Picture by Chris Blakeley at: per creative commons license
Be the Board
Was anyone else hearing Chevy Chase saying, “see the ball, be…be the ball, Danny” from Caddy Shack when you read the title. The concept seems to hold here as well, the old zen master teaching the young new comer the tricks of the trade. However, my amusement barely lasted beyond the first line when the concept of accountability being associated with blame was mentioned. It became clear that the Zanders were talking about how we hold others accountable and how this practice makes us accountable for everything in our lives.
They discuss how we are the framework for what occurs in our lives. My Father taught it to me, as you are the product of every decision you will ever make. If you decide to be angry, what occurs when you are angry was your choice. If you decide to be happy and productive all that comes from that decision is from you. It is a similar theme, and one I have tried to live my life by.
Creating a Framework of Possibility
In this chapter the Zanders discuss leadership and vision and how in order to present your insight and communicate it to others you must be able to paint a mental picture, a vision, to others. This chapter kept reminding me of a discussion I once had with Dr. Scheidel of the University of Washington, when I was a student there. Dr. Scheidel studied how leaders communicate, what types of rhetoric do they use, what tones of voice, he even looked at body language. He was one of the first to make a distinction between leaders, managers and chair-persons. To sum it up, he believed the biggest difference was in how easily and confidently a leader could share a vision, because that dream, that vision was so perfectly clear and crisp in the leaders head. The dream can be told in a story like manner, rather than the traditional transactional style of managers. It causes people to believe that they can change, rather than what they do will change the company, country or organization. He firmly held that without the clarity of vision, there could be no leadership.
The Zanders spoke of nearly the same thing, even when things go wrong or get off track. It is the leader that must refocus the vision and get the people back to following the dream. The same can be held for the classroom. Why would a child want to learn in a room where the teacher is a central authority and not a guiding force for exploration. It must be about creating a vision of learning or setting a direction for the learning and let the students go in that direction. In this way the learning moves from a transactional approach of I will do what you say to get my grade, to one of I will go in that direction as I am excited about what I might discover.
Telling the WE Story
I was sort of hoping this chapter was about Nintendo, but to no avail. This chapter, as many did, discusses a way to reform the conversation in order to remove blame, fear or anger. This time it is putting the conversation in a context that includes all parties and not just ourselves. It is about trying to realize all the other perspectives that are in the room on the issue. I am not sure how this practice will work in the real world in a conversational tone, but I am interested in trying with a few students. These two students come to school about three days a week and have not passed my class all year. They seem indifferent. There have been several meetings and discussions, but most have focused around the I, the them and the greater institution of state regulations. Not once has the conversation been about the WE.
I think we have all seen the student that we inspired who then decided to succeed and thanked us for their success. I think that is often why many of us stay in teaching, well that and the excessive amount of vacation. I guess right now I am reflecting on those that I have not yet reached or inspired. Can I frame the conversation into a WE conversation and how would that play?
I enjoyed hearing you speak about the WE conversation. I believe that this could change how we interact with everybody. Friends, family, and students. For instance, I have a friend that is always dominates the conversation when in large groups. And yet, to try to be nice about this, he should not be the center of attention. He often causes annoyance in others. But if I try to overcome being annoyed and consider his perspective perhaps the conversation would be better. I wish you the best with trying this with your students. It is so wonderful when we inspire students, and this is a good way to carry that out.
ReplyDeleteRichard, I am looking forward to hearing what you say and how these two students respond to you. People do not understand the power that they have to change others’ lives. As teachers we have a unique place in the lives of students – a created position that has so much influence, for better or worse, in the lives of those we are charged with for brief amounts of time. In the end, we mostly become part of the collective body of teachers each student has in their lives. Every once in a while we become THE teacher that makes an impression that affects their lives. Will they become the board in their own lives? I hope you share with us.
ReplyDelete-Ann