MAC 4 – Week 4 – Response to Daniel Brown

MAC 4 – Week 4 – Response to Daniel Brown

Daniel,

I too became emotional at the failing school project in London.  I think the thing that attracted me to the story instantly was the term, “Failing”.  They were already labeled and I had already made certain assumptions about the students or “them”.  The fact that the students overcame those assumptions and became engaged with the Orchestra is the plotline that fills the reader with emotion.  In a way it is much more meaningful to realize that response in us.  It is true that we were moved by there response?  I would prefer to think of myself as not being moved.  I would like to change my perspective to the story that it is not moving because it is expected.  I will work on that.

I also find Zander’s student letters inspiring.  I believe every teacher has a box or drawer somewhere with these mementos of hope.  I found the NASA student letter and the idea of discovery equally interesting, especially under the light of a previous chapter on measurement.  So often our “framework” involves terms of measurement and discovery in and of itself is not as highly valued.  In public schools it seems as if we must constantly balance on the thin line between Measurement/Assessment and Discovery/Learning?  Perhaps one day I will fall…

Original Post:  Week 4 - The Art of Possibility, Chapters 9-12 - Daniel Brown

While I enjoyed some of the stories, and even felt a bit emotional when I learned about Zander's project with the failing schools in London, I think the vast majority of this material is "brain fluff" and is written to help people other than myself find a way to look at the world like I already do. There were only two paragraphs from this last reading that truly had a positive impact on me. The first started on page 174 and the second was on page 175.

The first paragraph is the lead to the section called Environments for Possibility and invokes an image of the sort of person I want to be. It creates for me a vision, within the framework that Zander sets out for what a vision should be, of the kind of person I feel like when I'm at my best. I've been in that situation before, when I'm feeling vibrant and passionate and people are following along. Sometimes I catch myself in them and realize that this is what being a leader means, but I never get there by trying to be a leader. That part just happens.

I most often find myself in these situations when I'm involved in my coaching. Fencing can be a very passionate sport. Unlike racing or team sports, it's one person pitted against another. In other sports, like olympic rowing, it's really you against yourself. The other boats are there, but they're not stopping you from getting to the finish line. In team sports, like basketball, the other team opposes you, but your victory or defeat is shared with the team. Not so in fencing, where the glory or defeat is yours alone, and to win you've got to be better, fight harder and want it more than the other guy.

As for the second paragraph, it was actually a letter from one of Zander's students, one she wrote to NASA, that inspired me. As a Science teacher I have a deep appreciation for discovery for it's own sake. I also understand that the value of a discovery that hasn't been made can be hard to measure, so I give a great deal of credit to those who dedicate themselves to finding something, not knowing what that something is. It doesn't have to be NASA. I think we can all be explorers in our own way, within our own little, wonderful universes.

Link to Original Post:  http://poweracademic.blogspot.com/

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