ellis talking with the girls about their voice and the power they possess within themselves. Ms. Martin is a graduate of Barnard College and has spent much of her professional career writing about the new feminism and challenges girls face as they grow up. Her most recent book, Do It Anyway profiles eight people who are making a difference in the area of social justice. Her point is that feminism today is not about protesting and demanding equality, but rather about harnessing the power within yourself and making a difference. Her own experiences made her feel that she was full of idealism, but falling short of changing the world with her ideas and efforts. What she realized was that her power was in her ability to write. By using her talents she has been able to connect people and ideas, create relevant websites, inform women of possibilities.
Ellis’ new Mission and Vision express the school’s focus on preparing, empowering and inspiring girls. Ms. Martin’s talk was timely for us as she reinforced what we already believe at Ellis: the power is within each of us. If we prepare our students well, we will empower them by helping then to know what talents they possess, what core values they have, what skills they bring to solving problems and working through challenges, what empathy and concern they have for fellow citizens of the world.
A relatively famous quote from one of Ms. Martin’s books that deals with girls’ sense that they must be perfect: “ We are a generation of young women who were told we could do anything, but instead heard that we had to be everything. “Parents and teachers must send a clear message to our girls that they are empowered by their their unique style, their point of view, their critical thinking, their core beliefs, their strategic savvy (their ability to choose the best way to communicate in each situation), their ability to use tools effectively, their sense of humanity. This all begins with our youngest learners, in the way in which we respond to them: good thinking, you are a problem solver, what do you think, you can solve this, try, try again.
We empower our daughters and students when we help them know themselves, be happy with themselves, when we focus on fulfillment as much as we focus on achievement. We empower them when we allow them to experience difficulty or even failure, walk through it, and overcome it.
One last thought: If you watch Courtney’s TED TALK, you will learn that she believes that parents exert enormous influence over their children and are pivotal in terms of their empowerment.
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A relatively famous quote from one of Ms. Martin’s books that deals with girls’ sense that they must be perfect: “ We are a generation of young women who were told we could do anything, but instead heard that we had to be everything. “Parents and teachers must send a clear message to our girls that they are empowered by their their unique style, their point of view, their critical thinking, their core beliefs, their strategic savvy (their ability to choose the best way to communicate in each situation), their ability to use tools effectively, their sense of humanity. This all begins with our youngest learners, in the way in which we respond to them: good thinking, you are a problem solver, what do you think, you can solve this, try, try again.
We empower our daughters and students when we help them know themselves, be happy with themselves, when we focus on fulfillment as much as we focus on achievement. We empower them when we allow them to experience difficulty or even failure, walk through it, and overcome it.
One last thought: If you watch Courtney’s TED TALK, you will learn that she believes that parents exert enormous influence over their children and are pivotal in terms of their empowerment.
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