THE ART OF POSSIBILITY: TRANSFORMING OUR CLASSROOMS

 The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life,
by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, Penguin Books, 2002

“So the practices presented in this book are not about making incremental changes that lead to new ways of doing things based on old beliefs, and they are not about self-improvement.  

They are geared instead toward causing a total shift of posture, perceptions, beliefs, and thought processes.  They are about transforming your entire world.
(Rosamund and Benjamin Zander)

The Art of Possibility is a book that has been on my shelf for years, but this was the summer it spoke to me.  In it, Rosamund Zander, a family therapist, and her husband Benjamin Zander, an orchestra conductor, offer twelve practices for transforming professional and personal life.  They suggest ways to revise the perceived expectations of the world and rewrite one’s life narrative to one of purpose and possibility.  Four of their practices struck me as imminently transformative as we approach the new school year.  The others are valuable also, and can be found in the book and in the summary links below.

“Giving an A”

Let’s first consider this question the Zanders ask, “What were to happen if one were to hand an A to every student from the start?”

To combat students’ anxiety over grades and performance, Ben Zander made this announcement to his Conservatory students on the first day of class: “Each student in this class will get an A for the course.”  There was one requirement.  Students had to write him a detailed letter, dated in the spring—months away—in which they detailed “the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade….”

I can already hear naysayers offering downsides to this optimistic plan.  Yet, I see the wisdom of this transformative offer.  Might it allow students and teachers to discover how to work as teammates, rather than perceived adversaries?  Could teachers brainstorm with students collectively and individually, inviting them to share strategies for success from past classes?  Did they study for assessments?  How? Did they do their homework?  Where? Did they care about their classes?  Why? How did they motivate themselves if they did not find the material interesting?  Did they proofread?  Did they do more work than was expected?  Did they see the teacher for extra help?  Did they ask questions?  Did they overcome problems at home to succeed at school? How?

Can we teachers start the year by inviting our students to recognize and employ their signature strengths to earn that “A?”  Can we help them assess whether they see themselves as being loyal, honest, generous, friendly, determined, creative, detail-oriented, big-picture-oriented, out-going, or introverted?  Can we help them see how their perseverance, honesty, loyalty, love of learning, love of people, and other qualities can help them succeed in their school lives?

Is offering the “A” an idea we should try this September?

“Leading from Any Chair”

 Here is another practice from the Zanders.  “A leader does not need a podium.  She can be sitting quietly on the edge of any chair, listening passionately and with commitment, fully prepared to take up the baton….”  Ben Zander reflects on members of an orchestra as he wonders, “Who am I being that they are not shining?”

As teachers, we might well ask the same question about our students.  Who can we be so that our children are shining?  This practice reminds me to pay careful attention to each student in my care—not only the shining academic “stars,” but also the quiet, gritty, “perseverers” and the seemingly disengaged.  What are they really engaged in?  How can that transform our class experience together?  What does each student have to teach their peers and teacher about leadership?

Over the course of the year, I frequently ask my students for feedback in various forms.  They know I mean it when I tell them I need their feedback to be a better teacher.  In quick classroom discussions, in private conversations, on anonymous 3x5 cards, and via electronic programs, I seek and take to heart their suggestions.  Students appreciate being part of the evaluation and learning process and being recognized for the various ways in which they lead. 

“It’s all Invented”

 The Zanders begin with this premise: Let’s realize “It’s all invented.” Ask yourself this question, the Zanders suggest:

“What assumption am I making,
That I’m not aware I’m making,
That gives me what I see?”

And the next question is:

“What might I now invent,

That I haven’t yet invented,

That would give me other choices?”

Our school worlds and lives are riddled with assumptions about “the way we’ve always done things,” or “the way those students behave,” and on and on.  How can we approach this year with new eyes, ready to see the possibility in beginning our classes more mindfully than we have done in the past?  Can we invent ways to overcome our biases towards and against students of various backgrounds?  See resources below to help in this lifelong process.

“Being a Contribution”

“Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.”  Ben and Roz Zander offer this practice to help us overcome self-judgement and the judgement of others.  Rather, they suggest we can see ourselves as contributors who make a difference in the lives of those around us.  No matter how small the difference—or how large or long-lasting—we make an impact, and this purposefulness is healthy and growth oriented. 

One of my peace education mentors, Irwin Abrams, recharged my batteries when I doubted my ability to make a difference. “What do I answer those who criticize peace education as being too slow to be effective?” I asked. “What do I tell myself?” is what I really wondered.

Swinging his ninety-plus frame swiftly around, Irwin didn't miss a beat, “We work for the unseen harvest. There are consequences” of the work we do.   

There are consequences of our every interaction with our students and colleagues.  We can make a positive difference for each one of them.  September is coming.  Let it be a time of transformation and possibility!

Susan Gelber Cannon, August 2017

RESOURCES: 

Read more about the authors:

·      Rosamund Zander: http://www.rosamundzander.com/about-roz.php

·      Benjamin Zander: http://benjaminzander.com  

Good summaries of the book are available at the links below: 

·      James Clear’s short summary: http://jamesclear.com/book-summaries/the-art-of-possibility

·      Vishnu’s Virtue’s longer summary, with quotes: http://www.vishnusvirtues.com/the-art-of-possibility/

For more on growth mindset, read

·      Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (https://mindsetonline.com/index.html)

For more on quiet people as leaders, read

·      Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking (http://www.quietrev.com/quiet-the-book/)

For more on developing purpose, read

·      William Damon’s The Path to Purpose: How Young People Can Find Their Calling in Life (http://www.williamdamon.com/the-path-to-purpose/)  

·      and Martin Seligman’s Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being (http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Flourish/Martin-E-P-Seligman/9781439190760)

For more on bias and anti-bias strategies, read

·      Mazarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald’s Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People (http://blindspot.fas.harvard.edu)

·      and my blog summary with classroom strategies: http://thinkcareact.blogspot.com/2017/02/

For more on inviting student evaluation of your teaching, read

·      Susan Gelber Cannon’s Think, Care, Act: Teaching for a Peaceful Future (http://www.teachforpeace.org/book)

For more on transforming perceptions, read

·      Pema Chodron’s Practicing Peace in Times of War (http://pemachodronfoundation.org/product/practicing-peace-book/)

·      and Thich Nhat Hanh’s Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (https://plumvillage.org/books/peace-is-every-step/)

DIVERSITY BOOK CLUB #2: BLINDSPOT: HIDDEN BIASES OF GOOD PEOPLE

“[S]tereotyping is an unfortunate by-product of the otherwise immensely useful human ability to conceive the world in terms of categories.” (Blindspot, p. 89)

“I regard awareness to be a singularly important experience because the problem lies in the lack of awareness. When good people discover their blind spots, they are inherently motivated to wish to change….” Mahzahrin Banaji (email interview in Workforce, 2014)

Let’s resume our virtual Diversity Book Club.  In previous and upcoming posts, I summarize books and provide classroom applications and resources for teachers interested in building welcoming and inclusive environments in their classrooms and schools.  We continue with Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People, by Mahzahrin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald (Delacort Press, New York, 2013).

Summary:
“Implicit bias may operate outside of awareness, hidden from those who have it, but the discrimination that it produces can be clearly visible to researchers, and almost certainly also clearly visible to those who are disadvantaged by it.” (See p. 209.)  It is appropriate to start this summary with the last sentence in the book, as we see race, gender, religion, anti-immigrant, and other forms of discrimination playing out in our schools, communities, and headlines daily. 

The authors gently and cleverly build their defense of this thesis by starting Chapter 1 with optical illusions and word association tests that surprise research participants and readers alike.  They call these “mindbugs,” the illusions we cling to or memories we create because our mind does something implicitly, without conscious thought.

Moving on, they detail their development of the Implicit Association Test [IAT], including samples in the text for readers to take or directing us to their online site at Project Implicit.  (See discussion pages 42-47.)  This test uses timed word association tasks to reveal hidden biases to members of different categories: Black, White, male, female, young, old, gay, straight, etc.

Cautious researchers, Banaji and Greenwald explain their studies that confirm two important points, referring to results of 75% of those who take the IAT (no matter their background):
 

1)   “automatic White preference is pervasive in American society” (p. 47),

2)   and “automatic White preference… predicts discriminatory behavior even among research participants who earnestly… espouse egalitarian beliefs” (p. 47). 

Banaji and Greenwald further explain race IATs as well as IATs regarding overweight people, elderly people, gays, etc.   They express their (and others’) dismay that even when we espouse our wish to treat all people equally, we all harbor unconscious biases.  With an aim to help us make this knowledge powerful in our efforts to overcome automatic biases, they further explain the human tendency to categorize and create stereotypes.  They conclude: “stereotyping is an unfortunate by-product of the otherwise immensely useful human ability to conceive the world in terms of categories” (p. 89), and they recognize the potential harm of this tendency.

The authors express a direct connection to police killings of black men, asserting, “‘[G]uilt by association,’ a Black = weapons stereotype is particularly consequential when it plays out in the interaction between citizens and law enforcement” (p. 106).  We have only to look to Ferguson, Baltimore, Minneapolis, and Dallas to update the unfortunate example to which the authors refer: that of the tragic death at the hands of police of Amadou Diallo in 1999.  They reference Claude Steele’s work (Whistling Vivaldi) and also discuss how stereotyping affects women in the workplace and in higher-level math classes.

In a chapter entitled “Us and Them,” Banaji and Greenwald discuss human babies’ development of preference for the familiar—usually people with the same racial identity as themselves.   They discuss our human tendency to be able to identify individuals of our own race versus those of different backgrounds.  Finally, they discuss how easy it is for humans to form in/out groups.  They conclude the chapter with examples of where this early imprinting and in-versus-out-group mentality can lead: “[I]ntergroup discrimination is less and less likely to involve explicit acts of aggression toward the out-group and more likely to involve everyday acts of helping the in-group….  [W]e may fail to see the far more pervasive ways in which hidden biases maintain the status quo, depriving those on the bottom rungs of society of the resources available to the more privileged by birth and status….  Blindspots hide both discriminations and privileges…” (See examples and discussion pages 140-144.)
 

In a chapter entitled “Outsmarting the Machine,” the authors describe ways around these automatic biases (blindspots), including so-called “blind auditions” that led to an increase in hiring of female musicians by major orchestras.  Human minds are malleable, they remind us, as they describe promising research that hidden biases can be weakened by overt counter messages showing Blacks, women, and the elderly in positive light, for example.  Finally, they describe policy solutions: in which unconscious biases in doctors, for example, could be overridden by policies recommending standard treatment for all types of people.  (See pages 149-155.)

The appendices are crucial reading. 

In Appendix 1, the authors track Americans’ overt racism.  They provide evidence that overt racism may be less, but hidden bias remains pervasive and harmful. 

Appendix 2 is also worth studying and sharing.  In it, the authors provide seven conclusions of their research (and the overwhelming body of research of colleagues):

1.    Black disadvantage exists (in housing, hiring, healthcare, criminal justice, monetary transactions, etc.).

2.    The disadvantage experienced by black Americans is at least partly due to race discrimination (especially due to the repeated small effects of “minor” acts of discrimination, for example).

3.    Social differentiation exists. (Humans are good at and instantly do stereotype.)

4.    Attitudes have both reflective and automatic forms (and these may not agree—even in the same person’s mind).

5.    People are often unaware of disagreement between the reflective and automatic forms of their own attitudes and stereotypes. 

6.    Explicit bias is infrequent; implicit bias is pervasive.

7.    Implicit race attitudes (automatic race preferences) contribute to discrimination against Black Americans.   The authors site an overwhelming body of research evidence that “widespread acts of discrimination against Black Americans that have put them at a disadvantage in just about every economically significant domain of life.”  (See Appendix 2, pages 189-209.)

Classroom/School Applications:

1.    Have students explore their own implicit biases by visiting Project Implicit (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html) and taking the race (and other) Implicit Association Test [IAT], developed and explained by Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald in Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People.  Use the Blindspot to help students put their (likely) racially biased test results into perspective.  Explore other ‘isms with them: gender bias, ageism, size bias, etc.

2.    Read Malcolm Gladwell’s response to taking the Race IAT for the first time, excerpted from his interview with Oprah Winfrey.  (See page 57.)  Ask your students to write their own reaction to their own IAT results.  You may wish to read Gladwell’s statements after your own students have written their responses.  Inviting students to share their responses may lead to a heartfelt bonding opportunity for your students.  However, you may want to preface the IAT and this writing with the following activity.

3.    Circles of Culture Lesson: How can we build caring classroom environments in which students feel safe to tackle unsafe topics? To make our class environment a caring place for daring conversations I use the “Circles of Culture” exercise explained in my blog.  Taking time to create a caring place for daring conversations makes all the difference in the student (and teacher) experience and forges our bonds as a community of readers, writers, and upstanders, ready to build a welcoming and inclusive community in and out of school…. This is relevant teaching and learning: today and every day. (Sample questions: In which of your circles of culture do you find safety/refuge?  Why?  In which of your circles of culture do you find discomfort or lack of safety?  Why?)  Read more: http://thinkcareact.blogspot.com/2016/07/creating-caring-classroom-community_6.html

4.    Read with students this short article from Pacific Standard Magazine in which a small study asserts that mindfulness meditation may have promise in countering the negative and pernicious effects of hidden bias.  https://psmag.com/mindfulness-short-circuits-reflexive-racial-bias-ac77baf07c34#.lk4rr8ybb

5.  Follow up with Rhonda Magee's article on her work developing ColorInsight:  http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_mindfulness_can_defeat_racial_bias. Use links and sidebars to try exercises she contends may help us think more mindfully rather than acting on our reflexive racial biases.  Some are truly moving.  (“[C]onsider that the person before you has known love. Inwardly recite the phrase ‘Just like me, this person has loved, and has been loved.’ And, ‘Just like me, this person has known pain and loss.’”)

6.    Older students can explore corporate and scientific applications of bias research after reading this article from Workforce: http://www.workforce.com/2014/02/09/you-biased-no-its-your-brain/

7.    Host a school reading of Whistling Vivaldi (See my blog summary with activities: http://thinkcareact.blogspot.com ) or Blindspot.  Read excerpts of either book to your classes and discuss.

8.    Host a showing and discussion of the movie Hidden Figures at your school, or read and discuss the book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race: (Background story and movie trailer here) http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a24429/hidden-figures-real-story-nasa-women-computers/

9.    Discuss the portrayal in the media of various groups: Black, White, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, male, female, transgender, young, old, gay, straight, differently abled, rich, poor, etc.  What stereotypes are promulgated?

10.    Make sure your classroom walls abound with positive images of a diverse array of human faces. 

What can we do to overcome these blindspots in our students and ourselves?

Everything we can think of.

-Susan Gelber Cannon, February 2017