Category Archives: Education

Cultivating Passion

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From The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner.

“Michael Jung. . . believes that ‘there are only three reasons why people work or learn. There’s push, which is a need, threat or risk, but this is now a less plausible or credible motivating force [in the industrialized countries] than it has been, even for the disadvantaged. There’s transfer of habits—habits shaped by social norms and traditional routines. But this, too, is becoming weaker now, because of the erosion of traditional authority and social values. That leaves only pull—interest, desire, passion.’ I understand Jung to be talking about three kinds of human motivation. Physiological need is one—the need for food and shelter and so on. But he suggests that with high rates of employment and government safety nets, this is less of a motivational force in many young people’s lives than it once was. The desire to adhere to social norms is another human motivation that is weaker than it used to be, because traditional sources of authority, religion and family, have less influence on young people today. Jung believes that it is the third motivational force—interest, desire, and passion—that increasing numbers of young people are seeking and responding to in school and at the workplace.”

We tend to be products of our environments so I wouldn’t describe the transfer of habits/adherence to social norms argument quite like Jung and Wagner. The influence of significant others, for better or worse, is still there. My clearest childhood memories of my dad are of him pacing the house as he memorized his sales presentations.  Five or six at the time, the impact was indelible. Every family has momentum, whether positive or negative. Because of my parents, ours was positive which is not synonymous with perfect. If a critical mass of adults in a young person’s life aren’t working and planning for a better future, we can’t expect that young person to care much about school work, continuing their education, or making a positive difference in the world.

If we agree that young people are mostly motivated by interest, desire, and passion, as I’m inclinded to do, we need to rethink teaching, coaching, and parenting. In his book, Wagner tells Kate’s story, a senior in high school. “Kate suffered from too much of the wrong kind of adult authority,” Wagner writes. “She was overmanaged for success—success being narrowly defined as getting into a college her parents and teachers considered to be top-notch and having a high paying job.”

What good are high standardized test scores and good grades if a student lacks specific interests, desires, and passion? What if they learn to “do school” but fail to become passionate about anything?

The seventeen and eighteen year-olds that I know are striving to get into the best colleges possible. But what makes one college better than another? US News and Report offers pseudo-empirical answers based upon numbers colleges get good at manipulating, but there’s more art to educational excellence than science. Maybe the best college is the one where faculty and staff help students discover their interests and desires. They advise and teach passionately; consequently, students become more passionate about writing, or a language, a culture, an environmental challenge, a historical period, a social movement, global politics, law, or medicine. I’d like to see USN&R measure staff and faculty passion for advising and teaching.

If I did a focus group with my daughter and her twelfth grade friends, I suspect all of them could identify things they like, but only a few could explain in any detail what they are most passionate about and why. And surely those few that are ahead of the curve need guidance on how to turn their passions into purposeful vocations. My wish for my daughter and her friends is that over the next four or five years they become more passionate and begin translating their passions into meaningful, rewarding work.

State of the Blog

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Thanks to my small but loyal readership, I’m going to meet my 12/31/09 readership goal so I plan on continuing into 2010. To save you time on-line, I’m going to try to post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Since my unilateral decision to pull the “Week that Was” led to a mass protest during last Saturday morning’s run, I am reinstating it. It will appear on Mondays. On Wednesdays, I will post a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph or image of the week. Thanks in advance for sending nominations. Friday’s posts, alternating among the range of topics you’ve grown used to, will be a little lengthier, substantive, and life-changing.

The Constitution and Christmas

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Last Sunday the wife’s Sunday school class on making Christmas less stressful and more meaningful went really well. At least for the first fifty minutes. During the last ten it devolved into a gripe session about public school and state government political correctness. Then on Monday a grad student of mine sent me an email conveying the same things. Here’s an excerpt. “At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter to eliminate Jesus, in all public matter. And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith. Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace. The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded. The reason for the season , stopped before it started.”

At the end of the Sunday school class I sat in silence because I knew there was nothing I could say in a few minutes that would change anyone’s mind. Good thing probably because the teach may not have appreciated my stirring the pot. But that pot needs to be stirred.

Here’s what my conservative evangelical Christian friends would have me believe. The “founding fathers” were Christians and we are a Christian nation, a shining city upon a hill. As a result, public schools and other public places should allow the public expression of Christian faith whatever the form: the posting of the Ten Commandments, group prayer, the singing of Christian songs at Christmas, or the display of nativities or crosses. For the majority, Christianity is our common heritage, the national default if you will. People of other faiths should go ahead and celebrate in whatever ways they want in private, but as a distinct minority, they shouldn’t expect public schools and public places to accommodate their preferences.

In contrast, I believe the following.

1) We are a religiously pluralistic nation made up of many Christians mixed together with Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, atheists, and on and on.

2) Our greatest strength is our Constitution which protects minority rights against majority rule and creates a level playing field with respect to citizens’ diverse religious beliefs. Mutual respect undergirds that neutrality and enables us to peacefully co-exist.

3) Selflessness is a central tenet of Christianity; as a result, Christians should take some time to think about what it would be like if public schools and places were primarily Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, or anti-religious. The alternative is for Christians to forgo selflessness, devalue Christianity, and continue to insist on a “majority wins” approach to governing public places.

4) The “wall of separation between church and state” principle is misunderstood by Christians who instinctively view it as problematic. Christianity can be taught in public schools as long as it’s done in a comparative, non-evangelical way. Many Christians conflate religious neutrality and anti-religiousness.

5) One Sunday schooler took a swipe at Kwanza and “other minor religious celebrations.” Christians who complain about religious neutrality in public schools and public spaces are struggling to come to grips with the fact that demographics have changed in the United States and they resent that they have to change any aspect of how they grew up experiencing Christmas. It’s difficult to exaggerate the deep symbolic meaning Christmas-oriented language and music in public schools from yesteryear has on many middle-aged and elderly Christians.

6) It’s utterly and completely ludicrous for Christians to suggest anyone is “forbidden to speak of salvation and grace”. It compromises their credibility as thinking people. How much of an adult Christian’s life is spent in public schools and spaces, five percent? Ninety-five percent of the time there’s absolute freedom to speak of one’s religious beliefs and convictions in whatever way one chooses. The “forbidden” argument couldn’t be more disingenuous and it makes a mockery of believers of different faiths who are truly persecuted by their governments.

7) The historical Jesus lived in a religiously diverse world. Instead of complaining that the first century world in which he lived wasn’t explicitly Christian enough, he focused on spreading his message through example, and in essence, competing on a level playing field. Christians today should do the same.

Right to Bear Arms

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The “Washington sniper” has been executed and Fort Hood’s Hasan is probably next. IF I understand correctly, here’s what the right would have us believe about these heinous crimes and how best to prevent future tragedies of their ilk. Mental illness is an excuse concocted by public defenders simply trying to save the lives of their clients. We’d greatly reduce violent crimes if we’d apply the second amendment right to bear arms so that private citizens (or members of the military on bases) can defend themselves from criminals who carry high powered guns. For every violent criminal there would be thousands of private citizens capable of shooting them dead in their tracks at the first signs of their weapons. We’d further reduce violent crimes (and save money and provide relief to the victim’s families) if we’d put these violent criminals to death more often. Increase executions and make violent criminals think twice before they kill innocent people.

Polling shows U.S. citizens are almost equally divided on the death penalty. I can’t imagine any scenario in which the “right to bear arms/death penalty hawks” are going to convince the “gun control/life in prison doves” to alter their thinking and vice-versa.

What to do?

Maybe we should just divide the country into 25 “hawk” and 25 “dove” states. Pick one representative of each view and have them take turns picking states for everyone else. Since I disagree with almost everything in paragraph one, I nominate myself for the doves, and my first pick is Washington State. Clint Eastwood, representing the Hawks, will no doubt take California which I’m not happy about at all. My second pick, Oregon.

For practical reasons, residents of hawk and dove states will be allowed to travel freely into ideological enemy territory; however, they will have to agree to adapt to life in ideological enemy territory. For example, Clint will have to leave his gun at home when he flies to Seattle and I will have to avoid committing a violent crime when visiting California lest I be fired upon by private citizens and/or executed by Ahrnold. Social scientists can do longitudinal studies on the quality of life in each set of states.

Problem solved. Happy to help.

Word Play

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Much to the chagrin of traditionalists, the English language is dynamic as annual updates to dictionaries illustrate. The numerous ways we engage with the internet is one catalyst for change.

In my blogging I’ve recently discovered an important language gap. What do you call it when a commenter’s (e.g. Francis’s, Michael’s) reply is more insightful and engaging than the original post? Exactly, there’s no such word. So, unless any of you have a better idea, from now on I will refer to such comments as “sops”, which stands for “supersedes original post”. Here’s some possible forms it might take. “Man, the recent run-up in sops has been a bit  embarrassing.” Or “Yo dude, better raise your game, you’ve been getting mega-sopped lately.” Or “Stop sopping me or start your own damn blog.”

Shifting gears, what’s with the egregious overuse of “nation” to demarcate group identity? The Colbert Nation, Raider Nation, Bruin Nation, fill-in-the-blank Nation. (When describing the current administration’s policies, my right-wing friends forgo the space and just go with Obamanation.) Maybe I should rename the blog “Ron Nation”, “Byrnes Nation”, or “A, L, to the Dizzle Nation”. Maybe this “nation” overload is a reaction to every nation’s ebbing sovereignty. As a global citizen I hereby declare myself a member of the United Nations Nation, a sometimes maligned group, but they have a much better record than Raider Nation.

Unless you’re sleepwalking through this post, you noticed a little hip hop somethin’ somethin’ smack dab in the middle of the previous paragraph. That’s right, a new nickname, thanks to ‘dra. I call Alexandra, one of my daughter’s friends, ‘dra because when you’re my age and an endurance athlete you have to conserve energy. Calling my daughters’ friends by their nicknames drives said daughter crazy, so being semi-stuck in adolescence, I do it more. Fortunately, ‘dra doesn’t mind and she’s one of my favs. The other day in the middle of swim practice she gave me a new nickname. That’s right, from Ronald, “A,L, to the dizzle.”

Nicknames are funny. They’re given to you and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’ve had some I’ve liked over the years, Rook (from an older friend), Rhode Island Red, H.D. (for Heavy Duty), and now, “A, L, to the dizzle.” Let me pause here and ask the best editor on the planet a question. Mom, should I be capitalizing the “D”? I’ve reluctantly embraced other nicknames like “Slip” and some that are not appropriate for the family audience. Slip stems from my tendency to sometimes lie down on the street and rest when running in the winter. I admit, I can be vertically challenged.

As a parting gift, a word for you to begin dropping into conversation, bifurcate, split or divide into two. It’s important to ease into it’s use though. Once it rolls off your tongue you can proceed to bifurcated, bifurcation, and if you’re really feeling it, bifurcating. It’s a perfectly balanced word in that your use of it won’t cause the guy on the stool next to you to call you a “pretentious, elitist ass,” but at the same time he’ll know you read more than the sports page. Sample sentence. Saturday’s bifurcated run included a longer, steady segment, followed by a shorter, faster one.

Ideologues

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I have some close friends whose politics are almost the complete opposite of mine. Our friendships endure because their personal attributes trump their whacked out politics :). Occasionally, one likes to send me ultra conservative mass emails “just to keep you up to date on what we crazy right-wingers are passing around these days to keep our morale up.”

Sunday’s was a video mocking how successful Barack Obama has been considering he graduated from a “community organizer community college”. Occasionally, I’ll crack a smile. They’re rarely good, but this one was particularly bad.

For satire or comedy to work, there has to be an element of truth in it. President Obama has an impressive education history that I suspect some of my friends on the right would wrongly attribute to affirmative action.

Much of the credit probably goes to his no-nonsense mother who demanded excellence. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and the President and his wife, whose parents were equally demanding apparently, are holding their daughters to the same high standards. The right won’t acknowledge this, but the President hasn’t used race as an excuse for not achieving. What’s more traditional and conservative than two married parents holding their daughters to very high educational expectations? The power of their personal and parenting examples seem lost on the right.

I don’t know, but my guess is my conservative friends can’t bring themselves to acknowledge that Obama’s well-educated and a committed and caring parent because it doesn’t fit into their intensely negative narrative they’ve crafted. Acknowledging these points might lead to a slippery slope of having to concede other things that might compromise their conservative street cred. Short of eliminating taxes, privatizing everything, and doubling the size of the military, there’s nothing Obama can say or do over the next 2.5 or 6.5 years to change their negative opinions.

For someone who sees subtleties, nuance, and ambiguity around every corner, this is exasperating, but I have to concede that for every right-wing ideologue, there’s a left-wing one somewhere that, because of their passionate dislike of his policies, never could bring themself to acknowledge George Bush the man had redeemable qualities.

Somewhat related to this, can’t help but notice an increasing percentage of lefties are becoming disillusioned with the President. He’s brought some of it upon himself by raising expectations so fast on so many fronts. Take all the references to a “post-partisan era” as just one example. And there’s some truth in the overarching criticism that too often he acts as if he’s still in campaign-mode, trying hard not to offend instead of leading boldly. And I still wish he’d narrow his focus.

Our collective expectations for our presidents are probably too high. Maybe our problems have become too complex and our politics too corrupted by special interest money for any president to achieve Lincoln or FDR-like greatness anymore. Maybe we’d be better off pursing personal excellence closer to home, in the ways we listen, parent, educate, care for other others, work, and conduct our lives more generally.

Hyundai’s Military Discount

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I was on-line shopping for a Hyundai recently when I discovered they offer a $500 discount to members of the military.

Is it possible to question that practice without being labeled ungrateful and un-American? I assume it’s meant as a special “thank you” for those people whose service enables us to exercise civil liberties and enjoy our way of life.

But I’ve always felt that argument was incomplete not just because it exonerates the military from its occasional abuses of power, but because it slights the admittedly more subtle, but equally important contributions some civilian members of society make to our security.

More specifically, why privilege members of the military over my friend that’s taught in a South Central Los Angeles middle school for twenty four years, or my friend that runs a homeless shelter in L.A., or my friend that served as a Peace Corp volunteer for three years in West Africa?

Granted, they haven’t risked their lives in the exact same way, but haven’t they contributed to our security in tangible, powerful, and in the end, equally meaningful ways?

Hyundai is receiving increasing acclaim as the “most improved” car maker. I’m going to wait for them to introduce the educators’, non-profit NGO, and Peace Corp $500 discount before I jump on their bandwagon.