As promised, we are going to continue our conversation regarding inspired environments in general and inspired schools, specifically. As with all other things, everything that has to do with creating inspired environments is inter connected and influences every other part of the process. One person, one attitude, can either be a defining spark or the holder of an attitudinal wet blanket.
Perhaps no single ingredient is more important than people choosing to be personally motivated. Intrinsic, internally grounded motivation is a powerful force. It is grounded in a personal sense of purpose in relationship to life. When a person decides to have an impact upon, be committed to or passionate about a particular cause or area of life, the way they approach everything is different. If I believe (and I do) that it is important for every person to learn how to communicate effectively both verbally and in written form, then I never see papers to be graded as a chore but rather as an opportunity to contribute to the ability of an individual to communicate.
Internal motivation is accessible at every moment I see that I have a choice. If I want young people to grow up knowing that they are powerful, capable and able (and I do), then anything I do in connection with these young people or their environment, I would want to do brilliantly. When I visit schools around the country, I can tell by the condition of a building, if the possibility of being inspired is discussed in these halls. Regardless of the age of a building, they can be kept in spectacular condition. Wax shines old floors as well as new and windows never tire of being cleaned. If I am personally motivated, there will be no task that is beneath me. In these environments, I always seek out the head custodian (definition of custodian: one who has custody of) and thank them for the amazing job they are doing.
The way we present an environment has a significant impact on those it serves. If it is conscious, bright, focused, then the participants experience being cared for and honored. If it is sloppy, dirty and unconscious it reflects our indifferent or even negative attitudes.
A person who is internally motivated knows that every single thing we do counts and the way we do these things is as important as what we do. They do not need to be artificially “pumped up.” They arrive enthusiastic and are always in touch with why they are doing anything they are doing. They know that cleaning a toilet is about serving others, not clean porcelain.
I remember loving the process of making lunch for my children when they were going to school. I always gave them the best of whatever was in the house and marked the bag with a crudely drawn smiling face or simple message. It may be that, as they grew older, they were embarrassed by those faces and there was never a doubt that they were loved absolutely and unconditionally.
Inspired people are always 200% prepared. Would you hire a carpenter without a really good set of tools? A mechanic without a well-equipped garage? An inspired educator, or ecological engineer, or physician, given an hour presentation, brings two hours of material. There is always a purpose to the process. What is its connection to the lives of those to whom they are speaking? What is its perspective in history? How does it fit within a particular set of lessons or an entire curriculum for that matter? What is the desired outcome? How will we know it is internalized?
Let’s take a look at a couple of examples that might shed some light on inspired environments in general. A 1988 film chronicled the accomplishments of Jaime Escalante in creating an amazingly strong Advanced Placement Math program at the Garfield School in East Los Angeles. After ten years, he was able to create a highly successful program which had the highest percentage of AP tests passed in any school in the U.S. and 400 students in the program. He had established a feeder system to increase skill levels and the number of young people who could participate. So after his departure why was that school not successful in sustaining the program? Why have there been no “replications?”
“Escalante experience was a factor in the growth of Advanced Placement courses during the last decade and a half. The number of schools that offer A.P. classes has more than doubled since 1983, and the number of A.P. tests taken has increased almost six fold. This is a far cry from the Zeitgeist of two decades ago, when A.P. was considered appropriate only for students in elite private and wealthy suburban public schools.
Still, there is no inner-city school anywhere in the United States with a calculus program anything like Escalante’s in the ’80s. A very successful program rapidly collapsed, leaving only fragments behind.
This leaves would-be school reformers with a set of uncomfortable questions. Why couldn’t Escalante run his classes in peace? Why were administrators allowed to get in his way? Why was the union imposing its ‘help’ on someone who hadn’t requested it? Could Escalante’s program have been saved if, as Gradillas (Principal at Garfield at the time) now muses, Garfield had become a charter school? What is wrong with a system that values working well with others more highly than effectiveness?
Lyndon Johnson said it takes a master carpenter to build a barn, but any jackass can kick one down. In retrospect, it’s fortunate that Escalante’s program survived as long as it did. Had Garfield’s counselors refused to let a handful of basic math students take algebra back in 1974, or had the janitor who objected to Escalante’s early-bird ways been more influential, America’s greatest math teacher might just now be retiring from Unisys.
Gradillas has an explanation for the decline of A.P. calculus at Garfield: Escalante and Villavicencio, (Escalante’s assistant teacher) were not allowed to run the program they had created on their own terms. In his phrase, the teachers no longer ‘owned’ their program. He’s speaking metaphorically, but there’s something to be said for taking him literally.”
Jerry Jesness, reasononline.com
The issue here is clearly “ownership.” Politics, unions, jealousy, lack of support, lack of clarity of purpose were all used as excuses. In order to create inspired environments all of these excuses are going to have to be dealt with effectively.
The other example is much less widely known. When I met Mario Alemagno he was branch manager of the Cleveland Trust Company (now Key Bank nationally) on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst, Ohio. I was working down the road as Director of Development at Hawken School. Mario and I became friends, all of his children ended up going to Hawken and I observed a master at work. Mario knew every customer’s name. It didn’t matter whether they had five dollars on account or five million dollars, he knew their name and “who they were.” It didn’t matter what branch they put Mario in, the deposits and assets grew in those branches. It was clearly and simply because he actually cared about the individuals who came into his bank and those who worked there. If Mario had called any of his staff and said that he needed them to be in Alaska tomorrow, the only question would have been, “What do we need to bring?” He knew their names. He knew their children’s names. He cared about what was going on in their personal lives. He had a policy that he did not want to be disturbed if he was at an event with his family. “If God calls and says it is an emergency, you may call me. Otherwise, no exception, no calls.”
Mario became one of the three people managing all of the bank’s branches and then head of all the branches. His final appointment was as CEO of Lake Shore Trust. Mario was successful because he was inspired about life, about his children and about his friends. No finer person have I ever met and no better “business builder” ever worked at Key Bank. Genuine inspiration is a way of living, never a technique.
We are pretty good with students in kindergarten about numbers and letters and where the boots and coats are stored. They are eager to learn and in general are excited about school. What we are far less effective at doing is letting these students know that how well that first day turns out, as well as their education and life is up to them. Our job is to be inspired, to create an inspired environment and provide the tools necessary for them to achieve. No matter how successful we are in this regard, no matter how much they get that they are loved absolutely and unconditionally, they must still choose to produce results that are tangible.
One of the characteristics of inspired people is that they are present, not just in body, but completely present to whomever they are with or whatever they are doing. You know that when they say, “Good Morning,” or ask how your day is going that they really mean it and/or are genuinely interested. When talking with students, we should not allow interruptions by adults for any reason. If I want you to get that you are valued, why would I allow another person to interrupt our conversation unless it were a life or death situation? In inspired environments, only one person speaks at a time. Is it actually possible to listen to more than one person at a time, effectively?
If I am talking to my children (or yours), why would I pick up a phone to take a call from anyone? And the reason I would have caller ID is to determine if the person calling is more important than the person with whom I am speaking? We need to be present. Meaning that at the moment I am with you, I am with you completely. That what you say is as if I were saying those words myself. Interestingly, when you focus in that way, you don’t need to worry about what to say next, or what question to ask. What is wanted and needed will be obvious.
In order to create truly inspired environments, we need to be open to pragmatic, incredible, magical, wonderful miracles! The best way I can describe creating the possibility for this phenomenon is to remember while we are speaking to anyone, that we are possibly speaking to the next Buddha, the next Rosa Parks, the next Nelson Mandela or the next Carly Fiorina. When I remind myself that I have something profound to learn from absolutely everyone I meet, I am in the right frame. You and I do not know what people will become or what their influence might be. What we do know is that a loving, clear and supportive environment is likely to be nurturing, encouraging and in general, of use. I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides. I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth and of peace. And when you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us. Namaste!
We will pick up here next month on our series about Inspired Environments with a special emphasis on Inspired Schools.
by Bill Cumming
