Teamwork!

Marshmallow challenge

Today’s Marshmallow Challenge was a lot of fun, and also showed that our team works together very well. We all have different strengths, and it didn’t seem that any one person took over or tried to dominate. I enjoyed watching Tom Wujec describe how the Marshmallow Challenge (https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower). The concept that Kindergarten students do better on a challenge like this than say, business grads, does not actually surprise me. A child’s lack of background knowledge about such things as structural integrity can sometimes be a good thing, when they are more willing just to experiment, test the results, and reformulate their ideas on the fly. Adults, with all our experience, have a much more difficult time doing this; and we’re much less willing to potentially look foolish if an idea flops! I thought it was very interesting that at the end of the challenge, both of our groups had come up with almost identical creations, and both teams had worked together well. We have such a great cohort!

Jamie Clarke: Your Summit Awaits

Obviously someone who has tackled Mount Everest not just once, but several times, is someone who has strength and passion, so it is fitting that Jamie Clarke is a motivational speaker! There were a number of things he said in his video called Your Summit Awaits that I found intriguing. Firstly, I often assume that people who engage in such avid sports must be willing to do anything to achieve their goal. That’s why I was interested to hear him speak about the choice of life and health over gaining the summit, and the group realization that “passion will get you to the top; obsession will get you killed.” This ability to focus on priorities, on what really matters, is what truly leads to success. This focus on what’s important means that sometimes we have to challenge situations and say difficult words. I really loved the way Clarke described this, as facing either the “dull ache of discontent versus the acute pain of confrontation.” However, that acute pain is fleeting, and can lead to healing...if we’re strong enough!

Another area he focused on - equally important whether climbing a challenging mountain or leading a school - is that fear is what often prevents us from succeeding; fear of failure, of looking foolish, or of needing to ask for help. His analogy, to focus on the ladder rungs instead of the crevasse below, makes me think of the concept of appreciative inquiry, and of looking for what is working, what is good, already. Finally, the reminder that “whenever we climb whatever we climb, we never climb alone.” That was certainly appropriate today, as we completed our Mount Everest simulation! The team accomplished together what none of us could have accomplished alone: a fitting analogy for educational leadership!

Paradigm Shifts, Ignorance, and the "Why"

The video on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle was very intriguing, with its message of focusing first on the “why” of something, before the “how” or “what”. While this is a powerful point in the business and marketing world, it is also invaluable to remember in education. I like his reminder that people will believe, or follow, those who believe what they themselves believe. Certainly this can be a detriment if there is no critical thinking involved; however, as a leader is a good reminder that in order to encourage people to strive toward a common vision, they must first believe in that vision!

I also appreciated the Joel Barker video, reminding us that our paradigms, or ways of viewing situations and solving problems, can be both a hindrance and a help. They help us by saving processing time and giving us quick ways to organize what we see and experience. This speed, though, can blind us to changes and elements in our environments that don’t fit with our preconceived notions. That concept reminds me of the Brookfield chapter we read in Sue’s class, on being critically reflective:

“No matter how much we may think we have an accurate sense of ourselves, we are stymied by the fact that we’re using our own interpretive filters to become aware of our own interpretive filters - the pedagogic equivalent of trying to see the back of one’s head while looking in the bathroom mirror” (pg. 28).

Besides loving the imagery there, I find it a worthwhile idea to try to wrap my head around! I think the takeaway message is to always question the assumptions and impressions provided by one’s paradigm. They may be accurate...but then again, the world can always surprise us!

Inescapable Ignorance

I completely love the concept of ignorance that I’ve encountered through my readings. Ignorance has always been something with a negative connotation for me, but David Orr (http://www.context.org/iclib/ic27/orr/) suggests that “(i)gnorance is not a solvable problem, but rather an inescapable part of the human condition.” It is the inescapable byproduct of learning. This is certainly a new way of looking at ignorance, and at first I was a bit confused. Then I remembered Senge’s (2013) view, that “(t)he more you learn, the more acutely aware you become of your own ignorance” (p. 10). That does resonate with what I’ve found in my own journey. Each new idea I’m exposed to creates an awareness of new authors, new studies, and therefore further ideas to explore. One can never get to the end of a topic; there is always a new path to travel!