MAC Week 1 Comment - Erin Lodes's Blog

Erin said:

After reading the first three chapters of Ben and Roz Zander's Art of Possibility, I feel both intrigued and confused. I am enjoying the writing style - it's easy to read while using an accurate academic vocabulary. I also really enjoy the stories; perhaps especially because I am a music teacher and experienced an education in music and performance, and understand the pressure cooker of a music school.

The multiple stories shared in the "Giving an A" chapter seemed to tie together the catch-phrases of all three chapters. While I was feeling interested in the ideas all along, they just started to "click" at the end of this third chapter. When Rosamund was sharing about her relationship with her father, and the process of "giving her husband an A" in their relationship, then I started to see a glimmer of clarity. Giving an A is about my relationship with someone - "inventing" a role that I expect, looking at the full "universe of possibility" for what is possible, and choosing to "give an A" in that relationship. Instead of measuring that person's actions against what I would do or what others do, I can ignore all of that and just expect that they will give the best they can offer to whatever they're doing. Whether this is expecting that my co-workers are trying to do what's best for kids just as much as I am, assuming that the barista at the coffee shop down the street is giving me the best service she can, or assuming that my husband knows, loves, and can hear me as much as I need him to, I allow all of these people to show and demonstrate these things in their own way when I leave out my own measurement and just look for the "A work." So I think I am starting to get it, and starting to see how it is different than a simplified optimism or phrase like "look at the bright side." Like in the final parable of the monks, I will enable people to better greatness just by expecting it from them.

Perhaps this practice of "giving the A" is what is modeled in some of the movies of great teachers: Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver, Erin Gruwell in Freedom Writers, or Morrie Schwartz from Tuesdays with Morrie. All of these teachers are upheld for expecting great things from discarded people and thus enabling them to do those great things. Perhaps these are some of our cultural models of "giving the A."

I replied:

Erin, I REALLY liked that you tied in the "movies of great teachers" because in the end, I, too, feel that "giving an A" is simply about expectations and eliminating preconceived notions.

I imagine if we go into our classrooms and treat each student as though they are doing the very best work possible, and model that "A" ourselves, we can foster an environment of genuine learning for learning's sake in our classrooms.