Credo
A FORMAL STATEMENT of Beliefs…
Nearly a century ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street College of Education, wrote a credo for that institution that continues to define the spirit of imaginative and critical inquiry that motivates and guides our work at Mint Chip Studios today. Here it is:
What potentialities in human beings—children, teachers, and ourselves—do we want to see develop?
A zest for living that comes from taking in the world with all five senses alert
A lively intellectual curiosity that turns the world into an exciting laboratory and keeps one ever a learner
Flexibility when confronted with change and ability to relinquish patterns that no longer fit the present
The courage to work, unafraid and efficiently, in a world of new needs, new problems, and new ideas
Gentleness combined with justice in passing judgments on other human beings
Sensitivity—not only to the external formal rights of the “other fellow,” but to him as another human being seeking a good life through his own standards
A striving to live democratically, in and out of schools, as the best way to advance our concept of democracy
Our credo demands ethical standards as well as scientific attitudes. Our work is based on the faith that human beings can improve the society they have created.
Mint Chip Studios adds two postscripts to LSM’s elegant statement.
“The slow way is the fast way.” Attributed to renowned yoga guru B.K.S. Iyengar.
Spirit of Abundance. “People with a scarcity mentality tend to see everything in terms of win-lose. There is only so much; and if someone else has it, that means there will be less for me. The more principle-centered we become, the more we develop an abundance mentality, the more we are genuinely happy for the successes, well-being, achievements, recognition, and good fortune of other people. We believe their success adds to…rather than detracts from…our lives.” Author Stephen Covey 7 Habits of Highly Effective People