Reflection on Invictus

Prompt:  View the movie with an eye on Nelson Mandella's style of leadership as he works to bring his country together. Be prepared to discuss how Mandella's used disruption as a catalyst for change.

Our work involving the great leaders of history has grounded me in the type of leadership I believe is so needed now--leaders that can bridge the divide, find good in past enemies and move their countries forward. Mandella took power and made a few choices that set him apart from his political enemies as well as his supporters.  Rather than institute sweeping changes across government offices, he chose to keep those from the previous government who committed to moving the country forward. He included white agents who were responsible for his protection.  This decision helped Afrikaners to see that they could be part of a black-led government while forcing black supporters to work with those who had oppressed them.

This showed that he had learned from his past as a non-violent activist who later founded the armed section of the ANC.  He understood that swinging the pendulum from one extreme to another would not propel the nation forward just as changing from a non-violent path to one which destroyed public properties and offices led the ANC down a dangerous past.  Moderation and working towards bridging the gap between the former leading party and the new leading party was a vital part of his strategy.

During his 27 years of imprisonment, Mandella learned the ways and language of those of the ruling party.  He used his knowledge of Afrikaner culture to hone in on a very disruptive strategy.  Instead of using political means to bring people together, he won the country over with the simple love of sport.  Rugby, long the favorite pastime and sport of the ruling elite was hated by black South Africans, so much so that blacks in South Africa rooted for any team that opposed the Springboks.

Mandella did for the Springboks what he did for Afrikaners in his government, he kept their culture by speaking out against the sport commission who was on the verge of changing not only the team name but the team colors.  Mandella sensed that this act would symbolize a new oppression and incite riot.  Slowly, over the next 13 months he used meetings with the Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar and the team to symbolize a new  relationship between all South Africans.  His efforts united black and white South Africans around the Springboks as they made their way to the World Cup.  A united South Africa rooted for the Sprinboks and showed the world that there was hope for a unity where only a few years ago Apartheid thrived.  

Futurist Scenario

What's bubbling up for you?  What scenario interests you?

I think for me the thing that puzzles me most, fascinates me and has become a passion of mine is adolescent development and specifically how to reach the reluctant learner.  These are students who show the ability to complete work and yet, do not complete work.  They fail because they do not turn in work, don't study for tests or choose not to participate in class.

Strengths--The strengths of our organization is that we care

Weaknesses--Time and expertise

Opportunities--If we can engage more students, we can really impact the future

Threats--Processes that must be followed regarding adequate progress

Drive Responses

Discuss a time when you’ve seen one of the seven deadly flaws of carrots and sticks in action. What lessons might you or others learn from the experience? Have you seen instances when carrots and sticks have been effective. 

As you think about your own best work, what aspect of autonomy has been most important to you? Autonomy over what you do (task), when you do it (time), how you do it (technique), or with whom you do it (team)?...

1.They can extinguish intrinsic motivation
2.They can diminish performance
3.They can crush creativity
4.They can crowd out good behavior
5.They can encourage cheating, shortcuts, and unethical behavior
6.They can become addictive
7.They can foster short-term thinking

As a product of twelve years of Catholic school, I gotta love the term "7 deadly flaws of carrots and sticks".  I do agree with the term because carrots and sticks deaden so much of what makes us truly special.  I love the Yeats quote "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire".  When students work towards extrinsic rewards, they do only what is necessary to obtain the short term reward.  This reminds me of the questions that Wesch recorded in his video: "What do I need to learn?  Will this be on the test?  How much do I have to do?" in order to earn the grade.

Kohn speaks about this extensively in his book entitled "Punished by Rewards".  He goes so far as to call grades the ultimate in meaningless rewards.  Do rewards work?  I've used rewards in my classroom intentionally for short-term goals on non-cognitive tasks.  For example, before  Open House and Back-to-School nights, I would tell the students that if we all worked to clean-up the classroom, we could have extra recess.  

My best work has been in environments that supported autonomy while also providing structure.  I am most proud of my work shaping and creating authentic Montessori learning environments over the past twelve years.  The charter school movement has provided the structure and the accountability needed to ensure that students receive a standards-based education while giving administrators and teachers a way in which to use non-traditional methodologies and philosophies. 

Dr. Wesch has presented something more than the flipped classroom.  This is the classroom, blown out, flipped around, turned inside out and completely changed.  I remember in our first JDP class with Dr. Jeffries, she thanked us for allowing her to be a co-learner with her and I thought to myself that Wednesday evening, "I am not in Kansas, California or even the world I know".  

I had never been asked to be a co-learner with a professor.  I had experienced education as the lecture hall, the straight row, the faked attention in Dr. Wesch's picture of his Introduction to Anthropology class and here was the esteemed co-creator of the JDP asking me to be a co-learner.  That word peaked my interest and caused me to be engaged in class in a much deeper way.

This is the truth of life, isn't it?  We are all, co-learners in the grandest and most unknowable classroom.  Our lessons will never be finished, our studying will never be completed and our syllabi will stretch out to the end of our days and beyond as those we leave take up what we passed on to them.  

In my first year of teaching, I was blessed with a mentor who guided me along my path as a fledgling educator and a fledgling adult.  As I sat with her after a difficult day, I asked her "Why?" It probably sounded more like the "Whaaaaaaaaaaaiiiihy" of a three-year old, cranky and needing a nap but the why was really about life.  "Why am I here with a room full of kindergartners who think I have the answers, when I KNOW I don't know the answers?"  "Why can't I make Mikey talk instead of growl?  Christopher sit instead of roll? Luciano smile instead of cry? Whaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiy?"  

She listened, let me empty my bucket of despair and then said "Every child you will ever have as a student is more a teacher to you than you are a teacher to them.  You will teach them a few things about what they need to move on to the next grade.  They will teach you more important lessons...how to be patient in the face of frustration, loving in the face stress and inspire in the face of fatigue."  Seriously.  How. cool. was. that. message.  When she said it, I almost thought she would then, either float into a luminous cloud or die right before she finished.  

I took Eleanor's magical words along the path of life with me.  Her words shaped the way I raised my children, created relationship with my husband, taught my students and, now, how I lead.  It is a humbling way to live and the most freeing.  Over the years, I have let go of the need to have answers, much less the right ones. I have learned to trust that when I approach a situation, I will learn so much more if I open myself to the possibility that the lesson is not what I think.  

Dr. Wesch engages his students because he walks alongside them, delighting in the fact that he learns just as much as his students do.  He is not the holder of the knowledge but a facilitator along the way.  The vision he has emboldens the learners in his class and prepares them to solve the problems of tomorrow by relying on those around them.