What do you think the future holds? Do you sometimes wish you had a magic crystal ball?
What would you look for if you could see your future self?
Am I rich? Am I famous? Am I popular? Am I happy? Am I alone? Am I well? Am I valued?
Now imagine you could see your current students in the future. What do you hope to see in your students?
Are they rich? Are they famous? Are they popular? Are they happy? Are they alone? Are they well? Are they valued?
My first question for you: do you think there is a correlation between what you presently expect and what will be true for you in the future? Self-actualization practices are built on affirming that very premise and its rebuttal relies on the bitter observation that for some, what the future turns out to be bears no relation to life’s initial expectations. Can both be true? Perhaps neither is true? Are these even the right questions to be asking? Oh, for a crystal ball to see the outcome!
In education we have been trained to imagine the end result: what will be the student outcomes or behaviors? We create goals and objectives toward accomplishing those outcomes and producing those behaviors in our students. But can we really act in any way to legitimately SET another human being’s goal? If a student’s goal is not our goal what can we do to affect their outcome and their future behavior? Many educators now instruct teachers to inspire their students to want to set goals for themselves that will result in the same outcomes we identify in our lesson plans. But an individual’s goals can be, well, so individual! Can a super-teacher inspire every member of a chorus of 90 singers who meet for three to four hours a week to wholeheartedly adopt 25-30 selected written objectives as their personal goals? Is the breadth of these expectations wide enough to include every individual? Are broad generalizations worthy goals for a marvelous and intricately designed human child? Should we expect more? Should we assess these?
Each of these questions may be discussed and debated, but from the far side of my life’s crystal ball, I find that picking the right first questions to ask, cuts to the most worthy objectives for any life well-lived and that is what all education should be guiding our youth to look for, rather than looking for ‘points’ for a ‘grade’ a ‘score’ or a ‘career.’
Back to the crystal ball questions. Think deeply. Do you want to set goals for your students to….
Be rich? Of course not, that is NEVER what we would tell our youth. Except that we do tell them this in every magazine, pop-up ad and movie. We tell them this whenever we try to motive them to apply themselves, because one of these days… they will be glad they did when they are bringing home the Big Bucks. Innocent motivational messages imply huge hidden objectives. Is that one we want to inspire?
Be famous? Of course not, that is NEVER what we would tell our youth. Except that we do tell them this in every Tweet, Award show and Tik Tok video. We tell them this whenever we encourage them to elevate their image and aspire to be a leader, drawing admiration for themselves because one of these days… they will be glad they did when they get their name in the news. Innocent motivational messages imply huge hidden objectives. Is that one we want to inspire?
Be popular? Of course not, that is NEVER what we would tell our youth. Except that we do tell them this in every ‘re-tweet,’ every ‘like’ and every narcissistic personality profile. We tell them this whenever we encourage them to brag and boast and to admire those who “sell” themselves, because one of these days… they will be glad they did when they have 250,000 followers. Side note: being genuinely liked is a gift others bestow on a peer who is humble and unassuming: one who is not seeking to be popular. Innocent motivational messages imply huge hidden objectives. Is that one we want to inspire?
The last three questions for educators to answer, are for me the ones with substance: Am I alone? Am I well? Am I valued?
For my students: Are they alone? Are they well? Are they valued?
The first answer should be “no,” the other two, “yes.”
In order to generate a “yes” answer.to all three, “Am I NOT alone?” is the awkward turn of the first question. I’d like to phrase this for a positive response, but that isn’t as easy. Better is: “Am I present to others?” In this use ‘present to others’ is more than proximity or position. Two kids on their phones at the same table are alone. A journalist in prison writing truth on behalf of oppressed groups is not alone. I thought I might ask, “Am I connected?” but I don’t want it to be confused with climbing the corporate ladder by having ‘connections.’ Perhaps: “Am I a friend?” but friends today can act like strangers. The word has lost some subtleties on social media. We are social beings, not “pages.” We are hardwired to depend on each other for survival, support and success. Being alone is failing at what finding the human potential can be. “Am I present to others?” works to contradict ‘alone,’ for all individuals. So using that wording WILL generate a “yes.” The practice of being ‘present to others’ ties closely to finding a “yes” to the other great life (and academic course) objectives. Crystal Ball, “Are my students present to each other?”
Being well is not simply achieving a biological and chemical balance in a physical body, but implies a state of not needing or wanting. It considers all of a person’s well-being: emotional, cultural, social, spiritual, relational, mental and physical well-being. Health is an illusive Holy Grail of the modern era. Everybody wants it. Every website sells it. Few understand its complexities. Through studies in electrical, chemical and molecular biology, we are learning more and more about it every day. There is no instant fix to all that ails us. Each area requires our life’s work and we can improve our own and others’ wellness. Crystal Ball, “Are my students well?”
Being valued is more than being worth something. Value is measured by the good one does for others with humility. One can appear esteemed and not be of much value. If we have even one person in our lives whom we serve, there is truly a good reason to get up each morning and engage in valuable work. Humans rarely come to this perspective all by themselves and without role models and experience. Altruism for “show” is everywhere. Servant-leaders rarely make the news (and young people don’t watch the news anyway). All lesser reasons for ‘why am I here?’ will not endure or motivate. They will eventually suffer corruption and deceit. Crystal Ball, “Are my students valued?”
So I would have those three questions as my only teaching objectives. Along the way, through the experience of sharing in the artistic creative process and performance of music, teachers and students, along with any audiences, would experience living impassioned, purpose filled lives. Please, Administrators, when you come to my classroom to see if you can add up my behaviors to assess whether I am a competent teacher, look only for these three objectives.
A. Am I ‘present’ to my students? Are students abandoning isolation? Do they each make connections to others with personal interactions? How are they relating to others?
B. Do I emanate wellness? Does the entire classroom experience and practice promote the well-being (emotional, cultural, social, spiritual, relational, mental and physical) of all who are there, even observers? How do they cope and how do they encourage each other’s wellness?
C. Am I serving the needs of each student? Are students committed to serving the best interests of each other? Are they cultivating and extending a common service, at the best of their ability as musicians and humans. How do they give to each other and to the wider community beyond the class?
If you were counting or checking my sequence you have already noticed I have not included one question from my very first list of questions: Am I happy? Does it belong to the first three goals or the last three? The answer totally depends on how what generates the “happy” response. The more disconnected we are as humans, the more likely we are to put on “happy’”when we have achieved the accolades of others for being rich or famous or popular. Humans of some experience (usually through life lessons and via patient role models) seldom ask themselves if they are “happy.” They ask rather, are they finding fulfillment in their life. Do they thrive wherever they may be? Focusing on the three goals in the second half of the list is a recipe for the kind of happiness that most anyone would be pleased to have show up in their crystal ball. An affirmative answer to these questions demonstrates a contentment that “happy” just can’t muster.
These are the words I wish I could have told my 24 year old self, but she wouldn’t take time to listen. My 34 year old self heard them but couldn’t believe them. My 44 year old self knew they had some truth, but didn’t trust that they applied to her. My 54 year old self was kicking herself for not believing them sooner and wishing she had more time to put them in practice. My 64 year old self still wakes up every day working on these objectives, on becoming a better teacher.
RecapitulationSong 