“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I particularly like this quote about leadership because it highlights, amongst many other things, the importance of intrinsic motivation. My experience working in and with schools is that many schools are doing amazing things and achieving some very good results but often teachers are doing these things because they are “instructed” to; not because they have a belief in the process or the change. They often focus on the “product”, e.g. the ship or the essay, rather than building desire and passion for exploring and learning the unknown for themselves and their students. Dr Anthony Muhammad has written an interesting book, The Will to Lead, the Skill to Teach”, well worth a read. The book describes and provides strategies for how school leaders can create a healthy school culture.” A culture where everyone shares the same purpose and direction.
“Children are born systems thinkers, and are capable of extraordinary things given the right set of tools”.
It has been my observation that adult’s eyes often glaze over when you mention systems thinking, and/or they think you mean systemic thinking (identifying what the system thinks). Not so children, give them the opportunity and they can clearly articulate how a system works. Not only that they can map it. They may not necessarily identify this as systems thinking, but this is what they are doing. Peter Senge outlines some examples in this video. I think the message is that allow students to take on learning challenges, don’t presume they cannot do it.
An interesting article exploring systems thinking and education written by Frank Betts.
“Even a small child can use a hammer and saw, but it takes a master carpenter who fully understands the tools and their limitations to build a house. We can begin to build a few structures of our own by establishing some definitions for terms needed to discuss systems thinking meaningfully”.
“Systems are characterized by synergy—the whole (system) is greater than the sum of its parts (elements), because the relationship among the elements adds value to the system”.
Cycling throws up plenty of obstacles, unknown territory, high speed split-second considerations. Where to next? What’s around the next corner? Who cares? You’re flyin’!” See reflection on “Thinking Sport” page.
In the hurly, burly of teaching and working in a school it is very easy to forget the importance of a teacher’s role. This video highlights the importance and is a real affirmation of what a good teacher does. Teaching really is the most important and best job there is.
“Things turn out best for those who make the most of how things turn out”. In this world of constant change, I find myself having to refer to this quote fairly constantly. It is one of my favourites as it helps me remain positive. I think it also has a direct link to systems thinking where you look at the system and how it can be improved, rather than blaming something or some person.
“In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have”. (Lee Iacocca)
